Mistletoe and Murder is part of the Daisy Dalrymple series by Carola Dunn.
Plot
In December 1923, Daisy Dalrymple Fletcher yields to the demands of her mother and the needs of her writing career and brings her family to an old Cornish estate for Christmas.
The estate, occupied by the poor relations of the ancestral lord, has a rich history of lore, ghost stories, and festering resentments some or all of which leaves them all trapped in a house with the corpse of a despotic chaplin and a murderer. Daisy’s husband Inspector Alec is forced to give up his Christmas break to help Daisy solve the mystery.
Review
An easy to read cosy mystery. I hadn’t read any of the Daisy Dalrymple series but it did not matter as this is a stand alone mystery.
What starts out as a writing assignment turns into a family Christmas at the ancestral home of Lord Westmoor. He is not in attendance, much to the chagrin of Dowager Lady Dalrymple, Daisy’s mother. Instead the estate at Brockdene in Cornwall is home to the Norvilles, Lord Westmoor’s poorer relations.
This branch of the family is kept separate from the rest of the the Norvilles and Lord Westmoor due to a scandal involving a missing marriage certificate. Something the current descendants attempt to rectify. If the certificate has been lost, or destroyed during a deadly family squabble, maybe a witness statement from the vicar who performed the ceremony will put matters right.
Maybe it would have, if only he had not been stabbed to death in the chapel!
Now Daisy’s new husband, Alec, a Scotland Yard detective, must forego his holiday to solve the case.
Mainly like-able characters, except for the victim – you could see him being bumped off from the moment he appeared in the story. A good plot with a few twists and turns. Written in a style that makes you imagine your are at an ancestral home between the wars. This book has a satisfying ending with threads tied up neatly.
A good book to read
Mistletoe and Murder is available from
Waterstones – https://tidd.ly/4iy7MOI
Amazon – https://amzn.to/4okuTgD
City Adventurers Solve The Murder – https://uk.bookshop.org/a/3668/9781849017060