Dorothy Daisy, A Fiona Gavelle Mystery

Fiona Gavelle Mysteries #3

by Una Tiers

Fiona sees red flags and enormous daisies with a new client who alternates between sweet and threatening. Inconsistencies come up and then the client dies. At the cemetery the tide turns. You have to read this to believe what they find in the house.

Genres: Humor, Fiction

112 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 17, 2014

About the author

Judge vs Pearl has been in progress for a while. I am nearly ready to ask for beta readers. Let me know especially if you wrote a review for one of my books. Send me an e-mail
una@unatiers.com

I've also started writing Judge vs Wheels. I'm at 8000 words and happy as a bug.

I grew up in Chicago and have always been an avid reader. By the seventh grade, she had read most of the books in her grade school library. Once a month she was allowed to spend a Friday at the main branch of the Chicago Public Library. In high school, she conducted most of her research there. One of her favorite projects was an essay on Scarborough Fair/Canticle by Simon and Garfunkel.
As a practicing attorney, she wrote hundreds of articles for consumers and other lawyers.
One fateful day a judge threatened to arrest her. The opposing counsel made a deal and they failed to keep up their end of it. It was a lie.
That day she wrote for several hours and the story evolved into Judge vs Nuts.
Her stories are about the law with large motions of humor. om the perspective of an attorney.

Una Tiers is the pen name I created because judges die in most of my mysteries and they don't have a sense of humor.

Yes, it means something cryptic and if you guess it correctly, I will admit it to you alone.

I hope you will meet and love some of my characters. They aren't always well-behaved, but I love them dearly.

You can read about Fiona Gavelle on my webpage. https://unatiers.com

Note that although the Fiona Gavelle books are a series, they can be read and enjoyed in any order.

Thank you to all the readers.

Reviews

[Una Tiers · Rating 5 out of 5]

Author review. This is my favorite book to date. This is also the first time the characters took over and ran with their own ideas. The result is a good pace and fun read, even for me.
Equally important with the entertainment is an underlying message about aging and planning.

[J.P. Willson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have had this book on my kindle for ages and just never got around to it, honestly I'm not even sure why I first downloaded it. Today I clicked on it and I am glad to say, although it was a very quick read (less than an hour) it was a well written and often humorous little tale that had a few surprises for such a short read. Quite apparently the author does know the law, which of course prompted some of those surprises.
A pleasant quick read I would certainly recommend.

[Mark · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had this novella on my e-reader for some time and it was about time to give it read.

Fiona Gavelle is a Lawyer and she did not finish her law education with excellent marks so she does not get the big offices of the great opportunities and has to make do with the chances she gets. The description that is being given on her daily business does not show in any US Lawyer series, there is no Denny Crane of other brilliant mind involved.
Just Dorothy Daisy an older woman who wants to talk about her will and is interested to find out what to do best. Fiona gives her an honest opinion and her work mirrors that. It is then that strange things start to happen and the client disappears and that social services get involved and that Fiona gets hassled. What happens to the client and why is she send to a mental hospital and get kidnapped. (No Driving miss Daisy gag, really I was disappointed somehow)
A nice little story that showed some skill and knowledge and some scary involvement by the authorities that is not easily explained.

A nice book to get acquainted to this writer.

[Charlotte Liebel · Rating 5 out of 5]

UNA TIERS - DOROTHY DAISY: A FIONA GAVELLE MYSTERY [C.M.Liebel Review]

A neighbor calls a slew of attorneys, by request of Miss Daisy, and mysterious events catch the novice Fiona Gavelle off-guard upon her response to prepare a Will. Una Tiers authors the unique tale: DOROTHY DAISY: A FIONA GAVELLE MYSTERY filled with diverse legal documents required to fulfill the quirky demands of Miss Daisy.

The comic whodunnit murder-mystery engages the reader in hide and seek hideouts, ambulance responders, eccentric squabbles, family histories, sibling rivalries and deaths.

A bunch of elderly do-gooders thwart efforts of Department of Aging service providers who try to remove Miss Daisy from her home and plant her elsewhere. The crafty old lady is not to be trusted. She hires Fiona one day then allows one or another of her neighbors to hide her and Fiona cannot get signatures. Miss Daisy appears timid and distrusting one minute then bold and demanding the next.

What is Miss Daisy hiding? There is little she shares about herself. Even when asked about her siblings she would rather go off on a toot about the family’s daisies. Dorothy Daisy keeps her neighbors Emma and Martha baffled. Tenants living at her house haven’t a clue. Her doctor cannot help. ~ Counsel for Department of Aging, Fiona and the others appear in court.

Fiona finds a friend in Andrew at the Law Library who provides assistance and a couple of beers. The next day the librarian sends her home with books she can actually understand. She is taking a crash-course on the guardianship and 3rd party transfer of real estate; a deed placing the property into the trust.

Dorothy comes out of hiding for one day and craves a lunch you know might make you deathly ill. Well, no, the food does not kill her.

Do not despair if you think this story is about to end. Until now, nobody has been allowed inside the Dorothy Daisy house. Meetings have always been held in her garden setting. Siblings who once existed are cloaked in shadows. What happened to them? When did they leave?

Now ~ Get ready for the shocking surprise that greets audiences. Details of the extended family tend to get complicated. DOROTHY DAISY: A Fiona Gavelle Mystery by Una Tiers. Available at Amazon Kindle. This is a verified purchase.

[Dianne · Rating 4 out of 5]

We all need to face two things about life, death and taxes. Dorothy Daisy has decided at about 90 years old, perhaps she should put her affairs in order, because she’s not getting any younger. Enter Fiona Gavelle, attorney-at-law, not a high power attorney with all the flash glitz, but a hardworking woman who works for her clients, no matter how eccentric they are. Meet the client at their home, in their garden? Sure, why not!? But things are not as they seem, and this easy estate planning venture has Fiona entangled in more than she bargained for, from the Jeckel and Hyde client to a kidnapping, will Fiona ever get an easy case?

Dorothy Daisy by Una Tiers is a delightfully clever journey that could very well serve as a reminder for those who need to get things in order, to do so, while being completely entertaining along the way! Humor, great dialogue and lots of quirkiness abound as Fiona tells us her tale with ease. Ms. Tiers has captured the heart of a mystery and given it her own little twists that will confound even those well-practiced in predicting the ending! A quick read that is well-planned, stuffed to overfilling with plot, while being light-hearted simply charming!


I received this copy from Una Tiers in exchange for my honest review.

Series: Fiona Gavelle Mysteries - Book 3
Publication Date: March 17, 2014
Publisher: Gavelle Press
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Print Length: 94 pages
Available from: Amazon
Reviewed for: http://tometender.blogspot.com

[Mollydee · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this short story.

It started a little slow for me but soon made up for that. Dorothy Daisy was a 90 something year old woman who just wanted her will done and her house taken care of. Probate I think they call it. I am not the attorney. But the attorney here was great. This started out as as simple bit of paperwork that turned into a big mystery.

Daisy was very interesting as she was mean and than nice five minutes later. She had a meddling neighbor and was scared to loose her house. The house was owned together with Daisy's siblings who were long gone from this earth. So paperwork had to be in order for her to keep the house. Enter our attorney Fiona Gavelle. Dorothy had some strange ways about her but the Fiona got used to it. And Daisy trusted Fiona. Just at the point where the papers were almost done, something strange happened.

And the story got very interesting.

And oh boy the ending! It was such a buildup and the end was nothing like you will expect which made it all the more awesome. That is all I can say because I was blown away. It was so methodically written that it really captured you.

What I loved was the little one liners that were so funny and subtle. The characters really had their own personalites. I think what also made this such a great story was that it was plausible. Something I usually do not pay attention to in a book ie whether I can suspend belief or
not. But this was so interesting because it could really happen.

I have read one other story by this author and recommend both books. This is a author to keep an eye on for sure.

[LLona Cunningham · Rating 5 out of 5]

My favorite attorney Fiona has received a request from Dorothy Daisy's neighbor to assist the 90-yr-old with estate preparation. Fortunately for the reader, nothing is ever that simple in Fiona's life and her new client is no exception.

Miss Daisy's eccentricity is a wonderful backdrop for conflict with the neighbors and with the city's 'Senior Care' watchdogs who accuse Fiona of trying to cheat her elderly client. How Fiona works through everything is both entertaining and educational - she explains the legal quirks that make something necessary, but only enough to help the reader understand her decisions.


The story is told by Fiona in first person, and the pace is conversational description with less scene setting and character building than would be in a full length novel, but it works very well. Be ready for a surprise twist at the end that might leave you wishing it was a full length novel.

[Alexandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

I first want to thank the author Una Tiers for sending me this ebook to read!! I really enjoyed this story! There lots of twists and turns, especially towards the end that made me go WHOA what????
Definitely kept me trying to guess what was going on all the way to the end! There was lots of different Court and lawyer language that at first I kinda got lost on but most of the time it was nicely explained and I thought that was really great!
I would definitely read another book by Miss Una Tiers!

[Betty · Rating 5 out of 5]

A short cozy tale with a lock room mystery. Fiona receives a call to come to her bank. Arriving she finds that a body has been found in the vault. The victim was seen leaving and the vault is on timers. Fiona needs to find out how Carol got into the vault and who kill her before one of her friends is arrested for the murder.

Full disclosure: I received a free copy from the author for an honest review.

[Terry Parrish · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a fun book to read. Dorothy was hoot, and hard to keep up with. Had a strange family, but then the neighbors were even stranger. I really liked it and wish it was a full novel. No telling what else Dorothy could have gotten into. I would recommend this fun, quick read to everyone who likes mystery and laughter in the same book.

[Peter Maughan · Rating 5 out of 5]

More Please.

Dorothy Daisy is a short tale packed with warmth, wit and a quirky charm - and with a twist I did not see coming.
All Una Tiers's characters walk off the page, and none more so than her protagonist lawyer Fiona Gavelle. This is a character who will, I predict, have readers - and I will be among them - coming back for more.

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dorothy Daisy is a fun adventure with lawyer Fiona Gavelle.
Fiona gets a request to help 90 year old Daisy get her estate in order.
Miss Daisy is eccentric and Fiona gets more than she bargained for.
Fun and unusual characters make up this fast paced story with unexpected twists.

[Colleen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Typing a long flippin review and having the whole thing disappear. This is the 2nd time in a row this has happened.

[Celia Conrad · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dorothy Daisy is a novella and the 3rd offering in the Fiona Gavelle mystery series. I received a copy from the author and I have not had the benefit of reading the first two books in the series. However, in my opinion this story stands very well alone and, even without having read the first two books, I had a good feel for the protagonist Fiona Gavelle and her character. I rather liked her quirkiness and witticisms.

The author states that she writes “cosy” legal mysteries with a humorous element. I enjoyed the legal content and the somewhat comical nature of the story line. But in any legal mystery there always has to be some dark undercurrent and by the end of the book it is evident that this is actually a black comedy with sinister connotations. Clearly in Fiona Gavelle’s world things aren’t always what they seem or people for that matter…so best not to take anything or anyone on face value.

All in all a very enjoyable read and I will definitely read more from this author.

[Cindy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh, Dorothy Daisy, what a fun book! Not only is it a good mystery but it also has plenty of humorous situations. I read it in one sitting since it is not very long and I was totally into the story.

There were lots of twists and turns and I really had no clue what was going to happen. The author did a great job at making Fiona a very likable character. I look forward to reading more of her adventures!

I would recommend this to anyone who is looking for an entertaining cozy mystery!

[Maria Riegger · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great read! An intriguing story that highlights important issues attorneys face regarding elder law, such as, who determines when an elderly individual is legally incapable of handling his/her own affairs, and how is such determination made?

Well-written and fast-paced read!

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not bad

This is the first short I have read by this author. The characters lost me on the beginning, but I was able to put them where they belonged. Can be read while waiting in doctor's office.

[Jeanine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another fun Fiona Gavelle book. You'll remember her from Judge vs Nuts, now she's back with a new case...with a nice little twist.

[Cathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I won this book. I found it light and humorous. It had a twist I did not expect. I liked the book overall.

[Pamela Mclaren · Rating 1 out of 5]

I have to say this is the thinest story line I have ever read. I'm a fast reader and I read this in less than two hours and kept wondering what was the point of the whole thing. A lawyer wrote this? My eye! This is supposed to be about a less than average attorney who gets a call from a old woman's neighbor who needs estate assistance.

First -- what attorney would come out on the say so of a neighbor?
Second -- she has serious doubts about the elderly woman when she first meets her, so why does she not call city, county health authorities to check the poor woman out?
Third -- the city representatives are described as complete incompetent idiots, really?
Fourth -- Fiona, the attorney, calls a friend of hers who happens to be a judge and calls him judge? Really? Thankfully, she did not call her ex-boyfriend, a cop, detective ...

The whole thing ends with what I assume is supposed to be a plot twist but its as nonsensical as all the rest of the book. A complete waste of time.

[Gabriel Boutros · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a light-hearted, at times humorous, book about a not overly-competent lawyer, struggling to get her practice off the ground while dealing with a peculiar client who needs her help to prepare a will. I enjoyed the little details of this lawyer's world, but I found the plot pretty thin. It seemed to ramble around, and I never felt that the story was building toward any conclusion. I learned a lot about wills and estates, probate courts, guardianship, etc. It's clearly a very complicated area of the law, but the story got a bit too technical for my taste, although there is a short, but compelling, courtroom scene where the main character has to think fast on her feet. While the ending of the book was quite surprising, the final pages felt very different, almost disconnected, from everything that came before it. It's too bad, because the events revealed at the end were more interesting than all the story that had come before. I hadn't even realized that there was any actual mystery in this book until those final pages, by which time the mystery had been solved.

[Lori Henrich · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not sure what it was about this but I didn't really care for it. It seemed to disjointed or maybe it was the writing style. All I know is that I didn't think it was that great.

Fiona shows up at the home of Dorothy Daisy at the request of a neighbor or at least that is what it seems. Dorothy acts strangely when Fiona arrives and the other meetings they have are just as strange.

[Gail Baugniet · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting and humorous legal mystery.


All lawyer Fiona wants to do is help an elderly woman get her financial estate in order. Instead she finds herself in the middle of a dysfunctional family ordeal.

[D.L. Williams · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting story, I like the main character, Lawyer Fiona Gavelle. No matter what you think about the character, she does try. In Dorothy Daisy, she gets stuck in the middle of strange happenings in a strange family.