Daisy & Lucy are writing a book about English Country Hose's and their Follies/Grottoes: go for a stay w/ Mr. Pritchard, a wealthy plumbing magnate in order to write about the one he has refurbished.

Julia, a long-ago school friend & her mother have wrangled an invitation to stay; with the ulterior motive of finding Julia an acceptable husband. Also staying is: the completely obnoxious Lord Rydal (Rhino), who is besotted w/ Julia; Sir Desmond, who is doing business w/ Mr. Pritchard; and Lady Ottaline, Sir Desmond's wife who happens to be having an affair w/ Rhino.

Mr Pritchard has added gas lamps to the grotto so it may be enjoyed at night. When the group goes down to enjoy his innovations, Lady Ottaline takes a tumble into the stream as does Rhino.

After Alec, Daisy's husband & Gerald, Lucy's husband arrive for the weekend, unknown to the rest of the guests, Lady Ottaline & Rhino sneak off to the Grotto....

Also on their way to the Grotto are Daisy, Alec, Lucy, Gerald, & Julia, who stop to have their photo taken on the lawn. As the photo is taken a huge explosion rock the estate and the grotto is demolished with Rhino dead inside.

There is no lack of suspects; Alec is asked to work along side the local police & Daisy once again helps to determine who the murderer is.

I am marking this down one * as Carola Dunn once again purposely adds a derogatory remark about Native Americans which I find tasteless and downright rude as in this day & age, there is no reason for that what-so-ever. Her bigotry shows through & she is not Agatha Christie where at the time of authorship such remarks were acceptable. ( )

Hilariously, this Daisy Dalrymple is set in a folly. On a cliff. It's literally a sheer folly! It's funny because it's a pun! Oh my aching sides :)

I always like Carola Dunn's Daisy Dalrymple series and this this book was a very amusing entry. Even though it's a murder, Dunn takes a sharp tongue to some of her characters, which adds some humor. She writes very good dialogue and her characters always feel very fleshed out in a fairly short number of pages. The murder mystery in this one was obvious in terms of who the victim would be but not so obvious as to who the murderer would be since Dunn tends to make the primary victim someone generally unlikable. ( )

When one of her fellow guests at Appsworth Hall is murdered, Daisy finds herself embroiled in yet another mystery. Almost all the guests at the Hall had a motive for killing the deceased, and nearly all of them had the opportunity. Daisy and her husband Alec give the local police a hand in solving the mystery. ( )

This was an enjoyable and fast-paced read. Each character was given a quick and appealing history of who they were and why they had come to Appsworth Hall.
Daisy Dalrymple was the perfect picture of an independent woman, she was also a detective of sorts, who would help her husband Alec, a Police Inspector with his investigations off the record of course. This book has humor,deception,a little craziness and a great plot. If you want a quick enjoyable and refreshing read please try this book. ( )