Laurie R. King Virtual Book Club discussion
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Dandy Gilver and the Proper Treatment of Bloodstains
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Dandy Gilver and the Proper Treatment of Bloodstains by Catriona McPherson - VBC Oct 2014
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Carol
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Sep 27, 2014 11:10AM
I've started this and it is a fun read....a bit like like Miss Fisher meets downstairs at Downton Abbey.
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Margaret wrote: "Not on audio. :("Amen to that!
My copy is in the mail as the saying goes! Looking forward to reading along with you all.
Mod
Dandy Gilver and the Proper Treatment of Bloodstains is not the first in Catriona McPherson’s series, but that hardly matters. All you need to know is that it’s the Twenties, and that our Dandy is blue-blood, clever, energetic, and easily bored. She’s married to a Scotsman named Hugh, and is dutiful mother to a pair of male offspring, but her true passion lies in the investigations she and buddy Alec Osborne find themselves involved in.
Indomitable and blithely oblivious to societal expectations, Dandy Gilver opens completely unexpected doors to one social structure after another.
Here, she enters dangerous foreign territory: below stairs, going undercover as a lady’s maid.
Dandy is a delight—she could be Mary Russell’s slightly older sibling, leading her into all kinds of trouble.
Katriona MacPherson is a delight of a Scotswoman who now lives in California (she’s the next president of Sisters in Crime). Her academic background and her superb wit both come through in her exploration of Dandy Gilver’s world, from the clothes she wears to the food her cook produces, here:
http://catrionamcpherson.com/visit-gi...
I see that this is book 5 in a series. I like to read series sequentially -- will it matter here that I haven't?
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Jeanie, see Laurie's introduction, above - she doesn't seem to think that this is a series that needs to be read in sequence, though I too normally like to do that.
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I'm a good way through - so far, I've seen evidence of back-development of the protagonist, but very minor and not, as yet, at all interfering with the development of this story. I might like to pick up some of the earlier ones, but don't feel deprived in this one. So far. :-)
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I think the only character that I feel might benefit from my reading the earlier books (which I am so totally going to do now!) is Heugh. I feel like I'm reading him out of context and maybe judging him a bit unfairly. He just comes across as so disinterested in what his wife is doing; they barely seem married in this book.
I agree with Erin--I feel that I'm missing some vital information concerning the marriage of Dandy and Hugh...they appear to live separate lives. In contrast, Dandy and Alec have so much in common and seem genuinely interested in each other.I will be reading the earlier books.
I have finished the book. I enjoyed it - will likely pick up more in the series. Appreciated the upstairs-downstairs considerations and the vignettes from the strike. I intend no spoilers. The author, too, was kind to you in naming the book. Keep your eyes and mind open. :-)
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So, trying for no spoilers just yet, did you guess who the murderer was before they were revealed? Or were yo totally taken by surprise?
I just read it on the plane to Minneapolis. Fun, funny, and I will probably go back and read the series from the beginning. I, too, felt that there was something missing from her marriage.
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I think life has given me back my reading time for print books finally. So I might get a chance to participate this month.
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I guess one approach would be what I always think of as the "Nick and Nora" marriage, where they are happily married, still set off some sparks, and solve crimes together. But of course, anything can be stale after awhile if not "mixed up." I gave up reading the Anne Perry mysteries after awhile because the way the policeman's wife became involved in his cases fell into such a pattern in each book. I do agree that "Unresolved Sexual Tension," carried on too long, is tedious and (let's face it) unbelievable (I always think 'oh, come on, you can resolve this!'
Which I guess is a long-way-around way of saying, Dandy's alternative seems reasonable, given a very broadminded husband!
Mod
I rather like when domesticity is used as a break in the mystery/action. Like the PI is struggling through a serious puzzle and talking it through with their spouse helps them re-organize their thoughts and get back out there to solve things. Or just banter a little to give some variation to the mood. It's fun when the couple is actively working together, too, of course, but maybe more realistic to have a couple with separate jobs who come together at the end of the day.
I didn't pick up any sexual tension between Dandy and Alec, so I'm not sure why I kept thinking they should be married other than that they were good friends. So perhaps less that Dandy -should- be married to Alec and more not really being able to wrap my head around her actual marriage. It just seemed so odd for someone who's seemingly happily married (and with children!) to not once think to telephone her husband while away on business for an entire week. Or maybe to ask about her kids...except I remember that a lot of kids were away to school in this era, so maybe not. Granted, she's under cover, but she manages to sneak out to be able to discuss the case with Alec.
Mod
Erin, well, perhaps they have one of those marriages where her husband just assumes she's fine unless she calls to say otherwise, and the kids are away at boarding school or have a nanny! And of course, it was quite an undertaking to make a "trunk call" in those days, as we often see in the Russell books. Perhaps you didn't call home unless it was an emergency of some sort...
Mod
I wondered about this relationship with Alex as well so I went back to read some earlier books. I don't really see sexual tension although in relation to today's standards one wonders why not? There is simply a beginning to sleuthing in a case that involves Alex directly. We should remember the times and culture too. I believe the English upper classes of that era often married without all the great passion we think of today and sometimes with no passion at all. People accommodated themselves to each other as Hugh and Dandy have but really operate in very different spheres in some cases as they "make it work."
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Yes, among the upper classes there was very little "hands on" childrearing, plus a fear of "coddling" would doubtless have kept a mother from constantly ringing to see how the child was. I just read a book ("The Seance" by John Harwood, quite a good read in the ghost story line, set in the years between 1868 and 1888) in which a young mother's desire to care for her infant without any assistance was cited as being "proof of her disturbed mind."
Are we late enough in the month to avoid spoilers? ;-). If not, I have to comment then on Dandy's infiltration technique. I liked how many terms/practices/habits of the servants were foreign to her, even given how she must have been surrounded by them over a lifetime. Even with coaching, most of us couldn't fake a profession even for an 8 hour shift, much less in a 24 hour job in such close quarters! I wasn't surprised that at least a few of them have her the side eye at her lady's maid knowledge. She and her client definitely made up for a little with the backstory though. Smart move by the author.
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Once when I was visiting The Breakers in Newport, I asked where they kept their clothes (the rooms didn't even have wardrobes). The guide answered that the family's clothes were kept in the attics, and every morning Madam would sit down with her maid and go over all the outfits she'd need to wear that day (they changed clothes a LOT). Then it was the duty of the maid to traipse up to the closets, and collect all the clothes and the necessary undergarments and accessories. Yikes. Can you imagine? Not an easy life.
I enjoyed reading Dandy's adventures as a lady's maid. I did smirk a bit when I realized the solution was the old cliche! I'll at least read the first one in order to get all the relationships straight! However . . . . I was completely thrown out of the story by McPherson's use of the word brainwashing to describe what had been done to the staff and the others. Since she's a young Scotswoman I'll make allowances for her not knowing the word was made up during the Korean War! ;-) Also I'm not sure brainwashing is considered the same as hypnosis.
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Oh, good point, Elizabeth! I hadn't spotted that anachronism.
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Ouch, I always hate it when something like that happens!
I enjoyed the book as an easy fun read. I was more interested in the strike and Mattie's family than the conclusion that I had guessed at quite early in the reading. Like Elizabeth, the term brainwashing threw me for a loop as I knew that term wasn't used at the time setting of the story.
I'm not sure if I will read more of this author as I found something lacking in substance. Maybe that is just my reading preferences are usually denser in content. Probably why I found the social and economic history more interesting than the main storyline.
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Like Elizabeth, the term bra..."
Lesley, I know what you mean. Sometimes I find that a series like this is just for fun, in between other heavier reads, or when you don't feel like taxing an over-stressed brain. I don't say this as being dismissive of the author's work - I doubt that it's easy to come up with a successful "light" mystery series, either!
Although before Dandy Gilver and ..., I had read here and there a little about the general strike, this description brought it home to me much more than before. I love getting a slice of history or a vivid description of a time and or place along with my fiction. That's one reason we all love the Mary Russell and Amelia Peabody series. Besides vivid characters, a good plot and wonderful writing.
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Margaret, it's amazing what one can learn from historical fiction or mysteries, even allowing for the fact that fiction is involved! Sometimes even historical novels that are historically inaccurate are valuable because they spark a life-long interest in a particular subject. We're fortunate to be living in the "golden age" of historical mysteries, too!
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