A Mourning Wedding

Daisy Dalrymple #13

by Carola Dunn, Lucy Rayner (Narrator)

The inimitable Daisy Dalrymple Fletcher and her husband Detective Chief Inspector Alec Fletcher seem to get a reprieve from their sleuthing duties when they are invited to the wedding of their friend, Lucy Fotheringay.Lucy's grandfather is hosting the ceremony at his beautiful estate and so it promises to be a typical affair with hordes of gossipy aunts and other colorful but not necessarily pleasant relatives. Daisy meets all these characters and observes the ensuing familial fraternization with a certain kind of amusing nonchalance. That is, until Lucy's great aunt is found strangled to death in her bed. Lucy, in the meantime, has arranged to meet her betrothed in the conservatory, but when she arrives she finds him trying to revive her uncle, who has died-or has he been murdered? And just like that a normally celebratory occasion turns suspicious. Now Daisy must sift through a throng of relatives-aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents-once wedding guests and now murder suspects. And she must find the killer quickly before another family member becomes a corpse.

Genres: Mystery, Historical Fiction, Fiction, Cozy Mystery, Historical, Audiobook, Historical Mystery

11 pages, Audiobook

First published October 1, 2004

About the author

Carola 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)

Reviews

[Lynx · Rating 3 out of 5]

Whenever I am in the mood to travel to 1920's England I pick up a Dalrymple cozy. With so many in the series it goes without saying some are stronger then others but I find they give me exactly what I'm looking for. Dunn packs in so many characters with so many secrets it can be hard to follow if you aren't paying attention, but I find this only strengthens the mystery and this one kept me guessing all the way through.

While I do get enjoyment from the series that doesn't mean I'm not rolling my eyes at some points. There are two specific elements I know will come with each book, which I try my best to ignore. Daisy, who is a very sharp, strong woman most of the time always has these damsel moments of feeling faint or other cliche "female" moments of vulnerability that frustrate me. The other infuriating element is how her husband, the Chief Inspector, is always allowing her to help with the investigations but does so only after complaining about it. We are on the 13th book, that's 13 cases she's helped him solve. While he does admit that she is smart and helpful, he's always sighing or shaking his head or trying to convince her to go away. It reminds of I Love Lucy, how Ricky is constantly trying to squash Lucy's talents even though she is clearly a star. I do my best to ignore this, but the books would be much stronger if Dunn let go of these redundant character flaws.


3.5/5 Stars

[Karen ⊰✿ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Book 13 and I think I have run out of things to say in my reviews :)
I keep reading them as they are easy reads, great time period in the 1920s, and Daisy is a fun character.
Recommended for any cozy mystery readers!

[Sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

Too sweet for me.

Better choices are Jacqueline Winspear (Maisie Dobbs series) for her unflinching portrayal of the difficult times in post-World War I, especially for "surplus" women, and for her exploration of class issues.

For a "lower-class policeman marries upper-class woman," see Anne Perry's Thomas and Charlotte Pitt series, which is set perhaps 20 years earlier. In that series, Charlotte must sacrifice her way of life to marry Thomas and then moves, with difficulty, between the world of her relatives (upperclass) and her husband (not-so-much).

In this series, Daisy marries a policeman, which is not quite the thing, but the consequences are minimal, if any. She continues with her friends, her husband is invited to all the right parties, and things generally sail along.

Oh, and Daisy has this sudden leap of intuition to solve the mystery, which UGH.

Meanwhile, the characters are a bit flat. The plot and the setting have potential, but they are not fully explored.

[Jim · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good twisty mystery that Daisy is, as usual, not only in the middle of, but instrumental in figuring out. You'd think that would get old, but it doesn't. This one takes place in Lucy's grandfather's (great-grand?) huge estate where she is supposed to get married. All the family is there & it's a HUGE cast of characters. That was a problem for me. There were just too many to keep proper track of, but it was fun since the main theme is how the high & mighty gentry have as many cracks in their lives as the rest of us. It starts with the death of an old aunt who makes a hobby of collecting secrets & spirals out of control from there. Alec, who was supposed to be a guest, is again put into the unenviable position of ferreting out their secrets in an attempt to solve the crime.

All in all, it was a lot of fun. It might have been better in paper since I might have been able to track all the characters better, but I adore the audio versions. Great narrator, so long as she stays away from American, especially male American voices.

[Aarathi Burki · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a gripping novel with loads of mystery and i couldn't guess the murderer till the very end.As usual Daisy and Alec were top knotch. Only negative for me was that there were too many characters and any number of brothers sisters aunts uncles that it was difficult to keep track .Looking forward to next book in the series

[Mahayana Dugast · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm on a Harlan Coben binge right so reading anything like this is unfair to poor Daisy Dalrymple, which might be more palatable any other time ...

[Sarah Hearn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Daisy is off to the wedding of her former flat mate, Lucy, at the vast home of her grandfather. Soon, however, relatives start dropping like flies. Enter Daisy's husband DCI Fletcher, but even his presence doesn't stop the carnage. Who dunnit? This book is as fun to read as all the Daisy Dalrymple stories. Fast paced, full of interesting characters, and , set in post-WWI England, the speech patterns ("Righty-ho!") of that era.

[Lori · Rating 3 out of 5]

Unfortunately, there are so many characters in this book, even with the handy-dandy "who descended from whom" chart in the beginning, it's still almost impossible to tell them all apart. Which is such a shame, because Daisy's former roommate, Lucy, is featured in this book -- it's supposed to be Lucy's wedding at her grandfather's grand estate. Except that her aunt (Lady Eva) who's known for collecting every possible rumor about her family and recording them is hideously strangled the day before the wedding. And not long afterwards, Lady Eva's botanical brother (next in line for the earldom) is also found dead - by Binkie, Lucy's fiancee. And then Binkie is subjected to an almost terminal concussion!

Of course, Daisy is Lucy's matron of honor and in the house from the first murder. Lucy's grandfather, the old earl, phones the local gentry constable and asks him to request Alec. And so, rather than a country weekend celebrating a wedding, Daisy and Alec are hot on the trail of a slippery murderer - or is it a conspiracy? But again, with so many relatives who live at the mansion or are present for the wedding... virtually no one liked Lady Eva and everyone knew that she knew their secrets... well, the whole thing is quite puzzling. And the fact that while Alec, Sgt Tring, and Ernie Piper are present investigating Lady Eva's murder, another murder and an attempted take place is almost too much.

In the tangle of people, alibis, motives, and general family quarrels, Daisy finally comes upon a thought that might just help them solve the murder: what if Lady Eva wasn't the intended victim?
================
So confusing! Not much chance to figure this one out ahead of time, which almost puts this book in the "author cheat" category. (By that, I mean the author makes it impossible for the readers to figure it out on their own by withholding vital information until the last minute, so that their detective can resolve the case.)

And Daisy's pregnant! Although when the book begins and Lucy asks her to be in her wedding, Daisy remarks that with her morning sickness, Lucy might have to support her down the aisle. When Daisy's at the manse, her morning sickness seems to vanish, so it seems reasonable to think that Daisy's just leaving her 1st trimester. But in the next book (which takes place in the month following this book), Daisy is only 3 months pregnant?! OK, obviously this author has never been pregnant nor been too close to many pregnant women!

While the overall story and mystery were good, there were just too many characters and too many possibilities in this book. While Alec and his crew take a lot of grief over how long it takes them to sort it all through, they accomplished quite a lot in a very little amount of time. Unfortunately, until Daisy's brainstorm, they're unable to narrow the suspects down past six!

Lucy's moods seem to swing to and fro like the wind. One minute she's marrying Binkie (who now wants to be called Gerald thinking that Lucy cannot take him seriously with such a nickname), and the next she's calling it off. Poor Daisy is trying to be the good friend and sort out Lucy, but of course, the entire house is trying to get Daisy's ear. If Alec spends more than 10 minutes at a time with her through the entire book, it's an accident.

A lot of possibility, but a lot of muddy waters make this book not as enjoyable as it could or should be.

[Helen · Rating 3 out of 5]

You would think a large family could gather for a wedding in 1924 without anyone dying, but no, of course not, not when Daisy (Dalrymple) Fletcher is invited. The bride is Daisy's best friend Lucy (Lucinda to her mother) and the groom is "Binkie"(Lord Gerald Bincombe) whom Lucy has known since they were children. There are 600 invited for the wedding breakfast but fortunately we only have to deal with the few permanent residents and a half dozen early arriving family members. The cast of characters is complex enough, though, that MS Dunn has added a family tree at the beginning so we can keep people straight.
Things begin with an elderly great aunt/grandmother strangled in her bed during the night. Daisy's poor husband DCI Alec Fletcher of Scotland Yard is specifically requested by Lucy's grandfather so he has to pack up several days earlier than he'd intended and dive into a murder investigation instead of the pleasant summer weekend Daisy had promised. Lady Eva, the victim, has spent her life noting down bits of gossip and rumour which she then tries to confirm before adding them to the alphabetized journals she keeps in a locked drawer in her desk.
We're dealing with the aristocracy here, although some family members are just barely in the category, many "just" Honorables like Daisy herself. Nevertheless, the police officers feel the pressure to a) find the murderer quickly so the house can be rid of police, b) not involve any of the family in serious questioning even though they all know the guilty party has to be a family member, and c) keep the whole thing quiet so as not to drag the family through the mud. It is all managed but not before harmless Uncle Aubrey dies of a possible heart attack.
Through it all Daisy is trying to decide what Lucy's problem is. She declares herself unwilling to marry Gerald, but doesn't know why, doesn't want to face the furor a refusal will create, but can't face this huge wedding, is grateful that Gerald will "allow" her to keep up her photography business, but doesn't seem to want to put herself in his hands.
The number of young women who found themselves having to support themselves after the Great War was quite large, between the number of young and not so young widows and the number of young women unable to find a suitable husband. Even Alec comments to himself that Daisy would never have married an older man such as himself with a daughter as well if the pickings in her own class and age group had not become so thin. There is a sort of frenzy among the unmarried women of this period, a fear that they will have to grow old without a family of their own and will spend their time caring for aging parents and doing "good works." Ione is the visible example in this story, a woman in dowdy clothes wearing badly knitted jumpers in ugly colours.
There can't have been too many households like Haverhill left by 1924, although they seem to have cut back on staff like most other establishments. The evening coffee comes out of a thermos because staff "these days" seem to expect their evenings free. Everything is changing and the shocking arrangements of marriages such as one character's which was contracted because the mistress he'd supported was past the child bearing age so he had to marry someone else able to give him an heir are beginning to be a thing of the past (although unfortunate examples do persist.)
This was a good read, even if a little far fetched.

[Victoria Ellis · Rating 3 out of 5]

The thirteenth book in the Daisy Dalrymple series, a cosy murder mystery series set in the 1920s, takes place at the wedding of Daisy's best friend, Lucy. When Lucy's Great Aunt Eva, known for collecting gossip on the members of the family, is killed the whole family comes under suspicion. This was a nice mystery because Carola Dunn made it really difficult to discount anybody. Even in the final few chapters, I was still changing my mind about who the murderer could be. There are a lot of characters, all members of Lucy's family, and there is a family tree in the begining to help you with identification. However, you don't need to memorise the conncetions and I found that you could just pick it up as you read. I appreciated that it was a secluded location murder so that the suspect pool was restricted. Unfortunately, the ending was a little abrupt which was a shame but overall a nice addition to the series.

[Sarah AF · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not my favourite! The mysteries which are solved through a revolving door of Alec questioning people - who are usually insistent that Daisy *must* accompany them - always lack a certain dynamism. By the end, it was just hard to really care who had done it and the manufactured drama between Lucy and Binky only ever felt like it had one conclusion and so it proved...

[Debbe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Entertaining and a mystery that was not too predictable.

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

In the 1920s, Daisy Fletcher's best friend Lucy is getting married with all the pomp and circumstance that comes from nobility marrying nobility. Daisy joins Lucy at the family manor, along with more stray family members than Daisy can keep straight, and everything seems to be going well until Lucy's great aunt Eva--an irrepressible gossip who kept records of all her scandalous information--is found strangled in her bed. Naturally everyone turns to Daisy's husband Alec, of Scotland Yard, but the going is tough with all the suspects being noble and peripatetic about the house...and then there's the next murder.

This is a classic British manor house murder mystery, and is a great example of the genre ala Christie. Suspects with quirky personalities and histories abound, and mixed in is Lucy's indecision about marrying Binkie after all. It all makes for a frothy confection of golden-age style murder mystery.

[EmmyT · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm 83% in and may not finish. At about 50%, I was already rolling my eyes at the number of times we had to hear who was in the drawing room for tea, who was in the dining room, who was in the hall. You get it. Repeated a couple of times fine. This wasn't that. Not in any particular order: Daisy rattles off the list to herself, list is told to Alec, Alec says write the list, Daisy tells Lucy the list, Lucy writes a list, Daisy writes a list, Lucy and Daisy compare the list. people interrupt the list making, so list of suspects gets repeated again. Alec decides he needs to get the list, Alex thinks about his list, Alec sends Tom to get the list, Daisy goes over the list with Tom, Tom reads the list, Tom gives list to Alec so he can read the list. Alec reads list to Ernie, Alec asks the Earl for his list. Alec wonders what are the times attached to list, and here we go again. Someone with OCD could tell us the number of times the same list of who and where is repeated.

[Argum · Rating 4 out of 5]

Daisy is attending Lucy's wedding at her grandfathers home. Lucy is overwhelmed by her mother's big giant hoopla and all the relatives. When her great aunt, a great collector of gossip - she was the one who outed the Indian 'wife' in the last book, is found murdered in her bed, of course Alec gets involved. Was she killed because of something she knew and what was it? When another relative winds up dead the pressure is on. Resolution was quite the twist and fun way of solving the tangled threads. WAY TOO MANY People to get straight though. I eventually did and was quite pleased that the killer was who deserved to be the bad guy, but even with the family tree in the front it was a lot

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Daisy Fletcher agrees to help her best friend Lucy get married, and Lucy's grandfather the Earl of Haverhill is giving her a bang-up wedding, with dozens of bridesmaids and lots of relatives, despite Lucy's preference for a smaller, simpler affair. When the Earl's sister is found murdered, Daisy's Scotland Yard husband and his crew are involved. Before they can settle down in the outsized castle, a second murder follows. Daisy knows she should stay out of it, but with even Lucy a suspect, she can't help listening to the talk going around among the numerous guests.

[Deirdre · Rating 3 out of 5]

By now I'd be nervous around Daisy Fletcher, she's starting to be a bit like her fellow sleuth, Jessica Fletcher, if she goes somewhere there's about to be murder.
 
Daisy is going to her best friend's wedding and things take a twist when Lucy's great-aunt is found strangled in her bed. Then bodies start to accumulate and almost everybody there has a motive or two.
 
Entertaining but if I ended up at an even with her I'd be inclined to leave as soon as I found out.

[Sylvia Abrams · Rating 3 out of 5]

A Mourning Wedding is a typical English country house murder. Part of the Daisy Dalrymple series, Daisy is to be a guest at her friend, Lucinda's wedding, when a series of murders occur. Alec Fletcher, Daisy's husband, is called in from Scotland Yard to investigate. This is the first Carola Dunn mystery I have read. It is fast passed and an enjoyable read, good for the treadmill or an outdoor walk as an audiobook.

[George · Rating 5 out of 5]

#13 in the Honorable Daisy Dalrymple (and her husband Scotland Yard Detective chief Inspector Alec Fletcher), magazine writer and heiress (no inheritance due to British entailed system) mystery series. It is June, 1924 and Daisy, now pregnant, is at the large country estate of her best friend and former roommate’s, Lucy, family to help Lucy prepare for her very large wedding when murder happens.

[CatBookMom · Rating 3 out of 5]

I still don't know why it took me so many tries to finish reading this. I think it's the incredible quantity of relatives that are involved in this gathering for a very-high society wedding, so there are lots and lots of names (many of them Fotheringay) to try to keep track of. It's a decent mystery, worth reading.

[Kim · Rating 3 out of 5]

Found it very difficult to get into this one and found the number of family members and the many different titles and relationships confusing.

[Toast · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not up to the usual standard. Too many Lords and Ladies, Right Hons., etc. And, I didn't believe the set up either. No not her best. Shame.
Toast

[Susanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

The thirteenth novel in the brilliant Daisy Dalrymple mystery series finds Daisy at her former roommate Lucy's ancestral home, Haverhill, amid her very extended family of Lords and Ladies in preparation for Lucy's wedding to Lord Gerald ("Binkie"). But the murder of Lady Eva, who was a well-known collector of gossip on everyone in the family, causes Daisy to have to call Alec--Detective Chief Inspector Alec Fletcher--up to Haverhill several days before he had planned to arrive. As usual, people flock to Daisy to tell her their innermost secrets--it's those guileless blue eyes, says Alec--which aid Alec and his team in solving not one but multiple murders and attempted murders.

I adore this series; it's light and frothy, filled with all sorts of British slang of the mid-1920s, and Daisy's somewhat loopy yet somehow correct insights both annoys and amazes Alec while Sergeant Tring and DC Piper both believe, as usual, that Daisy can do no wrong. After all, she has assisted in solving many cases for New Scotland Yard both before and after her marriage to Alec. Daisy is a delightfully human protagonist, smart in some ways and rather obtuse in others, yet as an "Honourable," she has access to the nobility (or "nobs," as Sergeant Tring calls them) that Alec often requires as he solves his cases. Overall, this series, and this particular novel in the series, are definitely "Right-O!"

[Kimberly Ann · Rating 2 out of 5]

Daisy's best friend Lucy is finally going to marry her long-time beau, Gerald (Binkie).

At the behest of Lucy's mother, Grandfather paying for everything and Lucy's entire family is up at the family mansion.

Unfortunately Lucy's Aunt Eva has a nasty penchant for keeping journals' of the family's peccadilloes and keeping the knowledge to herself, until such time as she wishes to impose her will (control) upon one of her unsuspecting family members.

When Aunt Eva is murdered there is no shortage of suspects.

The following day during tea-time, Gerald happens upon Lucy's Uncle, the heir apparent, in his conservatory, dead from the oleander leaves mixed in with his tea. Gerald administers CPR to no avail....

With all the frenetic activity in the household: people chasing after Daisy for information, quarreling with each other, demanding to leave... Lucy , in a fit of stress, decides to break up w/ Gerald... but then Gerald is struck from behind, as the murderer fears, Gerald might have witnessed the murder.

This was quite long & drawn out, which made it boring; and even with the Family Tree on the front pages, it was difficult to keep track of who everyone was....

Most everyone in the family had something to hide and all had motive for murder, including Lucy.... most were not very nice people!

[Shalini Ayre · Rating 4 out of 5]

A re-read. Another great story from Dunn and her enchanting character, Daisy. Arriving to be of assistance to her best friend Lucy Fortheringay's wedding, Daisy soon finds herself embroiled in a death. Reluctant to call in her husband Chief Inspector Alec Fletcher of Scotland Yard but the Fortheringay's insist.

Who wanted to kill Lady Eva? Was it because of her book of secrets? Secrets that she didn't use but knowledge was power... Daisy try's her best to remain on the fringes, but can she help it that people feel at ease with her? Trust her and talk candidly to her? Much to the annoyance of Alec, he finds her connection the 'nobs' useful, but he's not going to readily admit it.

Togther with Seargent Tring and Constable Piper the quartet soon work out what's going on the sprawling house of Lord Fortheringay's and who amongst the throngs of relatives had the most to lose?

Fantastic series, brilliant complex characters, entertaining plots and twists. A very highly recommended read!

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've read all thirteen of this series so far, and I honestly thought Carola Dunn raised the bar a bit on this one. I have always enjoyed the characters and the roaring 20's setting. In the earliest books Daisy moved in a high society crowd and the books were full of flapper slang like "Jeepers!" (I found those little details very amusing.) But over the course of the series we have seen Daisy mature, get married, and in this book she is pregnant. Over the course of those developments she has become less a stereotypical roaring 20's girl and more a believable, substantial woman of the post-WWI era.

This book featured the recurring characters at their best, but also involved a more complex murder plot that I honestly didn't figure out on my own at all. In the final chapters it really became a book I didn't want to put down, because I was so eager to see who the murderer really was.

[Mairi Chong · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the first book I have read in the Daisy Dalrymple series and it seems that there is a good number to choose from. Set in the 1920s Daisy, an aristocrat who has married beneath herself to a charming but rather plodding police detective, swans from country house to shooting party, falling headlong into misadventure. In this particular book, Daisy has been invited to the prenuptial celebrations of a dear friend but when an elderly aunt is found strangled in her bed before the wedding, Daisy steps in to assist in the investigation. The story is full of gossip and colourful characters and goes along at a fair pace. There are lots of ‘Right-hos’ and ‘jolly goods’. Perfect for those looking for a frothy golden-age-style murder mystery without too deep a plot. I’d definitely read another in the series.

[Reshma Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

4/5 rating
The plot was good. It was a bit hard to get around all these names ,I kinda got confused most of the times and had to flip through the family tree a couple of times ,just to brush through who is who.
I haven't read any of this Daisy's mystery adventures,but still enjoyed it.reading in 3rd POV was a bit of a struggle for me . And sometimes when the conversation was on the go ,I would forget who was saying which and would loose track.
The pacing of the story was also good, always kept on toe with the investigation, it was almost until the end that they revealed the person who did it. And the reason was kinda out of the blue. I wished the author would make the audience to also take part in the guessing game. So that it would be more interesting

Overall 3.75/5
Plot-4/5
Pacing-3.5/5
Character 3/5
Mystery -4/5

[Mary Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

A pregnant Daisy has shown up at her friend, Lucy's family home for Lucy's wedding to Binky aka Gerald. When the aunt who snoops is murdered, the family calls on Daisy's husband from Scotland Yard to come to deal with the murder. When the old uncle is found murdered in his greenhouse it becomes more suspicious. As things continue to happen Lucy and her cousin (who also has a wedding happening) have to postpone their weddings. The huge wedding is a huge stressor for Lucy and she wants to call the whole thing off. When Gerald is attacked, things become even more muddled.

I find these stories interesting and fast-moving and so enjoy these stories.

[Kyrie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh my, I was so grateful for the family chart at the beginning of the book! So many people to try to keep straight!

Two murders and possibly a third, keep the Fotheringays distracted while Lucy tries to make up her mind if she truly wants to marry Binkie. Murder combined with all the upper class mores makes for some entertaining attitudes. So many potential murderers, and people too polite to mention if someone went to use the cloakroom, and demanding that they be allowed to take their children home (nevermind that the "child" was thrilled to death to have Scotland Yard in the house).