by Catriona McPherson Publishers Weekly McPherson's sixth cozy set in 1920s Scotland markedly improves on its predecessor, 2011's Dandy Gilver and the Proper Treatment of Bloodstains. When Mirren Aitken, a department store heiress, goes missing, Mirren's mother asks well-to-do sleuth Dandy to track her down. Aitkens' Emporium ("Tailors, Mantle Makers, Silk Merchants, Domestic Bazaar") is in bitter competition with another store in the town of Dunfermline, House of Hepburn ("Hosiers, Glovers, Clothiers and Milliners"). The Aitkens fear that Mirren has eloped with Dugald Hepburn, a scion of the rival family. Before long, Dandy must tackle a related homicide, only to become a suspect herself. Dorothy Sayers's fans will find many aspects of Harriet Vane in Dandy, who really comes into her own in this installment. The strong plot offers a truly baffling traditional murder mystery, which bodes well for future books in the series. Agent: Lisa Moylett, Coombs Moylett Literary Agency. (May) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved. (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved Kirkus An upper-class sleuth finds herself entangled in a family feud. Dandy Gilver is asked to come to Dunfermline, Scotland, to find a missing young woman. Mirren, the youngest Aitken, has gone missing, and the family fears that she's run off with Dougie, scion of their bitter rivals the Hepburns. Each family owns a department store, and several generations ago the former friends had a falling-out when an Aitken pinched a Hepburn girl. Today the stores are wildly different, reflecting the personalities of each family: the Aitkens stodgy and old-fashioned, the Hepburns a paean to 1920s fashion. Dandy arrives on the day of Aitken's 50th year anniversary. While she's attending the celebrations at the store, she finds Mirren shot dead. Her mother Abigail confesses to the crime but is soon discounted as a suspect. The police suspect Dandy herself of involvement when she discovers Dougie's body on top of the Aitken store elevator. Both families and the police call the deaths suicides and blame each other. Their certainty threatens to put Dandy out of a job. But her instincts tell her that there's much more to the mystery, and she and her partner Alec continue to dig up family secrets, revealing some horrifying information worthy of murder. McPherson (Dandy Gilver and the Proper Treatment of Bloodstains, 2011, etc.) continues her impressively precise imitation of Golden Age models--right down to the appended family tree, which is quite necessary to help sort everything out. ]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission. Copyright © Kirkus Reviews, used with permission. Book list The deaths of two star-crossed lovers from rival retail families leave unanswered questions for sleuth Dandy Gilver and her partner, Alec Osborne. Summoned by the Aitkens family matriarch to find her missing granddaughter, Dandy discovers 20-year-old Mirren Aitkens shot in the attic of Aitkens' Emporium during the store's golden jubilee. On the day of Mirren's funeral, Dandy spots the body of Dugald Hepburn, grandson of the founder of the modish House of Hepburn, on top of the Aitkens' elevator. The questions of how each died, and why family opposition to their match was stronger than business rivalry would seem to warrant, keep Dandy and Alec on the case, as they uncover decades-old secrets involving twists in the two families' bloodlines. Letters between the lovers that bracket the story underscore the toll taken by this secrecy. Despite some lighthearted moments about merchandising in 1927 Scotland and Dandy's musings on the relative status of female and male detectives this sixth in the series (after Dandy Gilver and the Proper Treatment of Bloodstains, 2011) seems a more somber but no less proficient period mystery.--Leber, Michele Copyright 2010 Booklist From Booklist, Copyright © American Library Association. Used with permission. Library Journal Following last year's stellar entry (Dandy Gilver and the Proper Treatment of Bloodstains), amateur sleuth Dandyis learning more about department stores than she had planned. Scotland comes alive in this witty 1920s historical series. (c) Copyright 2012. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. (c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. |
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