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Daisy Dalrymple

Step into 1920s England, a country navigating the aftermath of World War I and significant societal shifts. Follow the investigations of a spirited and sharp-witted writer who finds herself drawn into solving murders. Her keen intellect and unique perspective assist Scotland Yard in bringing criminals to justice. This series offers classic cozy mysteries steeped in historical atmosphere and charm.

Gunpowder Plot
Death at Wentwater Court
Anthem for Doomed Youth
Fall of a Philanderer
Winter Garden Mystery
Mistletoe and Murder

Recommended Reading Order

  1. 1

    Death at Wentwater Court

    • 240 pages
    • 9 hours of reading
    3.6(315)Add rating

    More than twenty years ago, Carola Dunn introduced to the world the charming, vivacious and perspicacious Daisy Dalrymple and the tumultuous decade of the 1920s, in an England barely starting to recover from World War I and now undergoing rapid social changes. In early 1923, the young Honourable Daisy Dalrymple has made a decision that shocks her social class-instead of living in the Dower House with her mother and being supported by her relatives, she's decided to make her own living as a writer. Landing an assignment for Town & Country to write a series of articles on country manor houses, Daisy travels to Wentwater Court to research her first piece. There she finds a household in turmoil, filled with holiday guests and recriminations. But that's nothing compared to the uproar when one of those guests drowns in a tragic early-morning skating "accident." When it is learned that this was anything but accidental, Scotland Yard is called in and a young Chief Inspector, one Alec Fletcher, is called in to investigate. And therein hangs a tale... A series with all the charm of the classic golden age mysteries with the kind of full-blooded, three dimensional characters that define the best of modern mystery, the Daisy Dalrymple mysteries have been a favorite for more than two decades. Now, with this reissue of Death At Wentwater Court, readers can enjoy it from the very beginning.

    Death at Wentwater Court
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    Requiem for a Mezzo

    • 222 pages
    • 8 hours of reading
    3.6(178)Add rating

    Set in 1923 England, the story unfolds during a Verdi performance where Daisy Dalrymple and Detective Chief Inspector Alec Fletcher attend. Their enjoyment is shattered when Bettina Westlea, a singer, collapses on stage, poisoned with cyanide. The investigation reveals that her glass of liqueur was tampered with, but identifying the culprit proves challenging. As Daisy and Fletcher delve into the mystery, they must navigate a web of motives and secrets to uncover the truth behind the tragic event.

    Requiem for a Mezzo
  4. 4

    Murder on the Flying Scotsman

    • 222 pages
    • 8 hours of reading
    3.9(202)Add rating

    A tense family feud erupts over a dying relative's inheritance, culminating in murder aboard the iconic Flying Scotsman. Set against the backdrop of this historic train, the latest installment in Carola Dunn's Daisy Dalrymple series combines intrigue with the charm of a classic mystery, as Daisy navigates the complexities of familial loyalty and betrayal.

    Murder on the Flying Scotsman
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    Dead in the Water

    • 250 pages
    • 9 hours of reading
    3.6(161)Add rating

    May the best man die!July, 1923, and Daisy has been invited by an American magazine to cover the Henley Regatta. But unknown to her, she steps right into a class war between two members of the Oxford rowing team. Cox Horace Bott – a shopkeeper’s son and scholar student – has always hated rower Basil DeLancy – younger son of an earl and all-round cad and bully. And after a particularly brutal public humiliation by DeLancy, Bott swears revenge – so when DeLancy keels over and dies mid-race, it would seem he’s made good on his promise.Yet Daisy isn’t convinced, and with the help of her fiancé Detective Inspector Alec Fletcher of Scotland Yard, she dives into a tangled web of jealousies and secrets, where appearances are everything and good breeding may just be a cover for a killer intent on keeping Daisy mum forever…Praise for the Daisy Dalrymple series:'Cunning… appropriate historical detail and witty dialogue are the finishing touches on this engaging 1920s period piece.’ Publishers Weekly‘As always, Dunn evokes the life and times of 1920s England while providing a plot that is a cut above the average British cosy. This will delight readers who love country-house mysteries.’ Booklist‘A dauntless Daisy and good-natured fun.’ Kirkus Reviews'For fans of Dorothy L. Sayers’ novels’ Library Journal

    Dead in the Water
  7. 7

    Styx and Stones

    • 261 pages
    • 10 hours of reading
    3.6(115)Add rating

    The hot summer heat could put anyone on edge but to Daisy Dalrymple, it does seem that her brother-in-law, Lord John Frobisher, is exceptionally tense - and with good reason. Someone with an evil sense of humour is sending him a series of poisoned pen letters that threaten to reveal racy secrets which could ruin him completely. Promising to protect Lord John from public scandal, Daisy travels to his village in Kent only to discover it's teeming with enough gossip, resentment and intrigue to make everyone a suspect ... or victim. But then a murder is committed, and Daisy is forced to find the killer before the ink dries on her own death warrant.

    Styx and Stones
  8. 8

    Rattle his Bones

    • 259 pages
    • 10 hours of reading
    3.6(131)Add rating

    As a grey drizzle descends upon the damp errand boys and busy omnibuses of London, Daisy Dalrymple is feeling rather cheerful and excited to be showing her nephew and future stepdaughter the glories of Kensington's Natural History Museum. But as closing time draws near, Daisy and Co. hear a tremendous crash and are horrified to discover one of the curators dead--horribly murdered--atop of a pile of dinosaur bones. Together with her fiance, Detective Chief Inspector Alec Fletcher of Scotland Yard, Daisy is soon investigating a baffling case of missing gems, dispossessed European gentry, fakery and fossils, and where professional grudges boil over into murder.

    Rattle his Bones
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    Mistletoe and Murder

    • 266 pages
    • 10 hours of reading
    3.8(128)Add rating

    Daisy Dalrymple Fletcher yields to the demands of her mother and brings her family to an old Cornish estate for Christmas. The estate has a rich history of lore, ghost stories and festering resentments, some or all of which leave them all trapped in a house with a corpse and a murderer.

    Mistletoe and Murder
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    Fall of a Philanderer

    • 352 pages
    • 13 hours of reading
    3.8(2095)Add rating

    In the summer of 1924, the Honourable Daisy Dalrymple Fletcher is off on a summer holiday by the sea with her step-daughter Belinda and Belinda's chum Deva, and her husband, Detective Chief Inspector Alec Fletcher of Scotland Yard. Daisy is anticipating a relaxing, non-dramatic holiday. But Daisy doesn't have that kind of luck. It seems that a local low-rent Don Juan has been busily seducing the local womanfolk and, in a town this small, no secret is kept for long. A fact that is amply illustrated when the Fletcher's simple picnic is interrupted by the discovery of a broken body at the foot of the cliff--that of the philandering local innkeeper of bad memory. Like Jacqueline Winspear's much praised novels about Maisy Dobbs, Carola Dunn vividly evokes the life and times of 1920's England wrapped in a classic mystery to delight her many fans.

    Fall of a Philanderer
  15. 15

    Gunpowder Plot

    • 324 pages
    • 12 hours of reading
    3.8(103)Add rating

    Vividly evoking the life and times of 1920s England, this is a classic crime novel that will delight and charm the many fans of the formidable Daisy Dalrymple.

    Gunpowder Plot
  16. 16

    The Bloody Tower

    • 296 pages
    • 11 hours of reading
    3.7(94)Add rating

    The 16th novel in the charming Daisy Dalrymple series of 1920's country house murder mysteries.

    The Bloody Tower
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    March 1926. Daisy Dalrymple, at work on her book of architectural follies, heads for Appsworth Hall, reputed for its finest example. Daisy's plans are thrown off course, alas, when the grotto in the grounds of the stately home explodes, taking with it houseguest Lord Rydal

    Sheer Folly
  19. 19

    Anthem for Doomed Youth

    • 327 pages
    • 12 hours of reading
    3.8(80)Add rating

    Alec Fletcher's plans to attend his daughter Belinda.s school sports day are thwarted by the discovery of three bodies buried in Epping forest. Sent to investigate, he and his team are hindered from the start by uncooperative Essex policeman, DI Gant, who resents Scotland Yard encroaching on his patch

    Anthem for Doomed Youth
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    "In the late 1920's in England, The Honourable Daisy Dalrymple Fletcher is recruited to help her cousin Edgar--i.e. the Lord Dalrymple. About to turn fifty, Lord Dalrymple decides it is time to find out who would be the heir to the viscountcy. With the help of the family lawyer, who advertises Empire-wide, they have come up with four potential claimants. For his fiftieth birthday, Edgar invites those would-be heirs--along with Daisy and the rest of the family--to Fairacres, the family estate. In the meantime, Daisy is asked to be the family's representative at the lawyer's interviews with the claimants. Those four are a hotelier from Scarborough, a diamond merchant from South Africa, a young mixed-raced boy from Trinidad, and a sailor from Jamaica. However, according to his very pregnant wife, the sailor has gone missing. Daisy and Alec must uncover a conspiracy if they are going to stop the killing in the latest from the accomplished master of the genre, Carola Dunn"--

    Heirs of the Body
  22. 22

    Superfluous Women

    • 305 pages
    • 11 hours of reading
    3.9(1777)Add rating

    A pleasant lunch in the country with old friends takes an unexpected turn when a corpse is discovered at the feast.

    Superfluous Women
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