Fall of a Philanderer by Carola Dunn

What the cover says:
In the summer of 1924, the Honorable Daisy Dalrymple Fletcher has planned a quiet, relaxing holiday in the small coastal town of Westcombe. With her husband, Detective Chief Inspector Alec Fletcher of Scotland Yard, planning to join them later, Daisy goes ahead with her step-daughter Belinda, and Belinda's chum Deva. Currently three months pregnant, Daisy is looking forward to a nondramatic vacation of quiet strolls along the cliffs and days down at the beach. She doesn't have that kind of luck, however, as the seemingly quiet seaside town turns out to be a hotbed of rumour and scandal. It seems much of the turmoil centres around local lothario George Enderby - the married owner of the town pub - who keeps himself busy attempting the seduction of whatever women cross his path. In a town this small, no indiscretion remains secret for very long - a consequence clearly illustrated when the husband of one of his rumoured conquests assaults the innkeeper in full view.
The last vestige of the idyllic vacation dissipates shortly thereafter when the Fletchers, out for a simple picnic, discover Enderby's broken body at the foot of a sea cliff. With murder the most obvious conclusion, Alec's vacation is cut short by the official investigation. It is up to Daisy, however, to uncover the truth lurking behind the rumours, gossip, and closely held secrets of this small town if the killer is ever to be found.

An easy to read, enjoyable enough story. It is a little laboured in getting to the point sometimes, and tries rather too hard to imitate the style of the great authors who have written in this period before. The ending is clever, but something of an anti-climax. I'd happily read another 'Daisy Dalrymple Mystery'.

8/10