Post VE Day 1945. Daisy Moore's secret employment at Whitehall has finished and after causing the death of her mother (so she believes) and burning down their home, she finds herself at the Dolphin Hotel in Fernfield, Oxfordshire. When a murder occurs at the hotel Daisy starts to ask questions much to the irritation of Inspector Peter Thaxted who is investigating. But between them can they gather all the clues.
An entertaining well-written cozy mystery with its cast of varied, and likeable characters especially the main ones. ( )

sly-humor, small-town, small-business, class-consciousness, murder, murder-investigation, law-enforcement, amateur-sleuth, entitled-attitude, hospitality-industry, post-WW2, England, actors, 1945, cosy-mystery*****

I can't see how I've missed reading anything by Gretta Mulrooney!
With the end of the war Daisy Moore’s wartime work under the Secrets Act comes to an end. Then her flat and her mother come to a smoky end, and a friend introduces her to a sometimes actor who needs a general factotum at his Dolphin hotel in Oxfordshire. And she's a London girl! Dealing with his correspondence is kind of OK, but she also has to help around the hotel. When one of the locals is found dead in a room all sorts of madness ensues. Daisy meets the older war veteran detective assigned to the case and then...
Great characters, intriguing red herring, and diabolical plot twists kept me reading into the night.
I really hope that this is not a one-off but book one of a new series!
I requested and received a free e-arc from Joffe Books via NetGalley. Thank you! ( )

Daisy Moore has given vital service to her country at Bletchley Park during WWII. So vital Daisy is sworn to lifelong secrecy by signature/pledge on the Official Secrets Act. How can it be that suddenly after VE Day in 1945, Daisy’s life has changed so dramatically?

Jobless, and homeless, Daisy is encouraged to take a position as a general factotum at the Dolphin Hotel in Fernfield, a quiet countryside setting in Oxfordshire and very different from post-war city life in London. Daisy has gradually acclimated to her new life but after the stimulation of daily intrigue, life has become ordinary and dull. In a close-knit village that doesn’t trust foreigners and suspicions linger it is difficult to be accepted. But murder has occurred in the hotel and it stimulates Daisy’s mind and actions to be of vital service to Inspector Peter Thaxted.

This is a captivating historical mystery not only for the adeptly woven plot and atmospheric writing but because it provides meaningful insight into women’s history as men returned from war. Daisy, Inspector Thaxted, Father Hickey, and Daisy’s employer Jeffrey Berrow are characters that as the author reveals their strengths but also their flaws endears them all the more. I was also charmed by the furry-faced, paw-some company of brothers Tybalt and Oberon.

The book is listed as a stand-alone on the author’s website but I remain hopeful that this novel becomes a series introduction as I could easily spend more time with these characters. Until then, I encourage everyone to make a reservation on your tbr list for a read at the Dolphin Hotel.

My sincere thanks to Gretta Mulrooney, and Joffe Books for my complimentary digital copy of this title, via NetGalley, in exchange for my honest review.

#DeathAtTheDolphin #NetGalley ( )