[Daisy Dalrymple 06] • Dead in the Water

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

From Kirkus ReviewsDaisy Dalrymple, energetic young heroine of this series set in the early '20s (Damsel in Distress, 1997, etc.), is visiting the Henley-on-Thames country house of her aunt Lady Cheringham, and writing a story for an American magazine about the intercollegiate rowing events of the Thames Regatta. Her fianc, Detective Chief Inspector Alec Fletcher, of Scotland Yard, is to meet her there on the upcoming weekend. Meanwhile, her aunt and uncles daughter Patricia is in love with Rollo Frieth, captain of Oxford's Ambrose College team, most of which is staying at the Cheringham house. It's soon apparent to Daisy that team spirit is being eroded by the arrogant verbal attacks directed by nasty Basil DeLancy at coxswain Horace Bott, whose only sin is that he's middle class and from the Midlands. When DeLancy falls overboard and dies, in a qualifying race, Alec finds himself confronting a case of murder instead of the peaceful weekend he and Daisy had envisioned. Awash in dull characters, wordy interviews, silly encounters, and unconvincing motives: only the riverside scene is worth time spent here. As Daisy might say, not very spiffing. -- Copyright ©1998, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Review"Plenty of period charm, flashes of wit, and just a whisper of romance to keep the reader entertained...A wonderful cosy treat!"-The Poisoned Pen"