The Black Ship
Daisy Dalrymple Mystery, No 17

by Carola Dunn

    The Fletchers are moving house, having been left a sum of money by Alec’s old uncle and the stipulation that it will only be theirs providing they live in his old home. It is a larger house, necessitating the hiring of some new staff, and set in a secluded circle of houses with a communal garden in the center. Daisy immediately gets on well with her new neighbors, but when a dead body is found one morning in the central garden, it looks as though domestic harmony might be shattered. Especially when the #1 suspects are the neighbors!

I love this series. Even now Daisy is back in London, things are different, with a new location and new people. One of the best things about this series is the way the author is not afraid to move on, the way people do in real life with changes of scene, variations in fortune and new friends. Gone (at least for the moment) are the irascible parents, Lucy and even Belinda, and instead we have the new thrill of discovering a whole street full of potential enemies, allies and suspects. Of course there is a good, teasing plot with plenty of red herrings and the inevitable satisfying conclusion, but one of the chief joys of a long running series is the story that runs through it. I’m not an expert on the 1920s any more than I am on any historical period, but as with the other books the characters’ behavior and general ambience rings true. This book does not contain many references to the recent Great War, unlike most of the others, but instead, deals with the international problem of Prohibition. Fascinating, pacy and easy to read, this is another highly enjoyable entry in the series.

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