The
Case of the Murdered Muckraker
Daisy Dalrymple Mystery, No 10
by Carola Dunn
Mrs. Daisy Fletcher is staying
at the Chelsea Hotel in New York while her new husband Alex advises
J. Edgar Hoover in Washington. She has plenty to do, typing up stories
for Abroad magazine and meeting some of the hotel’s colorful Bohemian
inhabitants. But after overhearing a row in her neighbor’s suite,
she is shocked to witness the same man being shot and tumbling down
an elevator shaft. The deceased was Otis Carmody, an unpopular muckraking
journalist who had many people wanting him dead. Aided by an inept
FBI agent and the elderly Cabot sisters, Daisy has to find out whodunit.
After seven novels set in England and one on an ocean liner, Daisy
is at last in the author’s native country. Ms Dunn endeavors to
paint a picture of Prohibition New York, with a sassy elevator boy,
wisecracking cops, dodgy politics and “Irish tea.” It would have
been nice to have taken in a speakeasy or two, delved deeper into
fascinating Tammany Hall business and in general got out a bit more
while in New York, but after a slow start the story picks up pace,
and ends up exciting. For such a lively series that has been consistently
enjoyable this is the weakest entry so far, with several chapters
devoted to endless conversations between Daisy and various other
characters. Doubtless the author found the scenes with the aforementioned
wisecracking copes hilarious and fascinating, but I failed to and
detected a hobbyhorse being ridden. As soon as the story leaves
New York it gathers momentum, and a thrilling aerial chase over
the Rockies had me putting down the book wanting more, and feeling
that the tale had redeemed itself somewhat.
Reviews of other titles in this series
Death
at Wentwater Court, 1
The
Winter Garden Mystery, 2
Requiem
For A Mezzo, 3
Murder
on the Flying Scotsman, 4
Damsel
in Distress, 5
Dead
In The Water, 6
Styx
and Stones, 7
Rattle His Bones, 8 [review
1] [review
2]
To
Davy Jones Below, 9
The
Case of the Murdered Muckraker, 10
Mistletoe
and Murder, 11
Die
Laughing, 12
A
Mourning Wedding, 13
Fall
of a Philanderer, 14
Gunpowder
Plot, 15
The
Black Ship, 17
Sheer
Folly, 18
Anthem
For Doomed Youth, 19
Gone
West, 20 |
The
Book |
Kensington
Mystery |
November
2003 |
Paperback |
0758203721 |
Historical
Crime - 1923 New York |
More
at Amazon.com US
|| UK |
The
Reviewer |
Rachel
A Hyde |
Reviewed
2007 |
|