Reviews

Entailed estates and the British primogeniture laws are always good mystery fodder, and Dunn takes full advantage of them in Heirs of the Body, the latest mystery featuring Daisy Fletcher, nee Dalrymple. Series fans will remember that Daisy's father was the previous Lord Dalrymple; on her brother's death in World War I, her schoolmaster cousin Edgar inherited, and Daisy and her mother lost their home. But Edgar and his wife Geraldine are childless, so a search must be made for the next heir. This means going back several generations in search of a living male descendant. The trouble is, there are four claimants. So Edgar, Lord Dalrymple, invites them all to stay at Fairacres while efforts are made to sort things out.

I really enjoyed this installment of the series. While the genealogical details were occasionally hard to follow (I highly recommend taking notes!), I loved several of the characters. Geraldine and Edgar are much more sympathetic characters than I expected them to be—particularly Edgar, with his almost obsessive interest in lepidopterology. For all his apparent absentmindedness, though, Edgar is no fool. The children figure prominently throughout the book, particularly the trio made up of Alec and Daisy's Belinda, Daisy's nephew Derek, and young Ben, a charming Jamaican. Ben's stepfather can be charming, but I kept wondering if there were anything sinister behind the charm.

The mystery is as much "who is the real heir" as "is someone trying to injure or kill the other claimants," and in fact, apart from one death which may or may not be accidental, violence and mayhem are pretty mild throughout the book. What keeps things interesting are the disparate personalities—snooty Anglo-French hotelier Vincent, arrogant South African diamond dealer Raymond, and cheerful young Ben are the three claimants in residence, along with Vincent's wife Laurette and Ben's stepfather Frank. The whereabouts of the fourth claimant, Sam, a sailor whose pregnant wife is also at Fairacres, are yet another mystery; he's gone missing somewhere in the Atlantic or Caribbean. Add in Daisy's mother, the Dowager Lady Dalrymple, utterly self-centered and far too aware of her rank and class; Martha, the aforesaid Sam's rather timid wife; and of course Daisy and her detective husband, and you're in for an entertaining house party indeed.

nonna7's review

Go to review page

4.0

The latest in the Daisy Dalrymple series is a fun romp in post WWI Great Britain. Daisy is an "Honorable" but with no money of her own. Her father died without making any provision for her in his will, her elder brother and fiance were both killed in the Great War. Her mother, the dowager Viscountess, lives on the estate that she formerly ruled. Now, Cousin Edgar, a former schoolmaster and his wife, Geraldine, live there. They are pleasant, middle class people who have adapted to their higher estate without pretense. Daisy likes them very much although she doesn't go to her former home very much. Now she has been asked to return to help sort out who will be the next heir. Edgar and Geraldine have no children of their own and are too advanced in age to have children. So an attorney has been making inquiries. He has settled on three men and a young boy who may be descended from Julian, a Dalrymple, who left Britain under a bit of a cloud. What starts out to be a vacation for Daisy, her husband Chief Inspector Alec Fletcher, and their children, becomes, of course, a murder investigation. It's a fun romp and an interesting look at what happens when there is no male heir.

More...