What do you think?
Rate this book
Daisy Dalrymple #21
Heirs of the Body
Heirs of the Body (Daisy Dalrymple) [Paperback] Carola Dunn and Krystyna Green
304 pages, Paperback
First published December 5, 2013
51 people are currently reading
918 people want to read
About the author
Carola Dunn
91 books886 followersCarola Dunn is the author of more than 30 Regency romances, as well as 16 mysteries (the Daisy Dalrymple mystery series is set in England in the 1920s). Ms. Dunn was born and grew up in England, where she got a B.A. in Russian and French from Manchester University. She travelled as far as Fiji before returning to settle in California. After 30 years in the US, she says she still sounds as if she arrived a month ago.
Prior to writing, Ms. Dunn’s various jobs included market research, child-care, construction--from foundation trenches to roofing--and writing definitions for a dictionary of science and technology. She wrote her first novel in 1979, a Regency which she sold to Warner Books.
Now living in Eugene, Oregon, Ms. Dunn has a son in California who has just made her a grandmother, and a large black dog named Willow who takes her for a walk by the Willamette River each morning. (www.belgravehouse.com)
Prior to writing, Ms. Dunn’s various jobs included market research, child-care, construction--from foundation trenches to roofing--and writing definitions for a dictionary of science and technology. She wrote her first novel in 1979, a Regency which she sold to Warner Books.
Now living in Eugene, Oregon, Ms. Dunn has a son in California who has just made her a grandmother, and a large black dog named Willow who takes her for a walk by the Willamette River each morning. (www.belgravehouse.com)
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 174 reviews
December 31, 2014
The Daisy Dalrymple books are my all-time favourite escapism-and-fluffiness reading: I only discovered them about three years ago, but since then I've worked my way gleefully through all 20 extant novels before having to wait for this one to be written and published.
Of course they're all majorly formulaic: in addition to the description of recurring characters which varies little from book to book*, they nearly always involve a murder** in some upper-class setting***, and while they don't (intend to) imply that higher class = better person, they're certainly far more interested in those being served than they are in the servants.
Fortunately, this formula works really really well for me as escapist literature, largely because I immediately warmed to Daisy as a character: due to her brother and father's deaths in and after the Great War, the family estate and money have passed to a distant cousin, since Daisy and her sister Violet were unable to inherit under the law. While Daisy could have chosen to live on the charity of her cousin Edgar and his wife Geraldine, she has instead decided to work for a living as a writer of magazine articles, something her mother (the steely Dowager Duchess) strongly disapproves of, but a modern reader can only applaud. So at the beginning of the series we find Daisy living off toast and tinned sardines in a shared basement flat: the opportunity to write an article about a stately home presents itself, she naturally trips over a dead body almost upon arrival, which sets off the introduction of DCI Alec Fletcher, who from here on in can be relied upon to be assigned to the investigation of whatever mystery (murder- or otherwise) Daisy stumbles upon in each installment.
Earlier novels deal with the blossoming romance between Daisy and Alec, complicated by their respective class status (he's from a middle-class background and is often referred to as "Daisy's policeman" by her upper-class peers) as well as the fact that they keep meeting on murder cases. A frequent background issue is their respective past love lives: Alec’s wife Joan died during the 1919 influenza epidemic, leaving him with a young daughter, Belinda (who appears onscreen in many of the books, and who I really like as a character), and Daisy’s fiancé Michael died while working as an ambulance driver on the front. But since he was a conscientious objector, Daisy can’t talk about him to other people, a fact that comes up a few times in the novels. I rather like these little touches of realism that spring up in the stories from time to time: they keep them from getting too nostalgic and cutesy, though they are still very much on the warm and fuzzy side.
This particular installment deals with the question of who is to inherit Fairacres, the Dalrymple estate, as Edgar and Geraldine have no children, and the law specifies that an “heir of the body” (i.e. a blood relative/descendant, no adopted children allowed) must inherit. So the lawyer that Edgar has brought in to handle things has advertised Empire-wide for a Dalrymple heir. This unsurprisingly brings a number of hopefuls to Fairacres, and Daisy is brought in to assist with the investigations into their claims.
Naturally, a suspicious death occurs, and the latter part of the book is taken up with Daisy and Alec fighting crime (well, solving mysteries) as has become the style of the day.
I’m never as interested in solving the mystery as I am in enjoying the book in crime/mystery novels, so I can’t really judge how well this works on the former front. Certainly, the suspicious death comes rather late in the book, and the book is mostly taken up with the more domestic mystery of who will inherit Fairacres. This works fairly well for me, as at this point in the series the reader has (hopefully) become quite invested in Daisy’s family, and it was lovely to get to know Edgar and Geraldine as characters in their own right rather than background figures. I particularly like Edgar, who (in keeping with what I enjoy about this series) is a total sweetheart; I especially enjoy his flashes of immense social competence — he could easily be a slightly buffoonish character, with his obsession with lepidoptery and distracted schoolmaster-ish air, but he actually turns out to be beloved by the local villagers, and quite good at putting unpleasant people in their place almost without them realizing he’s done so.
Of course the book also has a happy ending, with the good characters getting their just rewards and the bad characters getting their just deserts. This may not be particularly realistic but it does make me happy, and that’s what reading the Daisy Dalyrymple books is all about for me, after all.
* someday I'm going to write a bingo square for the character descriptions, including among many others: Daisy's "guileless blue eyes" and endless battle with her enjoyment of delicious baked goods in vain pursuit of the "flat fore and aft" 1920s ideal female body type; Alec's quotations and pipesmoking; Tom Tring's baldness, silently-moving bulk and loud checked suits; Ernie Piper's head for facts and figures, along with his "supply of freshly-sharpened pencils"... And if I don't get bingo every time I read a Daisy Dalrymple mystery, I'll eat Daisy's stylish cloche hat.
** with the occasional kidnapping to mix things up!
*** generally a country house, though there's also one on the Flying Scotsman, and Daisy is once temporarily saved from a dreaded dentist's visit by finding said dentist dead in his nice middle-class office.
Of course they're all majorly formulaic: in addition to the description of recurring characters which varies little from book to book*, they nearly always involve a murder** in some upper-class setting***, and while they don't (intend to) imply that higher class = better person, they're certainly far more interested in those being served than they are in the servants.
Fortunately, this formula works really really well for me as escapist literature, largely because I immediately warmed to Daisy as a character: due to her brother and father's deaths in and after the Great War, the family estate and money have passed to a distant cousin, since Daisy and her sister Violet were unable to inherit under the law. While Daisy could have chosen to live on the charity of her cousin Edgar and his wife Geraldine, she has instead decided to work for a living as a writer of magazine articles, something her mother (the steely Dowager Duchess) strongly disapproves of, but a modern reader can only applaud. So at the beginning of the series we find Daisy living off toast and tinned sardines in a shared basement flat: the opportunity to write an article about a stately home presents itself, she naturally trips over a dead body almost upon arrival, which sets off the introduction of DCI Alec Fletcher, who from here on in can be relied upon to be assigned to the investigation of whatever mystery (murder- or otherwise) Daisy stumbles upon in each installment.
Earlier novels deal with the blossoming romance between Daisy and Alec, complicated by their respective class status (he's from a middle-class background and is often referred to as "Daisy's policeman" by her upper-class peers) as well as the fact that they keep meeting on murder cases. A frequent background issue is their respective past love lives: Alec’s wife Joan died during the 1919 influenza epidemic, leaving him with a young daughter, Belinda (who appears onscreen in many of the books, and who I really like as a character), and Daisy’s fiancé Michael died while working as an ambulance driver on the front. But since he was a conscientious objector, Daisy can’t talk about him to other people, a fact that comes up a few times in the novels. I rather like these little touches of realism that spring up in the stories from time to time: they keep them from getting too nostalgic and cutesy, though they are still very much on the warm and fuzzy side.
This particular installment deals with the question of who is to inherit Fairacres, the Dalrymple estate, as Edgar and Geraldine have no children, and the law specifies that an “heir of the body” (i.e. a blood relative/descendant, no adopted children allowed) must inherit. So the lawyer that Edgar has brought in to handle things has advertised Empire-wide for a Dalrymple heir. This unsurprisingly brings a number of hopefuls to Fairacres, and Daisy is brought in to assist with the investigations into their claims.
Naturally, a suspicious death occurs, and the latter part of the book is taken up with Daisy and Alec fighting crime (well, solving mysteries) as has become the style of the day.
I’m never as interested in solving the mystery as I am in enjoying the book in crime/mystery novels, so I can’t really judge how well this works on the former front. Certainly, the suspicious death comes rather late in the book, and the book is mostly taken up with the more domestic mystery of who will inherit Fairacres. This works fairly well for me, as at this point in the series the reader has (hopefully) become quite invested in Daisy’s family, and it was lovely to get to know Edgar and Geraldine as characters in their own right rather than background figures. I particularly like Edgar, who (in keeping with what I enjoy about this series) is a total sweetheart; I especially enjoy his flashes of immense social competence — he could easily be a slightly buffoonish character, with his obsession with lepidoptery and distracted schoolmaster-ish air, but he actually turns out to be beloved by the local villagers, and quite good at putting unpleasant people in their place almost without them realizing he’s done so.
Of course the book also has a happy ending, with the good characters getting their just rewards and the bad characters getting their just deserts. This may not be particularly realistic but it does make me happy, and that’s what reading the Daisy Dalyrymple books is all about for me, after all.
* someday I'm going to write a bingo square for the character descriptions, including among many others: Daisy's "guileless blue eyes" and endless battle with her enjoyment of delicious baked goods in vain pursuit of the "flat fore and aft" 1920s ideal female body type; Alec's quotations and pipesmoking; Tom Tring's baldness, silently-moving bulk and loud checked suits; Ernie Piper's head for facts and figures, along with his "supply of freshly-sharpened pencils"... And if I don't get bingo every time I read a Daisy Dalrymple mystery, I'll eat Daisy's stylish cloche hat.
** with the occasional kidnapping to mix things up!
*** generally a country house, though there's also one on the Flying Scotsman, and Daisy is once temporarily saved from a dreaded dentist's visit by finding said dentist dead in his nice middle-class office.
February 2, 2014
The latest installment in the Daisy Dalrymple series, this cozy murder mystery was a delight to read. As always, Daisy and her husband Alec Fletcher, the DCI from Scotland Yard, are in the thick of it, but this time, the action takes place too close to Daisy’s heart – in her ancestral home Fairacres. After her father and brother’s death, the estate now belongs to a distant cousin Edward, but unfortunately, he and his wife are childless.
As Edward’s 50th birthday approaches, his lawyer starts looking for an ‘heir of the body’ to ensure primogeniture. Four contenders show up, each with his own story and the supporting set of documents, and all are invited to Edward’s birthday celebration. Daisy is there too, of course, and the deadly game commences, starting with trifling accidents and escalating to murder. Someone is set on eliminating all the heirs, or maybe all but one? Daisy and Alec investigate.
Daisy is her own charming self, compassionate and acute. She notices the details others might overlook, but her kindness moves her sometimes in unexpected directions. It’s hard to write about her after 20 previous novels. I don’t have any new insights to offer, but I was glad to read her new story. Like an old friend, Daisy comes into my life only occasionally, but with every new book, she becomes more and more familiar, and she never fails to make me just a little bit happier for meeting her.
The book is fast, light, and original. Daisy’s interactions with her disgruntled mother, the Dowager Lady Dalrymple, provide some humorous dialog snatches, while the bountiful red herrings kept me guessing the identity of the culprit to the very end.
I’m accustomed to finding unfamiliar words in Dunn’s novels. This one was no exception.
Celerity – swiftness in acting or moving
Snook - the gesture of thumbing one's nose in defiance or derision. Cock a snook at – used to indicate contempt by this gesture
As Edward’s 50th birthday approaches, his lawyer starts looking for an ‘heir of the body’ to ensure primogeniture. Four contenders show up, each with his own story and the supporting set of documents, and all are invited to Edward’s birthday celebration. Daisy is there too, of course, and the deadly game commences, starting with trifling accidents and escalating to murder. Someone is set on eliminating all the heirs, or maybe all but one? Daisy and Alec investigate.
Daisy is her own charming self, compassionate and acute. She notices the details others might overlook, but her kindness moves her sometimes in unexpected directions. It’s hard to write about her after 20 previous novels. I don’t have any new insights to offer, but I was glad to read her new story. Like an old friend, Daisy comes into my life only occasionally, but with every new book, she becomes more and more familiar, and she never fails to make me just a little bit happier for meeting her.
The book is fast, light, and original. Daisy’s interactions with her disgruntled mother, the Dowager Lady Dalrymple, provide some humorous dialog snatches, while the bountiful red herrings kept me guessing the identity of the culprit to the very end.
I’m accustomed to finding unfamiliar words in Dunn’s novels. This one was no exception.
Celerity – swiftness in acting or moving
Snook - the gesture of thumbing one's nose in defiance or derision. Cock a snook at – used to indicate contempt by this gesture
January 25, 2021
I mean DUH
March 16, 2015
Usually I dislike it when crime-novels take ages till the first body appears (even more so in cozies somehow) and there were also one or two Lady Daisy novels that, in my opinion, suffered somewhat from taking a long time to 'set the scene' before the murder finally happens. Not so this one. I was very much glued to the pages even though I had a good idea who the victim would be a while before it happened. Nevertheless the whole story was intriguing enough to keep me reading.
However apart from guessing the victim correctly I also had pretty good suspicion about the murderer early on so I'll have to deduct a star for that but it's still one of the books in this series I see myself coming back to a couple of times.
However apart from guessing the victim correctly I also had pretty good suspicion about the murderer early on so I'll have to deduct a star for that but it's still one of the books in this series I see myself coming back to a couple of times.
March 26, 2021
I love this series, and this book was a special kind of fun. I've always liked Edgar and his wife, and got to know and like them more, along with meeting potential heirs after Edward. A good mystery and I especially liked Belinda, Derek, and the new cousin running around together. Nicely paced as usual, with the country seat setting and Edgar leading the children on butterfly and moth hunts.
December 17, 2022
I love this series but think that this is one of the best. Sizzling with suspicion yet in a light-hearted way, Developing the characters and their relationships with one another and widening the family group. This is about the fifth or sixth time I have read this book as part of the reading the entire series and I never tire of it.
March 8, 2018
In Heirs of the Body by Carola Dunn, Daisy Fletcher, younger daughter of the late Viscount Dalrymple, learns that the cousin who has inherited the title from her father has come to realize that, not having any children, he must locate the male-descended next of kin. Edgar has entrusted his solicitor, Tommy Pearson, whom he met through Daisy, with locating the descendants of the distant black sheep of the family. Four people come forward, and Cousin Edgar invites Raymond, a diamond merchant from South Africa; Vincent, a hotelier originally from France and now living in England; Ben, a 12- year mixed- race boy from Trinidad with his step- father and guardian, Frank; and Martha, the pregnant wife of Samuel, a merchant shipper from Jamaica, to his estate, Fairacres, for Edgar’s 50th birthday celebration. But a series of strange accidents keep happening to the different potential heirs, making both Daisy and Alec suspicious. Then, one of the four gets murdered.
Read the rest of this review and other fun, geeky articles at Fangirl Nation
Read the rest of this review and other fun, geeky articles at Fangirl Nation
July 16, 2018
Really enjoyed this installment. There is a bit of a slow start when all the potential heirs are just names but once everyone gathers at Fairacres, the story really takes off.
The Daisy Dalyrumple books have been my go to the last couple of years for comfort/cheering up reading and I startled to realize I've almost caught up with the series. Here's hoping Carola Dunn keeps writing them for years and years to come! Daisy is a tonic!
The Daisy Dalyrumple books have been my go to the last couple of years for comfort/cheering up reading and I startled to realize I've almost caught up with the series. Here's hoping Carola Dunn keeps writing them for years and years to come! Daisy is a tonic!
January 27, 2023
Thank God I don't have to worry about not getting an inheritance because I'm a woman. 🙄🙄 But this family reunion was WILD! 😂😂 Makes me real thankful for the lack of drama in my life. Great story as usual even though there were some times when I didn't fully grasp the what was going on because I'm neither British or is it the 1930s. 🤷🏽♀️😁
One thing is that this narrator should not venture beyond British voices. the Caribbean and French accents were non existent they were so bad.
One thing is that this narrator should not venture beyond British voices. the Caribbean and French accents were non existent they were so bad.
August 10, 2018
Another enjoyable Daisy & Alec adventure involved Daisy's entire family plus lots of kids searching out the perpetrator of several "accidents" & a death. The resolution was not exactly dramatic but the various threads were tied up nicely. My hope is that Ms. Dunn will keep producing these stories indefinitely.
May 18, 2019
A fun one where we get more of Daisy's snobbish Mother. Mum's discovery that there is a very real chance that the next heir might be not only from "the Colonies," but also possibly BLACK and illiterate, has her in a tizzy.
Despite the murder I thought this one one of the most light hearted and fun books of the series because of Mum's reactions.
Despite the murder I thought this one one of the most light hearted and fun books of the series because of Mum's reactions.
February 22, 2018
Fun. My first Daisy Dalrymple, now I have many more to read!
February 16, 2021
I didn’t care for the story that much this time, but I love the characters.
December 18, 2021
Bardzo fajna, szkoda że ostatnia przetłumaczona część
January 13, 2023
Complicated but enjoyable mystery with Daisy embroiled helping her cousin find his heir to the title.
March 25, 2022
A nice addition to the series but the clues were too easy and I discerned the perpetrators too soon to keep up the suspense.
April 29, 2024
When Daisy's brother Gervaise died in the Great War, the title of Lord Dalrymple went to a distant cousin, and Daisy was free to marry Scotland Yard inspector Alec. Now, though, with cousin Edgar having no descendants, there's a push to find the next heir to the title. The lawyer must go back to Daisy's great-grandfather, who had a ne'er-do-well son who married beneath him and took off for Jamaica. He apparently had a family, but there are no local records. Advertising for a possible heir, the lawyer Tommy Pearson assembles four likely candidates--French hotellier Vincent, South African diamond merchant Raymond, Jamaican sailor Samuel (in absentia--he's gone missing so his pregnant wife shows up instead), and twelve-year-old biracial Benjamin from Trinidad. They all gather for Lord Dalrymple's birthday while the lawyer examines their documents, and he and Daisy (as the only other true Dalrymple) try to sort out which is the true heir. Then accidents start to happen, and one of the candidates dies in suspicious circumstances. Are they all in danger?
I enjoy this series--yet another interwar, mostly light cozy mystery series with a daring heroine solving mysteries. This entry in the series was a lot of fun, with the manor house setting (complete with village fete) and cast of interesting characters. I much prefer this motive for murder than drugs or extremism or corporate greed--much more personal and interesting. It's hard to find light cozies that are well-written, so I'm glad this is a long series.
I enjoy this series--yet another interwar, mostly light cozy mystery series with a daring heroine solving mysteries. This entry in the series was a lot of fun, with the manor house setting (complete with village fete) and cast of interesting characters. I much prefer this motive for murder than drugs or extremism or corporate greed--much more personal and interesting. It's hard to find light cozies that are well-written, so I'm glad this is a long series.
January 4, 2014
The latest in the Daisy Dalrymple series is a fun romp in post WWI Great Britain. Daisy is an "Honorable" but with no money of her own. Her father died without making any provision for her in his will, her elder brother and fiance were both killed in the Great War. Her mother, the dowager Viscountess, lives on the estate that she formerly ruled. Now, Cousin Edgar, a former schoolmaster and his wife, Geraldine, live there. They are pleasant, middle class people who have adapted to their higher estate without pretense. Daisy likes them very much although she doesn't go to her former home very much. Now she has been asked to return to help sort out who will be the next heir. Edgar and Geraldine have no children of their own and are too advanced in age to have children. So an attorney has been making inquiries. He has settled on three men and a young boy who may be descended from Julian, a Dalrymple, who left Britain under a bit of a cloud. What starts out to be a vacation for Daisy, her husband Chief Inspector Alec Fletcher, and their children, becomes, of course, a murder investigation. It's a fun romp and an interesting look at what happens when there is no male heir.
May 6, 2018
England, late 1920's, upper class Honourable Daisy Dalrymple Fletcher gets involved in her family's search for an heir for the estate her father once ran. Starting at #21 in the series was probably not the best way to be introduced to Daisy and her husband, Detective Chief Inspector Alec Fletcher of Scotland Yard, but I don't think I would have been more interested even starting at the beginning. It was fun and entertaining, but the comparison on the back cover to the Maisie Dobbs series is very inaccurate. Same time period at the beginning of that series but very different types of women. I hate those comparisons just because they both solve crimes and are English women.
So in this story four male Dalrymples are located after advertising world wide for the next heir. The mystery is who is the real heir next in line, and who is trying to knock them off. Daisy does help solve the case, along with her husband, and some others, before too many people die.
So in this story four male Dalrymples are located after advertising world wide for the next heir. The mystery is who is the real heir next in line, and who is trying to knock them off. Daisy does help solve the case, along with her husband, and some others, before too many people die.
August 12, 2019
Years ago, Daisy's father was Lord Dalrymple. When he died, after his son was killed in World War I, a distant cousin inherited the title and estate. Now the new Lord, a childless former schoolmaster, wants to find his eventual heir. There are several claimants, and he asks the now Daisy Dalrymple Fletcher, to help him find out who is the descendent of the elder son. But someone seems willing to attack the claimants, and Daisy must involve her husband, a Scotland Yard inspector.
January 10, 2014
Not her strongest, to my mind. It gets off to a slow start introducing a cast of thousands and because there are so many they are cartoons and you can't get attached to any of them. the historical background is not filled in which seems like a missed oportunity to me. And in the end, I just didn't care who succeeded to the title, happy endings all 'round notwithstanding.
July 14, 2015
Carola Dunn is at her best right from the start. I just love Daisy! She had me laughing and smiling from beginning to end. And even though the mystery doesn't really kick in until about halfway through the book and I guessed the culprits early on, I didn't mind.
June 21, 2019
This had all sorts of fun family interaction -- mom, sister Violet, Belinda & Derek, so of course I was pleased.
Again my favorite parts are with Belinda, although this time I enjoyed knowing the ending and watching Ben & the current Lord Dalyrimple's attachment grow.
Again my favorite parts are with Belinda, although this time I enjoyed knowing the ending and watching Ben & the current Lord Dalyrimple's attachment grow.
June 7, 2019
It was a fun read, since the main characters are well-written.
But the plot was very, very thin. I can't imagine anyone who hadn't guessed the culprit very soon after all the 'cousins' were introduced.
But the plot was very, very thin. I can't imagine anyone who hadn't guessed the culprit very soon after all the 'cousins' were introduced.
May 6, 2019
This series continues to be interesting and adorable. This entry is full of red herrings but short on actual murder, which is ok by me.
December 3, 2014
Couldn't get into it.
October 31, 2021
Very confusing and huge amount of different characters. Seemed a little rambling at times. Not totally understandable.
December 16, 2024
Too many characters.
April 2, 2019
From the inside flap: "In the late 1920's in England, the Honorable daisy Dalrymple Fletcher is recruited to help her cousin Edgar, Lord Dalrymple. About to turn 50, his Lordship realizes it is time to find the proper heir to the viscountcy and estate. With the help of the family lawyer, who advertises Empire-wide, they come up with four credible claimants. Edgar invites would-be heirs of the family to Fairacres, the family estate.
With the help of her husband, Scotland yard Detective Alec Fletcher, Daisy must uncover the truth and find the rightful heir before it is too late."
Well, I obviously read this out-of-order.... It was a fast, easy & satisfying read which held my interest...
In the meantime, daisy is asked to be the family's representative at the lawyer's interviews with the claimants. The four potential heirs reside in every corner of the world and come from all walks of society. However, one of them seems to have disappeared from thre face of the earth - whether permanently or not, no one knows. While the various claims are still being evaluated, the other three descend upon Fairacres, where a series of unfortunate accidents begins to occur. But are they really accidents, or is someone truing to eliminate the competition while there still is time?
Obviously I read this out-of-order.. but it was a fast & easy read that held my interest.
With the help of her husband, Scotland yard Detective Alec Fletcher, Daisy must uncover the truth and find the rightful heir before it is too late."
Well, I obviously read this out-of-order.... It was a fast, easy & satisfying read which held my interest...
In the meantime, daisy is asked to be the family's representative at the lawyer's interviews with the claimants. The four potential heirs reside in every corner of the world and come from all walks of society. However, one of them seems to have disappeared from thre face of the earth - whether permanently or not, no one knows. While the various claims are still being evaluated, the other three descend upon Fairacres, where a series of unfortunate accidents begins to occur. But are they really accidents, or is someone truing to eliminate the competition while there still is time?
Obviously I read this out-of-order.. but it was a fast & easy read that held my interest.
June 27, 2023
This is the 21st book in a series, so clearly this would not be the place to start for someone who had not read them before. But I will say, it is a great series that has grown even better over time, so I do encourage trying it.
For those already familiar, I thought this was an especially strong entry. Back when we first met Daisy, we learned she was a noblewoman of tight financial resources because her brother was killed in the war and her father then died in the influenza epidemic of 1918 before changing his will to provide for Daisy, who had previously been assumed to be provided for by her brother. But after her father’s death his title of Viscount and the accompanying property passed to a distant cousin.
In this book, the plot centers around the cousin and his wife launching a search to identify the next heir in line. The laws of male primogeniture apply, so they are looking for an eldest son of an eldest son in the line. It turns out that a couple generations back a black sheep son had impregnated the neighbors’ French governess and the family refused to accept her as his wife. So the couple had married and moved to Jamaica to make a life for themselves. Now it seems the next heir is probably from that line of the family. Four potential heirs have been identified, and they all come to England to make their cases and of course, chaos and adventures ensue.
For those already familiar, I thought this was an especially strong entry. Back when we first met Daisy, we learned she was a noblewoman of tight financial resources because her brother was killed in the war and her father then died in the influenza epidemic of 1918 before changing his will to provide for Daisy, who had previously been assumed to be provided for by her brother. But after her father’s death his title of Viscount and the accompanying property passed to a distant cousin.
In this book, the plot centers around the cousin and his wife launching a search to identify the next heir in line. The laws of male primogeniture apply, so they are looking for an eldest son of an eldest son in the line. It turns out that a couple generations back a black sheep son had impregnated the neighbors’ French governess and the family refused to accept her as his wife. So the couple had married and moved to Jamaica to make a life for themselves. Now it seems the next heir is probably from that line of the family. Four potential heirs have been identified, and they all come to England to make their cases and of course, chaos and adventures ensue.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 174 reviews