The Three Dahlias by Katy Watson

THE THREE DAHLIAS, a debut murder mystery by Katy Watson, has a beautiful cover and a complex plot set in the present day at Aldermere, a manor house in the English countryside. That is the family home of Lettice Davenport, a famous mystery writer during the 1930s Golden Age of crime. Her many novels, featuring detective Dahlia Lively and her sidekick Detective Inspector Johnny Swain, have been turned into films and a television series and a brand new film is in the works. Three stars have held the Dahlia role: Rosalind King, Caro Hooper, and Posy Starling – all of whom are on site for a special promotional weekend with VIP guests, the new director, his assistant, the script writer, and the Davenports, Hugh, his wife Isobel, and her granddaughter, Juliette. A formal dinner culminates in a murder with roughly a dozen suspects, but more mayhem is on the way as the three Dahlias (Rosalind, Caro, and Posy) learn to overcome their insecurities and differences in order to find a killer. Closed room and cozy mystery fans (think authors like Sulari Gentill, Richard Osman, and Ashley Weaver) will enjoy this light and entertaining who-dun-it eventually solved by several female sleuths who are simultaneously uncovering secrets and learning to value themselves. Truly, THE THREE DAHLIAS could easily be a movie with a beautiful setting like Gosford Park; wouldn’t that be fun?