The Bloody Tower

Daisy Dalrymple #16

by Carola Dunn

In April of 1925, the Honourable Daisy Dalrymple Fletcher, now mother to two-month-old twins, has decided to resume her journalistic career, and for her first piece she's agreed to write about the Tower of London. - the royal fortress and compound of buildings that includes the infamous Bloody Tower. Daisy is not only given a tour of the Crown Jewels, she interviews and observes the Yeoman Warders, and meets the Raven Master, in charge of the Tower's legendary ravens. But most important she's been invited to observe the centuries-old Ceremony of the Keys ritual. Because the complex is locked and guarded during the ceremony, Daisy will have to spend the night - her first away from her babies - at the Tower.

Early the next morning, eager to get home, Daisy decides to slip out before her hosts awaken. But when walking down the stairs, she almost trips over the dead body a yeoman warder. That there's something amiss with his death is obvious to all - due to the halberd sticking out of his back. With her husband, Scotland Yard Detective Chief Inspector Alec Fletcher, assigned to resolve the death, Daisy once again finds herself enmeshed in a puzzling case of murder most foul.

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

259 pages, Hardcover

First published September 4, 2007

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

[Jim · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another fun entry in the series. Pretty much the same as the rest, although I found the whole business about the Tower of London really interesting. There's more about its history & how it is guarded than I would have expected, but it was all good. Interesting people & a pretty good murder mystery.

[Tony Hisgett · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have really enjoyed the Daisy Dalrymple novels so far, but I am beginning to worry that they are becoming the Alec Fletcher books and are just boring police/crime novels. Daisy is a peripheral character in this novel and without her, the books are very ordinary.

[Helen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this after three Dorothy Martin stories and Daisy unfortunately suffers by comparison. We're dealing with Daisy's return to journalism after the birth of her twins. She's been asked to write about the Tower of London for that American journal and she has agreed since it doesn't involve leaving London. She's arranged through contacts to witness the Ceremony of the Keys so she has to stay overnight in the Tower since no one goes in or out after the keys have been brought to the Governor. She is toured through the complex during the day, meets the various officials and watches the ceremony. After "King George's Keys" have been delivered Daisy settles for the night but can't wait to get back to her two month old babies and slips out first thing in the morning.
If it weren't for that she wouldn't have found the yeoman warden dead at the foot of the stairs with a partisan stuck in his back. Poor Daisy.
The story is interesting and I found out some things about changes to the arrangements in the Tower. The Jewel House where the crown jewels are kept appears to have been placed in what was the Tower's hospital if I read the map correctly and I don't think there is a regiment quartered there any more. The story appears correct to the period.
It was good, complex, and interesting just not quite as attractive as the Dorothy Martin stories. I wonder if I'm more drawn to Dorothy because of her age. Don't know.

[Bobbi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another totally enjoyable book in this series, but I wish Daisy had more of a role in solving the mysteries. It’s not like she’s too busy with her twins, who she barely ever sees anyway. She doesn’t even change their diapers. Lol. I’m still puzzled as to why in the previous book (Gunpowder Plot -#15) she was 6 months pregnant, and suddenly in this next book (#16) her twins are 3 months old. Did I miss a book somewhere? Anyway, I especially enjoyed the history of the Tower of London, but I’m not sure if it was true or made up for the story.

[CatBookMom · Rating 3 out of 5]

2018 - Interesting story, though for me, mostly because of the setting - the Tower of London. While the murder investigation drags on slowly, the ending wraps things up very quickly.

There are great photos online (wikipedia has a good long view) and assorted diagrams, too. Apparently there was a large guards' building on the site back in the 1920s, one which isn't standing now; it was between the White Tower and the Bloody Tower/Wakefield Tower.

[Karen ⊰✿ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Daisy now has baby twins, but that doesn't stop her from having a full time nanny and getting on with her journalistic work! This time it takes her to the Tower of London, where she trips over yet another body to Alec's dismay ;)

[Renee M · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some good tower history and descriptions. I’m loving the twins and can’t wait to see what they get into!

[Gerry · Rating 3 out of 5]

Now the mother of two-month old twins, Daisy Dalrymple Fletcher, decides to resume her journalistic career and her first assignment is to write a piece about the Tower of London.

She visits the Tower and is given a guided tour of the premises and is also invited to stay overnight to watch the Ceremony of the Keys. This she does but, wanting to get away early the following morning to get back to her family, she decides to leave a note for her hosts and depart before they arise. However, on her way down the many sets of stairs around the Tower she encounters a dead body, one of the Yeoman Warders who has a halberd stuck through his back.

Naturally she has to raise the alarm and before she knows it her husband, Detective Chief Inspector Alec Fletcher, is assigned from Scotland Yard to investigate the case. He cannot believe that his wife has once more stumbled over a dead body and is on the scene again when he has to investigate; he makes hi view quite clear by telling her to keep out of the investigation - but Daisy is never one to do such a thing.

The intrigue in the Tower is no different than it had been over the centuries and there are plenty of suspects for the murder even though there does not seem to be a motive. However, diligent work by Fletcher, and his wife, gradually uncovers the complex tale that underlies the murder.

While the ambience is excellent, the storyline moves rather too slowly at times and some of the secondary characters are sometimes rather dull and uninspiring but overall it is a reasonable tale of mystery that keeps the reader interested.

[FangirlNation · Rating 5 out of 5]

Daisy Fletcher, nee Dalrymple, stumbles over yet another body in Carola Dunn's 16th Daisy book, The Bloody Tower. Daisy gets commissioned by her American editor to write a series of articles on the Tower of London, her first article job following the birth of her 2-month-old twins. Spending a few days exploring the Tower, she is guided by several of the guards who work there. She gets to see the Crown Jewels and the tower where the young princes were killed by Richard III, according to Shakespeare (for a fascinating debunking of this myth, read Josephine Tey's mystery book The Daughter of Time). Having friends, the Tibbets, who live in the Tower as relatives of the governor of the Tower, Daisy gets invited to spend the night with them in order to observe the Ceremony of the Keys, a ritual performed since the 14th century in which the Chief Yeoman Warder and the Yeoman Warder Watchman secure the gates and give over the keys to the governor, meaning General Carradeen in this case. Early the next morning, Daisy, missing her twins badly, gets up and sneaks out to rush home to her babies. But instead of getting home, she stumbles over the body of the Chief Yeoman Warder, Crabtree, with a partizan, a type of medieval weapon carried by the warders, sticking out of his back. Curiously, though, what has killed Crabtree is a broken neck and not the pike.

Read the rest of this review, more reviews, and other wonderful, geeky articles on FangirlNation

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Honorable Daisy Dalrymple, new mother of twins, is starting on a series of articles about the Tower of London. Visiting there to learn about the tower, she meets many Yeoman Warders (Beefeaters) as well as Tower guards, and also connects with a friend who now lives in the King's House with her cousin, who is in charge of the tower (I think?). Staying overnight to see the ceremony of the Keys on a dark and foggy night, Daisy wakes early and sets off for home, but of course stumbles across a dead body--an inoffensive Yeoman Warder whom everyone liked. However, he looked very much like another Warder whom everyone hated. When her detective husband Alec arrives from Scotland Yard to take over, Daisy heads home, but is naturally called back by some of her new friends, so she can be at the center of the action--and solve the case.

I always enjoy this series; there's just enough of Daisy's own story mixed with the mystery, and Daisy is so far from the tortured detective that I quite enjoy her story. This mystery was rather confusing at first, with a massive cast of characters and an incredibly complex setting that I found hard to keep in my head, especially since I read it on a Kindle and couldn't enlarge the map. Clearly the author had done her homework about the Tower, and if I do go back, I'll know much more about it than I did before I read the book! I didn't quite guess the murderer but I suspected, and I think the culminating incident was sort of out of the blue. But generally, a good, light historical mystery.

[Cameron Toney · Rating 2 out of 5]

So this book really hammered hard down on some of the things I like least about this series; an interesting location that our heroine has no reason (really) to be in. An even flimisier reason why Alec is there. Alec being angry at Daisy for discovering a body. Our heroes leaping to a conclusion, deciding it must be right, and sticking to it (it will, of course, be correct. Sigh). A large cast of characters who are uninteresting and so flat as to be cartoony.
I am trying to give this series a fair shake, but I'm not not all that impressed.

[Deb F · Rating 2 out of 5]

AAARGH! I listened to the audiobook version read by Lucy Ratner, who SOUNDS reasonally English, but clearly isn't. One of the characters is called Devereaux, which she pronounced Dev-rocks. (As opposed to Dev-er-oh). She has form in this area, and seems unable to correctly pronounce the name of any English village, even when the author explains IN THE TEXT how it sounds - and it takes me out of the story EVERY time she does it. PLEASE ensure future books are read by someone else!!

[Caroline · Rating 4 out of 5]

Daisy Dalrymple books are always great! I love this book and hope for a lot more in this series. This one involves the Tower of London and made me want to visit London and see the place for myself, learn more about the history. Good work, Carola Dunn!

[Sharon · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved the characters in this mystery! Although it is a somewhat formulaic novel; the Chief Inspector's wife "meddles" in his cases and is always stumbling over dead bodies, the charm and verve of Daisy and her compatriots makes this book an amusingly enjoyable read.

[Penka · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book, because it was very well researched and I could picture it as a movie. It also prompted me to do some research on my own. Now, I have to go to London!

[T.L. Clark · Rating 4 out of 5]

I confess it...this is my first Carola Dunn book. It's not even the first in the Daisy Dalrymple series. But it's the one my step-daughter had mailed to my mother-in-law for lockdown reading, and she's passed it on to me.
It's perfectly acceptable as a stand-alone. Although I may go back and read earlier books now that I've been hooked!

Having been to The Tower of London, I found this setting fascinating.
It is a place with a bloody history, but more is added in this intriguing story.

Daisy is a high-born lady who married a police detective, DCI Fletcher. Set in 1925, we see the disturbance such a match caused. But she's clearly a strong woman who knows her own mind.

I love the details; I could envisage the layout easily and the yeoman guard in their regalia.
The language was time appropriate which I also appreciated.
Very well researched!

The girls, Belinda and Fay are boisterous, enthusiastic young ladies of their generation who kept the mood light-hearted amidst the horror.
I'd keep an eye on Nanny though - phew, what a bearcat!

Not to sound too full of oneself, but I did guess the murderer. There was a fun list of suspects though.

All-in-all, a gentle, entertaining read. Just what I needed, and what one expects of a cosy mystery.

A jolly good yarn! 😊

[Reggie Billingsworth · Rating 3 out of 5]

The phenomenal research and physical plotting (as if on a stage or film set) makes this an extreme accomplishment for the the logic alone. Bloody Tower indeed! More like 'ruddy' towers and all the flippin' stairs, the exits and the entrances... the entire setting looms as a nightmare that I felt I shared as a reader with Daisy and the cast. Good grief.

However in terms of plot: the reason for the crime was pretty obvious from the get-go, and the next step towards motivation seemed fairly obvious to me as well. Consequently, while a dramatically tragic end (easily foreseen) for some hapless characters, the cross talk with the youngsters remained mildly diverting.

While the map promised to be useful in following the directions, I eventually lost interest in trying to trace their travels. Overall, this title is an easy and undemanding read, perhaps more for the lovers of such hoary historical establishments and all the ghostly schtick many guides feed the touristi.

[Kimberly Ann · Rating 3 out of 5]

Daisy & her husband, DCI Alec Fletcher are involved investigating a murder in the Tower of London.

Daisy is visiting the Tower of London in order to write a series of articles for Town & Country, the morning after the Ceremony of the Keys Daisy finds one of the Yeoman Warders (NOT a "Beefeater") dead at the bottom of the stairs w/ a partisan sticking out of his back.

No one can understand why he was murdered as he was the most liked & well respected commanding officer.

Both Yeomen Warders & Hotsupr Guards (members of the Metropolitan Police) are involved.... There is some interesting history included in the book, including the Yeoman Warder/Ravenmaster.

I found the setting of the incidents in the book a bit confusing, even with the map of the Tower, as it was tiny & I was unable to see portions of it.

I also figured out a main part of the plot.....

[Donna Church]

A friend's invitation to the London Tower leads to Daisy's research for a series of articles about the tourist attraction. She returns to watch the Key Ceremony on a foggy night and remains overnight since the ceremony means that the doors to the tower are all locked. The next morning, Daisy awakens early and decides to head home to see the twins. However, she instead finds a body at the bottom of the stairs.

Of course, Alec is assigned the case and begins investigating the death leading to Daisy's further involvement. Was the man killed the intended victim? What other secrets are the residents hiding? As Alec, with his trusty team of Tring and Piper, delve the mystery, they uncover indiscretions and possible blackmail that could lead to more deaths before they can solve the mystery.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another clever, atmospheric mystery by Dunn. This one takes us inside the Tower of London, which is revealed as a busy village with two opposing cultures. Daisy, of course, is working on an article for an American magazine. She doesn't expect to come across blackmail and murder.

I gave this four stars because it's well-crafted and I did enjoy it. However, I found facets of the ending very dark and gruesome. As she does in some of the other books in this series, Dunn probes the lasting effects of war on some of the people who had to endure it. This makes the denouement--well, shall we say, less cozy than one might otherwise expect?

But I love this series even when it makes me uncomfortable. Other fans of the series will surely want to read this installment, and the details about life in the tower were interesting.

[Nancy Haddock · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm so thankful my library system carries these books! This was another excellent installment in the series. Good story, fascinating setting, and I love Daisy and Alec. In some of these books - such as those set at weddings or house parties - some of the characters can be a challenge to keep straight, but the author concentrates on the main players. In this book she did the same with the men working in - and some of the families living in - the Tower of London. Lots of folks but narrowed to the main players. I love Alec's Scotland Yard assistants and the way they consider Daisy to be valuable to investigations. I'm gradually getting this series read, but don't want to run out of Daisy books too fast! May have to start them from the beginning again!

[George · Rating 5 out of 5]

#16 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 near the end of April 1925 and Daisy (now the mother 2 month old twins) is doing research on the Tower of London for her New York Magazine. As she leaves the Tower, she discovers the body (of course!!) of a Yeoman Warder. There’s the possibility of blackmail, tensions between warders and soliders garrisoning the Tower, 2 flightly young sisters and an outspoken woman to round the story out.

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this instalment in this long-running series. Unlike many of them, Daisy was around at the beginning of the case and the end, but we mainly just followed the work of Alec and his team through the middle. That made this one feel a lot more like a police procedural than the usual cozy feel of the series.

My one complaint about this book was in the early chapters. Apparently the author did an awful lot of research about the history of the Tower of London, and she seemed compelled to share every bit of it with the reader. I found my eyes glazing over a bit in the early chapters. Fortunately, once the mystery got rolling, that ended.

[Carôle Ceres · Rating 1 out of 5]

WHEN WILL THE STORY BEGIN?

I’m at chapter 18. Chapter Eighteen! The story hasn’t started as yet! She’s still setting it up! I listened to the audiobook version of this title.

I’m sorry, but this time it’s just too much! Too tedious. Silly characters. No substance. I’m done. (Not even the narration can save it - 2 teenage girls, 1 limp Dr’s Wife who’s described as a good representative for her husband, but who comes across as limp and timid and weak - the voices are all wrong)!

As much as this may be a freebie Audible members can listen to the entire series for free), it’s still not worth perusing, in my opinion.

- Moving on!

[Books To Love and Hate · Rating 4 out of 5]

Book 16 in the Daisy Dalrymple series kept me thoroughly entertained, possibly because there were multiple threads and solving one didn't mean solving the others. Good use of setting without being travelougey and small clues abounded. That this is a closed community, with gates locked after dark, means there is tension among the residents from the moment the body is found. Who did it? Who would want to do it? And what about the fact some folks seem to be being pressed for money by an unknown party. Everyone has a secret, and it's up to Daisy and Alex to unravel them.

These are pleasant, enjoyable listens, the type of thing to keep you company on a drive, or when you need a comfort read.

[Kiwi Carlisle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Carola Dunn did her usual excellent period piece work, and once again pulled off a nice variation on a locked room mystery. She did a fine job of presenting her historic setting. If I hadn’t been simultaneously reading Christopher Scaife’s The Ravenmaster, I wouldn’t have caught one annoying little historical error. The title of Ravenmaster wasn’t in general use and certainly wasn’t an official position before the 1960s. I can’t blame her for wanting to transplant the colorful job back to the 1920s, but it’s not like her to stumble on the details.

[Kyrie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book focuses more on the teamwork of Alec, Tring, and Piper. It was entertaining and interesting to watch that in play. Daisy plays the part of catalyst in this one, and it was a refreshing change, even though I like Daisy. The entire Tower layout was confusing to me, even with the map. It's mentioned in the book that it's more a village than a single tower, and I guess as a prison, it makes sense that there's no straight forward set up that's easy to maneuver. Another plus was not figuring out who the original murderer was until nearly the very end.

[Lila · Rating 3 out of 5]

This 1920s era mystery is heavily map-based, harking back to Golden Age mysteries. As such, this would be most enjoyable for those who have visited the Tower of London or are interested in going. The background is well researched, but I got a bit lost geographically even though I have visited the site. In this mystery, Daisy rather pops in and out of the scene, running back to her twins, then running back to the Tower. While she does find the body and sorts out clues, her husband is on the scene more than she is.

[Anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another fun mystery with Daisy. The tower setting is so interesting it is a place I visited once (nearly ten years ago now) and I did not remember the quantity of stairs being excessive as described here, but perhaps the public areas have changed with the passing of time. It seemed like it took a very long time for the book to get around to the obvious motive, but then I realized that the time from the murder to the end of the book was only three days, so I guess it was not a lot of time just a lot of pages.

[Wina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Audiobook read by Lucy Rayner, who does a fine job. She had some extra accents to read this time, and they were very good. Her men's voices are excellent, you forget it's not a man.

These are very enjoyable cozy mysteries, and set in the 1920s. I also like how the characters are admirable people on my side of social justice issues. Daisy is not taking advantage of her "honorable" rank, and believes in women working, etc. There is romance, too, and lots to like. Clean but for occasional swearwords, reference to sex or affairs, etc. Happy ending.