The Barnes & Noble Review
Daisy Dalrymple -- now in her delightful dozenth outing -- has always been unconventional: First this daughter of a viscount chose to make her living writing for magazines. Then she compounded that eccentricity by marrying a policeman. But the oddest thing about her, as far as her family and friends are concerned, is her disconcerting habit of discovering dead bodies -- and then intrepidly investigating their unsavory origins. The otherwise stalwart Daisy does have one very conventional phobia: She hates going to the dentist. And discovering her new dentist, Raymond Talmadge, dead in his own dental chair isn't likely to improve matters. Still, insatiably curious as ever, Daisy is determined to fill in the holes in this case. And that means drilling for the truth: Was it really a suicide, as authorities believe it to be? Or could it have been an accidental death, from a dangerous habit of inhaling laughing gas for kicks? Or could it have been murder? As always, English-born Carola Dunn has done an excellent job of capturing the essence of life in her homeland between the wars. Daisy is a charming heroine, whose keen intelligence and clear-sighted perceptions of human nature enable her not only to solve mysteries but also to ensure that right triumphs, even when justice is not always served according to the letter of the law. Sue Stone