To Davy Jones Below

At Daisy and Alec's wedding reception, Philip's father-in-law Caleb Arbuckle and Alec's Superintendent reveal a little scheme they've put together to get Alec's professional assistance for a little project a certain J Edgar Hoover is working on, and give the newly-weds an extended honeymoon on the Arbuckle acres at the same time.

Soon after the boat leaves, while Alec is struck down by seasickness and Philip and Gloria are getting rather competitive over quoits and snooker and every other game on board ship, people start falling overboard in suspicious circumstances. The Captain asks Alec to investigate, but with every patch of rough weather keeping Alec in his and Daisy's cabin with dry toast and a bucket, it falls to Daisy to do most show more of the investigating...

It gets a 4/5. Enjoyable, and strong characters as always, but the timing was a bit off and the ending, while ingenious, was a bit of a deus ex machina. It's not the best in the series, but neither is it the weakest. And it's nice to see Daisy and Alec settling into married life: you can call me soppy or maladjusted, but I still think it's a compliment to the writing of those characters that I feel a definite emotional involvement in their lives. show less

Like all Daisy Dalrymple mysteries, this book was a pleasure to read. Since I discovered the series, Carola Dunn has become one of my favorite ‘comfort’ authors: always reliable to bring a bit of excitement, intermittent explosions of giggles, and a spell of jolly tranquility. To paraphrase the protagonist of the series, Daisy, these novels are ‘Spiffing!’ I love the word.

A string of cozy British mysteries set in the 1920s, the entire series dabs in many grave themes, including class distinctions, women emancipation, and the past-war unraveling of the British society, but the emphasis is on Daisy and her amateur sleuthing.

Charming and kindhearted, Daisy has an unconventional penchant for stumbling upon dead bodies and show more embroidering herself in murder investigations. In this particular installment, Daisy has gotten married to her sweetheart from book one, Detective Chief Inspector of Scotland Yard, Alec Fletcher. Together, they board a trans-Atlantic ship to travel to America, where Alec has a temporary assignment: to consult J. Edgar Hoover on how to organize an honest, efficient police force in the US. Are you smiling yet?

The sea voyage commences in a sedate manner, making the first few chapters a tad dragging, until someone is pushed overboard, and the action starts rolling. Unfortunately, the weather worsens, and Alec, the ship's only tenant Scotland Yard, is laid low with sea sickness. Daisy doesn’t have a choice but to investigate in his stead. When another fatal accident occurs, the plot spirals into the convoluted serial murder territory without losing its common sense or its dry humor.

The language is yummy, sweet and piquant like a chocolate cake, while the pages are peppered with ironic jabs and occasional bits of sarcasm. I wanted to gobble it all up, although I have to admit that despite Dunn’s elusive simplicity, every time I read her novels I have to consult a dictionary; at least once or twice per novel.

One of my favorite quotes: “Her [Daisy’s] school had not considered Greek and Latin suitable for feeble female minds, but tales from the myths, properly bowdlerized, were staples.” Do you know what bowdlerized means. I didn’t.

Another quote reminded me of Georgette Heyer: “Daisy, normally the least high-nosed scion of the nobility, decided there was common and then there was common, and Mrs. Gotobed was really too, too frightfully vulgar.” You don’t get more delightfully British than that. You can almost hear Daisy’s accent.

Both she and her husband Alec, the protagonists of the series, are not static. Their personalities develop and their relationship matures from novel to novel, as their romance ambles through their murder cases.

Although each novel of the series is a stand-alone, you would enjoy them better if you read them in sequence, or at least an approximate sequence. In this novel, the newlyweds Daisy and Alec enjoy their working honeymoon, and Dunn managed to convey their coital bliss and their love for each other without resorting to bed scenes with ‘heat level’ ten or higher. Her treatment of sex is delicate and tactful, never blatant or prude.

Her depth of research is impressive as well. The novel takes place on a ship, and nautical references abound. But what puzzled me initially was the title. There is no character in the novel with the name Davy Jones. I didn’t know why Dunn saddled her tale with such a strange name until I googled ‘Davy Jones’ and learned that it means a drowned sailor. A fitting name, as it happens, as two victims drowned and one nearly drowned during that ill-fated ocean jaunt.

Although this novel might not be the best of the series, it’s a fair representative, and I’d recommended it, especially to those who like British cozies. show less

To Davy Jones Below
4 Stars

Following their wedding, Alec and Daisy Fletcher are sent by Scotland Yard to America to aid in establishing the fledging FBI. Accompanying them on the cross-Atlantic voyage are Philip Petrie and his wife, Gloria, as well as her father, Caleb P. Arbuckle, and his wealthy friend, Jethro Gotobed, who has recently wed a showgirl whom everyone suspects of being a golddigger. When a series of suspicious accidents result in the deaths of several passengers, Daisy finds herself investigating while Alec is laid low by sea sickness.

Series note: This book includes numerous characters from earlier installments. As such, it is recommended that the series be read in order.

While the mystery is obvious from the start, the show more cruise ship setting is excellent (as are the details on the various shipping accidents interspersed throughout the narrative), and the interesting characters, including the engaging Mr. Gotobed and the intriguing Miss Oliphant, more than compensate for the lack of originality in the plot.

There is also some good character development for Daisy and Alec, who are getting to know each other even better now that they are married and forced into close quarters onboard the ocean liner. Alec proves to be a terrible patient, and Daisy's forbearance is admirable.

A final note on the audiobook narration - Lucy Raynor has replaced Mia Chiaromonte, which makes all the difference. Her voices, both male and female, are excellent; her accents, English and American, are appropriate, and her pronunciation is accurate (thank goodness!).

Overall, this is a significant improvement from the past couple of books. Hopefully, the series has regained its momentum and will be moving in a positive direction. show less

In a third-class cabin shared with three strangers, the witch showed Daisy her medicine chest, a plain but well polished teak box with a brass lock. It was lined with green plush, with dozens of blue glass vials and jars, neatly labelled, resting each in its own niche. Some of the labels were bright red, Daisy noted, perhaps those of dangerous herbs like foxglove which had both therapeutic and deadly qualities.
No wonder herbalists had been regarded as witches with mysterious powers for good and evil. She wouldn't want to get on the wrong side of someone with that sort of knowledge.

I hadn't heard of the Daisy Dalrymple mysteries before picking up this book at a BookCrossing meeting. I liked the setting of the story, which takes place on show more a liner crossing the Atlantic in the 1920s, and Daisy, Alec and their friends are engaging characters, but the whodunnit element fell flat, as the solution was immediately obvious. show less

Daisy manages to find bodies while on a cruise, she is quite the corpse magnet. Daisy and Alec are now married, the cruise has some old characters appear and skulduggery ensues. Harsh weather keeps them distracted while all sorts of red herrings are spread. The use of the word Witch for the Herbalist was somewhat overdone.

Mostly charming, this is quite a good instalment in the series.

As with all of the Daisy Dalrymple series, I liked this book a lot. I liked that Daisy was acting on her own at some points since Alec was seasick but they are a good team. It was also quite a change from the usual setting at a museum or country house. It's definitely fun reading these in order.

Daisy and Alec are newly married and sailing to Washington. They are not alone, various friends from previous books in the series are also on the voyage. Inevitably Daisy and Alec become embroiled in a series of mysterious accidents and a sudden death, which may or may not be murder. An interesting addition to the series, which somehow felt not as fun as previous instalments.