Daisy McDare and the Deadly Secret Affair is book 7 in the Daisy McDare cozy mystery series, and my first introduction to the books. I need to say that I received a free copy of the book in return for an honest review.
Business aside, I have to say that I enjoyed the book very much. I regularly read the more technological mysteries and thrillers, but sometimes it's nice to get back to the less technological stories a lá Jessica Fletcher from the "Mystery She Wrote" franchise. This type of work plus the original Sherlock Holmes fare is what got me started reading mysteries in the first place, and finding a good, new series helps to keep me coming back for more.
For those of you who don't want to see any spoilers, stop here. Suffice it to say that this is a good book, well worth the read.
For those already familiar with the series, Daisy is invited to the Vancouver book release of her old college roommate and friend of 15 years, Chloe Wilson. Chloe has written up one of Daisy' s earlier cases (see Daisy McDare and the Deadly Art Affair) as a novel, and invites her to the debut. Unfortunately, like Jessica Fletcher, where Daisy goes, trouble is likely to follow.
Philandering Hank Hammond, Chloe' s publisher, is a bad egg who has made innumerable enemies in the people who surround him. What should have been a happy book launch party for Chloe quickly goes awry when Hank has fights with his wife, his mistress, the business partner jumping ship for a more lucrative business opportunity, and the overworked publishing assistant, so very loudly at the party in the span of just a couple of hours from the time that Daisy arrives at the affair.
When Hank is found dead the next day, Daisy finds herself drawn into the center of the mystery as a witness to the goings on with Hank during the book launch. Not only is Daisy coming up against some of the suspects in Hank' s murder, but she finds herself butting heads with Detective Stern, the no-nonsense Vancouver police officer who views Daisy' s involvement in the case as an unwelcome intrusion.
I'll leave it up to you to read the story for yourself to figure out the guilty party. I can say that I can well imagine fans of the series cheering enthusiastically for the development between Daisy and Gavin at the end of the book.
In general, I feel confident recommending the book (and by extension, the series) to readers in the Christian and teen audiences. The book isn't overly gory or doesn't present characters that are involved in situations that are steamy. The language is also quite good, not having to rely on rough language to get across concepts due to a lack of vocabulary. It's also good to see a heroine that comes from a normal walk of life and doesn't have gazillions of dollars to begin with. Sometimes it's nice to see someone more like us common folks who has understandable problems like paying monthly mortgage payments and finding realistic ways to do it.
I also appreciated the puns on some of the place and people names in the book. A couple, like the Detective's (Stern, for someone who was so serious about his job? Good one!), really got a groan. All in all, a nice diversion.