The Case of the Murdered Muckraker

This latest Daisy Dalrymple mystery novel is not that much of a murder mystery at all, and more of an adventure abroad novel. However it is also the most light hearted of the Daisy Dalrymple mystery novels to date, and quite a bit of fun. For Daisy and her husband Alec (a DCI with Scotland Yard), this visit to the United States of America is supposed to be a honeymoon trip. The reality is that Alec is in America in order to advise the Americans (J. Edgar Hoover in particular) on how to clean up and set up their Investigation Bureau of the Justice Department. So while Alec is stuck in Washington, Daisy is in New York, gathering material for her magazine articles and meeting her American editor. After one such meeting, while on their way to lunch, Daisy and her editor hear a gunshot and witness a man plummet to his death down an elevator shaft. Daisy quickly recognizes the murdered man as a fellow resident of the Chelsea Hotel. She then discovers that he is/was the journalist, Otis Carmody, an investigative reporter, also known as a 'muckraker.' It soon becomes apparent that Daisy, her editor, and a federal agent that had been shadowing Daisy (Alec's superior at the Scotland Yard had apparently warned Hoover that it would be wise to provide a watchdog for her as Daisy has the habit of getting involved in all kinds of unsavory goings-on) are the only credible witnesses to the Carmody's death (which of course turns out to be murder). Why was Carmody murdered and who committed the crime? Striking up friendships with other guests (and workers) at the Chelsea, Daisy discovers that Carmody was quite the crusading journalist, and that he had angered more than his fair share of dangerous and powerful men. Could one of them have commissioned Carmody's murder? And then there is the tantalising information about Carmody's estranged wife and her shady lover... Before long Daisy discovers that New York is not England, and that she could be in danger herself because she witnessed Carmody's murderer escaping. Never before has Daisy missed Alec so much or wished that she did not have this propensity to fall over a murder wherever she went."The Case of the Murdered Muckraker" is strictly for Daisy Dalrymple fans. It is a lighthearted read full of eccentric and quirky characters, and funny moments when Daisy ponders over the differences between the English that the British speak and the English that the American speak -- how this brought back memories of my first few years in the US -- and the differences between the manner in which Scotland Yard would have run things and the manner in which the New York detectives carry out an investigation. And while there some gathering of information and sounding out of theories, this mystery novel is still not much of a murder mystery like the previous Daisy Dalrymple mystery novels -- no red herrings, twists and turns in plot development, etc. However it is a charming and humourous book, that is bound to entertain and lighten