Dandy Gilver Books In Order

Publication Order of Dandy Gilver Books

The “Dandy Gilver” series is historical mystery fiction that is set in the early twenties and is set in Queensferry, Scotland. It is a time of the upper classes struggling to stay on top in the aftermath of the first world war. The series are detective novels that star Dandy Gilver, whose husband fought in the war, and their two kids are in school. They live on her estate in her husband’s family’s estate called Gilverton located in Perthshire, and Dandy and Hugh (her husband) do not seem to be in love. Rather just together for their kids and to meet family expectations, just to fulfill an agreement. When readers first meet Dandy, she is just bored and looking for something to do. And then she finds something that will change her life. There are over ten novels in the series, with more coming out each year and are written by Catriona McPherson.

“After the Armistice Ball” is the first book in the “Dandy Gilver” series by Catriona McPherson. Dandy Gilver is one bored housewife and decides to take on a case of who stole some diamonds at a ball celebrating armistice. Her friend, Daisy, who hosted the party, asks her to asks questions with a cover of ditzy gossip to find out the truth of what happened. Cara Duffy, a lovely woman, suddenly dies in a cottage near the sea in Galloway; the police rule her death as just an accident, and high society seems to agree. Something about it makes Dandy, Alec (Cara’s fiance) think there is something a lot bigger at play here in the case. Cara Duffy is one of the last people to be in possession of the diamonds. There is something that is being hidden by each member of the Duffy family, even Cara herself that Dandy cannot seem to catch sight of.

Fans of the novel liked the way that Dandy was able to win them over with her ability to solve the case and her ability to know her own mind and her limitations. Some found that they really liked the way Dandy is the exact opposite of Sherlock Holmes, getting simple things wrong, gets pulled off the right path, and does not say the right things. Fans like that she does not have everything together, she is an amateur and why would she be able to do everything properly? Shouldn’t she stumble her way through things? They liked the prose in the novel, finding that some descriptions, like that of a married couple to be interesting. Some found that, even though the crime was not that hard to solve, was still worth reading until the end so that they could see Dandy put everything together. They saw some things coming, but the author threw in a few others just to keep things interesting.

Some readers did not like the book, feeling that they had no connection with the main character and felt that they took way too long to figure things out and just go over and over the same clues, getting nowhere with them. Some thought there was a good idea, but that the author does not do a great job of executing it. Some readers seemed to be missing something, almost as though part of the novel was missing, and you were just supposed to know who everyone was.

“The Burry Man’s Day” is the second book in the “Dandy Gilver” series by Catriona McPherson. Set in the summer of 1923, it is almost time for the annual Ferry Fair in the village of Queensferry and time for the Burry man’s walk where he is given pennies for luck and whisky. There is quite a bit that makes people not like the man. Dandy sees him fall down dead. Everyone who has a bottle of whisky in their home’s is considered a suspect, so everyone in Queensferry is a suspect in the case. As usual there are many secrets to wade through in order for Dandy to find out the truth. In this book, she is a lot further along in her investigating and has developed some since taking her first case.

Fans of the novel say that the books are not to be enjoyed by everyone, but by only certain people who understand what the author is getting at. Some found that the ending is the best part of the novel. This book is for anyone who likes cozy mysteries. Even though Dandy’s personality may get in the way of her being a better detective, some feel that it adds to the story, allowing readers to see her personality. Some feel that in her second outing, amateur sleuth Dandy Gilver, is able to put the clues together in a better way this time. The characters are well-drawn and you can relate to them again. Some did not know where the book was going to go and the ending caught them off guard, but they enjoyed it. Some fans found that they enjoyed this book more and were actually able to connect with Dandy more in this book.

Some readers did not like the author’s writing, feeling that they were excluded from understanding what was happening, as the language used in the book is strange and foreign. Some do not like the way Dandy goes about investigating, finding her not very bright, certainly not if she is going to solve crimes. Readers did not like the book and felt that Dandy goes through about the first half of the book with no progress, making for poor reading, and requiring some to just skip to the end. Some find Dandy to be annoying and just discredit anything anyone else has to say.

The series has won awards and has found its way on to best novels of the year lists. The fifth book “The Proper Treatment of Bloodstains” has won the Historical Macavitiy award in 2012 and made Boston Globe’s Top Ten Pick of the Year. Book six (“An Unsuitable Day for a Murder”) won 2013’s Agatha and Bruce Alexander awards for best historical mystery. Book seven in the series, “A Bothersome Number of Corpses”, won 2014’s Bruce Alexander Award, as did book eight in 2015.