Customer Reviews

Sheer Folly: A Daisy Dalrymple Mystery (Daisy Dalrymple Mysteries)

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3 star:		(1)
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After an explosion at the mansion of the 'King of Plumbing Fixtures' kills one of the guests, Daisy Dalrymple and her pal Lucy Binsomb uncover secrets that cast suspicion on the remaining company. As with all the Daisy Dalrymple mysteries, 'Sheer Folly' is an enjoyable adventure, short on violence and bloodshed and long on fun and charm. Just the way I like my mysteries.

Writing a book about the SHEER FOLLY of architectural design disasters, Daisy Dalrymple and her best friend photographer Lady Lucy Binscomb travel to see Appsworth Hall; owned by friendly Mr. Pritchard of Pritchard's Plumbing Products. Daisy's husband Scotland Yard Detective Chief Inspector Alex Fletcher reluctantly will baby-sit their twins while she is away for the weekend.

Daisy and Lucy arrive at the estate only find their host Mr. Pritchard is throwing a garish party attended by Daisy's friend Julia Beaufort; Lord Rydal known as Rhino; his lover Lady Ottaline Wandersley and her husband Sir Desmond; and Canadian historian Charles Armitage who seems attracted to Julia and she in him. An explosion leaves Rhino dead, but his paramour and his chauffeur survive. The spouses of Daisy and Lucy arrive just in time for the DCI to investigate.

This is an engaging 1920s investigative tale that ironically feels fresh because the local cops are euphoric to have an experienced DCI to work the case. The story line as always in this wonderful long running series (see BLACK SHIP) provides the reader with a glimpse of the English upper class just before the depression. The support cast is solid and the whodunit cleverly devised to enable the reader and Daisy to compete with Alex. It would be SHEER FOLLY for historical mystery fans not to read this superb tale.

Harriet Klausner

This is light reading for those of us who enjoy the escapism of murder at a manor house. The plot is light weight, but this does not distract from the read. In the end, nasty people are routed, decent people get their reward, and the reader gets a few laughs. Daisy and Lucy are a delight. It's true,some of the other Daisy Dalrymple mysteries had a more involved plot line. The whole series is worth reading, however.

Just enough sweetness, a neat soupçon of tart humor, a bit of sly commentary on the social classes, and a solid mystery plot, all mixed beautifully by Dunn, who exhibits perfect balance and pacing. Everything is just right for those of us who enjoy genteel historical murder with a side dish of satire. See my full review at reviewingtheevidence dot com

I hate to think that Carola Dunn is running out of plot ideas for the Daisy Dalrymple series, but her latest entry. "Sheer Folly," makes me think it possible. I have read all of her books and found her enjoyable, but this time the characters are uninteresting, hard to tell apart at times, and really not worth our time.

It is interesting to compare Daisy, daughter of a viscount, to Maisy Dobbs, daughter of a costermonger (seller of vegetables from his horse-drawn dray), who is also a detective during the post-World-War-1 period in Britain. The contrast in their backgrounds as well as their investigative techniques makes a more rounded picture of the period. Daisy writes magazine articles while Maisy works an investigator and psychologist in a series by Jacqueline
Winspear.

Daisy is much more light-hearted and does her detecting more or less accidentally while Maisy is very serious-minded. I think the reader would enjoy Dunn's earlier Daisy books and might enjoy her enough to press on to read one of her less successful efforts. But I think I have read "Darling" as much as I care to for a year or two. Maybe that's how the British talked in the 1920's, but enough already!

Sheer Folly is the eighteenth Daisy Dalrymple mystery.

The year is 1926. Daisy and her good friend Lucy are currently working on a book of architectural follies. Mr. Pritchard is the owner of Appsworth Hall, a place that is know and envied for its beautiful grotto. The ladies are invited to visit. They are excited as they are hoping to get some pictures of the grotto for their book. The only thing is that Daisy will have to watch that Lucy doesn't offend Mr. Pritchard about how he makes his living as a manufactor of plumbing supplies.

The ladies arrive to a party already in full swing at Appsworth Hall. The guests include the famous Lord Rydal otherwise known as Rhino. Lord Rydal is very tasteless and stuck up. He is also a player. He is juggling two women...one who he plans to marry and the other who he is currently having an affair with. The thing is that he is not sneaky. People know about his womanizing ways and he is not very well liked. Suddenly in the midst of the party the grotto explodes and Rhino is killed. The question now is ...who didn't want Rhino dead?

Sheer Folly had the feel of the mystery board game "Clue". It was a classic who-dun-it mystery with lots of different characters. The reader is feed clues to help them, along with Daisy and Lucy solve the murder of Rhino. Though for the very savvy readers, they will probably figure out the murder before the end of the book. While I enjoy these types of books, I found that the characters were not very interesting and lack charisma. I muddled my way though this book, though I did finish it. I might try another Daisy Dalrymple mystery in the future.