Dandy Gilver and a Bothersome Number of Corpses by Catriona McPhersonMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
Time Taken To Read - 5 days
Blurb From Goodreads
Before she was a detective, before she was a reluctant wife and distracted mother, before she was even a débutante, Dandy Gilver spent one perfect summer with the Lipscotts of Pereford. The golden memories of it have sustained her through many a cold snap in Perthshire.
So when two of the Lipscott sisters beg her to help the third, she can hardly refuse. Sweet, pretty Fleur Lipscott: where is she now? The astonishing answer to this is that Fleur - still Miss Lipscott, indeed more Miss Lipscott than ever - is buried alive in the tiny seaside village of Portpatrick, working as a schoolmistress at St Columba's College for Young Ladies.
But she is one of the few remaining, for St Columba's has been shedding mistresses as a snake its skins and the exodus is far from over.
With mistresses vanishing and corpses mounting up, can Mrs Gilver, detective, pass herself off as Miss Gilver, English mistress, to solve the one and stop the other?
My Review
This is Catriona McPhersons 5th book but my first time reading her work and being introduced to Dandy Gilver. Dandy is a female detective who works along side with her male partner (and it isn't her husband!). She is asked for help from her old friends to find their sister who is in a small village working as a teacher. What follows is murder, lies deceit and a who done it with Dandy leading the way.
When I started this I didn't think I was going to like it, it is set in the late 1920s or early 1930s and phrases like "One has to think what one has to say" and I am really not into that kind of pompous narrative. However it fits with the time period and I soon got used to it, also Dandy is quite amusing in some of her antics and what she says that you warm up to the story and the character(s) fairly quickly.
It is a slow paced story with lots of little things happening but no big thrills or murders throughout for the most part. For me it reminded me of murder she wrote, lots of investigating into little things and pretense by the main character to get her answers. Whilst it went along slowly there was something about this wee story that I didn't want to put it down and when all is revealed I was surprised by the who done it which is always a good thing I feel. 3/5 for me this time. Thanks to Hodder & Stoughton for introducing me to this author and giving me the chance to review this book. You can get your own copy from July 5th 2012 in hardback and ebook at any good retailer. Also for the Glasgow/Edinburgh followers you can meet the author who is touring, please see below for details.
Glad you enjoyed it and that it kept you surprised with the who dunnit. Nice review!
ReplyDeleteHmm, now see from the description I was both drawn in and pushed away. I think for me, I'd have to start with book one to get a better grasp on the who/what/where/why factors...but it certainly sounds like an interesting read! Thanks for sharing...
ReplyDeleteI don't think I would have bought this book ,looking at the cover but after your review it sounds like a pretty good story.
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