Murder by Death

("Superfluous" is one of those words that serves as a reminder to me to be slightly more tolerant of other peoples' errors in grammar and spelling - I know there's only one "r" in it, but still I say "superflorous" and so irritate myself by trying to spell it that way.)

The time between WWI and WWII is so rich a mine field for authors writing female protagonists; by necessity, women are gaining more power, but also at risk of being left behind if they aren't able to adapt.  At the beginning of this book Carola Dunn notes that after the First World War, Britain had about 2 million more women than men.  Nice odds if you're a man, but dismal if you're a woman raised to do little more than find a husband and have a family.

Superfluous Women opens with Daisy convalescing in a country town just outside London, where an old school acquaintance has just bought and set up a house with two other women, all of whom have been labeled superfluous, or surplus women, by the media.  When Daisy's husband Alec picks the lock to their well-sealed wine cellar for them as a favour, they discover a body.

This series and book are most definitely cozy, but the author does a creditable job infusing the changes and challenges of the time into the narration.  On a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being fluffy and naive, Daisy Dalrymple would, I think, rate a 6 - maybe a 7, as there's no angst in these books to speak of.

The murder plotting was great - I should have seen who it was, but I didn't and I had fun watching it all come together.

I hope the author intends to keep Daisy and Alec going; the closer we get to the outbreak of WWII, the more curious I become as to where she's going to take them next.