Dead in the Water

From Kirkus Reviews
Daisy Dalrymple, energetic young heroine of this series set in the early '20s (Damsel in Distress, 1997, etc.), is visiting the Henley-on-Thames country house of her aunt Lady Cheringham, and writing a story for an American magazine about the intercollegiate rowing events of the Thames Regatta. Her fianc, Detective Chief Inspector Alec Fletcher, of Scotland Yard, is to meet her there on the upcoming weekend. Meanwhile, her aunt and uncles daughter Patricia is in love with Rollo Frieth, captain of Oxford's Ambrose College team, most of which is staying at the Cheringham house. It's soon apparent to Daisy that team spirit is being eroded by the arrogant verbal attacks directed by nasty Basil DeLancy at coxswain Horace Bott, whose only sin is that he's middle class and from the Midlands. When DeLancy falls overboard and dies, in a qualifying race, Alec finds himself confronting a case of murder instead of the peaceful weekend he and Daisy had envisioned. Awash in dull characters, wordy interviews, silly encounters, and unconvincing motives: only the riverside scene is worth time spent here. As Daisy might say, not very spiffing. -- Copyright ©1998, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Product Description
Ah, summer in Henley-on-Thames: The smell of the roses. The excitement of the races. The perfect setting for murder? When Daisy Dalrymple accepts an assignment to cover the Henley Royal Regatta for an American magazine, she steps right into a nasty class war between two members of the Oxford rowing team. Coxswain Horace Bott - a shopkeeper's son and scholarship student - has always resented rower Basil DeLancey - younger son of an Earl and an all-around cad who takes every opportunity to goad and embarrass his impoverished team mate.After a particularly brutal public humiliation, Bott swears revenge, and when DeLancey keels over and dies mid-race, succumbing to a keen blow to the head, it would seem he's made good on his promise. But Daisy isn't convinced. With the help of her fiance, Detective Chief Inspector Alec Fletcher of Scotland Yard, Daisy dives into a tangled web of jealousies and secrets behind the closed doors of the aristocracy, where appearances are everything, and good breeding just may be hiding a killer intent on keeping Daisy mum forever...