Two More Mysteries from My 20 Books of Summer

Gunpowder Plot by Carola Dunn

The Honorable Daisy Dalrymple is now married to Alec Fletcher, whom she (and we) met in Death at Wentwater Court, and is now a Detective Chief Inspector at Scotland Yard. She has not forgotten her first love, who died in the Great War, but she has built a new life with Alec and his daughter. 

Daisy has not given up her writing career: in this book, she is visiting an old school friend whose aristocratic family hosts an elaborate Guy Fawkes celebration. The Tyndall family suffered loss in the war also: all three sisters lost husband or fiancés. Babs, the eldest sister, has thrown herself into physical labor, managing the family estate in the face of her father’s disapproval; Gwen is developing a shy interest in her brother’s engineering friend, despite his middle-class status; and Adelaide, living with her two badly-behaved sons at her mother-in-law’s manages to annoy her family regularly. When Sir Harold is murdered, the local law enforcement ask for Daisy’s husband to come investigate. However, while Daisy does not intentionally interfere with her husband’s work, she does not sit back with her feet up and always seems to be undertaking some sleuthing of her own.

This is a light-hearted but enjoyable mystery, number 15 in the series, most interesting for its depiction of life shortly after WWI. I picked it up at a book sale at the library during the pandemic, guessng that it was not essential to read this series in order. A house party is the ideal setting for a murder, as there are lots of suspects, and here there was also a large celebration taking place, full of villagers as well as two mysterious visitors from Australia. Ever since I read Carney’s House Party as a child, I have thought it would be fun to attend one but in crime fiction every house party results in murder so be careful what you wish for!  I know my friend Cath is a fan of this series so she can tell me if I've missed anything important between #1 and #15!

Publication: St. Martin’s Minotaur, hardcover, 2006
Category: Cozy Mystery
Source: Personal copy

Corrupt Practices by Robert Rotstein 

Parker Stern is a lawyer whose career self-destructed after his mentor, Harmon Cherry, committed suicide. He started having panic attacks in court, which was disastrous for his clients and the law firm, which did not survive, on top of its chief rainmaker, Harmon. Several years later, Rich Baxter, who infuriated his former coworkers by leaving the firm and taking the biggest client with him, a Scientology-like cult, to which he converted. Now Rich is accused of embezzling $17 million from the cult and wants Parker to represent him, saying that Harmon was murdered. Parker is unsure he can handle the case adequately, apart from his dislike of Rich. When Parker is told Rich committed suicide in prison, he is sure it isn’t true and that the cult was involved. He begins to believe Harmon’s death was also murder and tries to figure out how the two deaths are related. With only three law students to help him represent Rich’s estate against the cult, Parker has to overcome his nerves and secrets from his past to learn the truth.

I think I must have bought this book for my father when it first came out because he enjoyed legal thrillers. There were some unexpected twists but I didn’t much care for Parker, especially when he very improperly started having an affair with one of his students. On the other hand, maybe Rich deserved to get murdered for saying to his former friend:

“All the other lawyers I’d consider hiring have families or people they’re close to. You’re the only good lawyer I know who doesn’t have anyone in your life . . . . So if something happens to you, no one else will care, Parker. No one else will get hurt. That’s why I want you. To avoid collateral damage.”

Way to coax someone to represent you! Of course, he is right; soon the Church of the Sanctified Assembly is after Parker too!

Publication: Seventh Street Books, Paperback, 2013
Category: Legal Thriller
Source: Family copy

These are books 13 and 14 of my 20 Books of Summer, hosted by Cathy at 746 Books; both were solid 3s but I was glad to finish and move on to The Rom-Commers by Katherine Center, which had just arrived from my reserves at the library.

May I also present book 19 and 20 for Carol’s Cloak and Dagger Challenge.