FALL OF A PHILANDERER

Pregnant Daisy Fletcher is on holiday with her stepdaughter and her pal near the seaside community of Westcombe, Devonshire, when their idyll is disrupted by yet another violent death.

The former Daisy Dalrymple (A Mourning Wedding, 2004, etc.) is passing the time waiting for the arrival of her husband, DCI Alec Fletcher of Scotland Yard, by staying at the Anstruthers’ guesthouse along with schoolteacher/hiker Donald Baskin. Also on hand are Sid, the childlike mute beachcomber, and George Enderby, the smarmy, womanizing owner of the Schooner Inn. When Alec arrives, the family goes on a hike and discovers Enderby’s body at the bottom of a cliff. Accident or murder? Much to Alec’s dismay, he is put in charge of the case. Given Daisy's penchant for crime, she can’t help getting involved too. Among the suspects is their landlord, whose wife had a brief fling with Enderby; Baskin, who had been asking some strange questions about Enderby; and a violent local farmer whose daughter was Enderby’s latest conquest. As the police go to work checking alibis, Daisy’s chats with the natives turn up all sorts of new facts. Daisy puts herself in danger to help Sid, and their rapport helps bring the case to a satisfactory conclusion.

Lacks the complexity of The Murder of Roger Ackroyd and the depth of Unnatural Death, to take only two examples of genre classics actually produced during Daisy’s mid-1920’s idyll.