Daisy Dalrymple was on her way to a stately home near Edinburgh to collect information for her next Town and Country article aboard The Flying Scotsman, when a passenger is murdered and Miss Dalrymple is implicated in the crime. A case that develops at full speed and forces us to devour it to discover the culprit.
Excellent story, very entertaining and highly recommended to spend a pleasant afternoon with a book and a bug cup of coffee.

A wonderful romp through the Scottish Highlands. This was the effortless way to spend a couple of hours. Nothing too gory but with a great little mystery. We see some old characters making an appearance in the form of a stowaway and we get to see The Honourable Daisy Dalrymple dance a tidy jig through this one. I adore the Edwardian period and this entry does the period proud.

Another enjoyable romp for amateur sleuth Daisy Dalrymple. This time there's murder afoot on the Flying Scotsman and there's a stowaway on board in the shape of the daughter of Detective Chief Inspector Alec Fletcher of Scotland Yard, Can Daisy solve two family feuds and a murder before DCI Fletcher catches up with them and the murdere leaves the train?

Being on a train in the early part of the 20th century in Britain heading to Scotland sounds like a dream! Daisy is a fun, effective character and I really enjoyed the descriptions of the train and area. Good for fans of English cozies, there are many books in the series to keep us entertained.

The Daisy Dalrymple mysteries are always a good time and this early entry in the series does not disappoint. I stared the series late, so this provided a great opportunity to visit the beginning and, while this book is snappy, I do think that Ms. Dunn's abilities as a writer and crafter of mysteries has excelled as her career moves forward. This is excellent, for sure, but a bit rough around the edges in comparison to her later work. Anyways, I do love a description of clothes and hair and general Britishness, so dive in if that sounds at all intriguing!

Murder on the Flying Scotsman is an entertaining historical mystery demonstrating clearly how monetary squabbling can lead a clan to turn on one another, and even resort to murder.  The entire story takes place on the famous London-to-Edinburgh train, the Flying Scotsman. Alistair McGowan, a notorious miser, has summoned his family. All are enroute, as each hopes to persuade him to change his will, which currently favors his brother Albert.  Daisy Dalrymple is drawn into the affair, as one of her schoolmates, Anne Breton is part of the large feuding family. On top of everything, DCI Alec Fletcher’s daughter Belinda has shown up on board. The last thing Daisy expects is to be caught in the middle of another murder investigation, but it’s very clear that Uncle Albert did not die of natural causes.  


Murder on the Flying Scotsman is an entertaining mystery, albeit one that is not very complex.  The reader knows the murderer long before Daisy and Alec, but the story remains interesting. Murder on the Flying Scotsman is a light mystery, perfect for a relaxing afternoon.


3.5 / 5 (rounded up to 4)


I received a copy of Murder on the Flying Scotsman from the publisher and Netgalley.com in exchange for an honest review.


— Crittermom

Highly recommended.
I'm so glad that I persevered through the Prologue as I found the language hard to understand.
Daisy Dalrymple is a very entertaining character as she being clever, funny, observant she is very adventurous.
Carola transports the reader to Victorian times so well that the readers will find themselves on the train and
beyond with the characters.

Didn't realize this was part of a longstanding series. Got me started and now I'm going back to read the rest.

Thanks St. Martin's Press and netgalley for this ARC.

I read this one a long time ago but didn't realize it til I started reading it again. Liked it then and now

I thoroughly enjoyed the plot, atmosphere, and characters. I would recommend the book to friends and family for their reading pleasure.

An absolutely delightful entry in the Daisy Dalrymple mystery series, this one takes us back in time before Alec and Daisy began courting.

Daisy is taking the train to Scotland to cover a story and is surprised when Alec's daughter appears on board having run away from her grandmother. It's too late for her to leave so Daisy will deliver her to Alec who is working in the North of England.

Also on the train are the family and twin of an elderly dying Scotsman. Both Daisy and Belinda get caught up in the family's drama over the dying man's will when the twin turns up dead in his compartment on the train shortly before it enters Scotland.

The train is stopped, the family, along with Daisy and Belinda, are detained and Scotland Yard comes to investigate. That in the person of Alec and his team.

While the murder wasn't hard to figure out, the book was charming, a lovely addition to the series.

Reprint of the 1997 edition. This is a lovely cozy mystery, with likable characters and enough of a puzzle as to the perpetrator to keep things interesting.

A reprint of book #4, getting this advance copy was a reminder that I skipped this book in this lovely series by Carola Dunn.
The story takes place on a train in the early 1920s… think Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express, but different. Here the motivation is clear. On the train are members of a family going to Scotland to visit their rich patriarch who has just learned that his death is imminent. They all hope to persuade a change to his will. Of course, the old man is a grumpy, stingy sort. And the family are largely just interested in their selves and the money. A murder occurs to the heir during the travels to Scotland, so every member of the family is a suspect.
It was great fun to be back with Daisy Dalrymple before her marriage to Chief of Scotland Yard, Alex Fletcher. And to see Daisy interact with Alec’s daughter – who stowed away on the train and found the body of the dead man.
A lot of fun and the “who dunnit” was a surprise to me… so very well done in my opinion!
Thank you NetGalley and publisher, St Martin’s Press, for the opportunity to read this ARC.

I have a soft spot for British cozies, and most especially for those that take place in the early 20th century - Murder on the Flying Scotsman was everything I look for in a cozy mystery, and I thoroughly enjoyed reading it! Our heroine Daisy Dalrymple is taking the train from London to Edinburgh when she runs into an old school friend who is traveling with her very dysfunctional family to visit the family patriarch who has sent for them all prior to changing his will. In true cozy mystery fashion, there's a murder aboard the train, and it's up to Daisy to assist Scotland Yard with their investigation. Surprising conclusion and perfectly written. This is author Carola Dunn's fourth book in her Daisy Dalrymple series, and the first one I've read, but I was able to jump right in....and I will be going back asap and starting with the first book! Loved, loved, loved it! A+++ and 5 stars!

A moveable locked room mystery and a great historical as well. This is the reprint of book #4 in the series (of 23 titles in the series) and it was worth the reread. 1923 and Daisy finds herself on the famous Flying Scotsman train, headed for Scotland. The trip was planned but the 'baggage' was not - a murder with way too many suspects. Add to that, a nine year old stowaway, the daughter of Daisy's friend DCI Fletcher. Together they piece together the puzzle of who dunnit. One thing seems certain, everybody has money on their mind in this thoroughly satisfying mystery full of lots of suspects and clues that play fair with the reader. I'm looking forward to reading the latest entry.

Set in 1920s England and Scotland, MURDER ON THE FLYING SCOTSMAN by Carola Dunn is a Daisy Dalrymple mystery originally published in 1997. This is a lighter "cozy," essentially a "closed room" mystery centering on an older gentleman' death on a train going to Edinburgh. Of course, his relatives (each with a potential motive) are all on the train as they had been summoned to his brother's estate. It was ever so much fun to spend some time with Daisy, her beau Alec Fletcher, and his young daughter Belinda who plays a fairly prominent role on this mystery. Read MURDER ON THE FLYING SCOTSMAN as a teaser for the new addition in the series, The Corpse at the Crystal Palace, scheduled for release in early July. And for similar titles, look for mysteries by Frances Brody or Rhys Bowen.

Link in live post:
http://treviansbookit.blogspot.com/2017/09/more-cozy-mysteries.html

I know what you're thinking, Murder on the Orient Express, anyone? Well, you thought right! I'm fairly sure that imitation was the author's intention. But the story only shared a few common characteristics from Christie's work.
Both books are set in around the same era, Murder on the Flying Scotsman in 1923 and the Murder on the Orient Express in 1932. Throughout the book, the former reflected on the racism and sexism some people had to go through that was rampant in those times, something I found starkly missing in Christie's works after hearing that they had a rascist undertone sometimes.(https://electricliterature.com/amp/p/5ddcf3a10a65)
As for our protagonist, Daisy Dalrymple is a strong-spirited and kind young lady who happens to have a knack of stumbling onto murder wherever she goes. As far as Murder on the Flying Scotsman is concerned she didn't come off as a busybody(unlike SOME protagonist I just read about). The girl knew when to keep her business to herself, although I can't vouch for the other books in the series.
There were so many aunts, uncles and cousins it all seemed like jumbled earphone wires to me. I'm just not very good at keeping up with who's who. The romantic element between Ms. Dalrymple and Chief Alec Fletcher of the Scotland Yard was sweet and enjoyable. And the bromantic dynamic between the Alec and his comrades in the force was a welcome addition to the book! Where there's bromance, there's a bit of humor guaranteed. I also particularly appreciated the multi-facetedness of some of the characters, it made it all the more realistic.
As for the murder plot, it was a bit weak. I guessed the culprit fairly early on before the damning clue was even mentioned. There's less of the theatrics that Poirot's known for and the neatly packaged solution I so enjoy.
Murder on the Flying Scotsman, first published in 1996 and now being reprinted again by the same publisher, Minotaur Books, written by Carola Dunn is a quick-read, realistic mystery novel, its characters touching on deeper topics now and then(which I love), while managing to sneak in a bit of heart-thumping romance and the warmth of camaraderie.

(Blog version will be up on 21st April, 2018)

Apparently this is a book in a series which I was not aware of so it was interesting to see how the book unfolded and the role of the different characters. I thoroughly enjoyed this mystery. Don’t be concerned with the Scottish brogue in the first couple of pages. This book gives a nice insight into the life of a professional woman in the 1920s as well as some of the social expectations of that time. But it is the family dynamics, the resolution of the mystery and a budding romance that makes this a delightful story. I would recommend it.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press, Minotaur Books for a digital galley of this book.

For those of us who are already fans of the Daisy Dalrymple stories this reissue is a fine chance to read earlier books in the series (this is number four) without having to do so much digging to find older copies. The Honourable Daisy Dalrymple takes a first class ticket on the Flying Scotsman train headed to Scotland to get material for an article she is writing. Once aboard she finds herself acting as the responsible adult for a stowaway on the train, Belinda, daughter of Detective Chief Inspector Alec Fletcher of Scotland Yard, Daisy's friend. Belinda has run away from her grandmother's home because she was denied permission to do something she wanted to do. Since she had overheard a conversation regarding the train trip Daisy was planning Belinda makes it all the way to getting aboard the train before it leaves London. Now she and Daisy are involved with all the others in the first class carriage who are headed to Dunston Castle in Scotland for business regarding Uncle Alistair's will.

This is one of those stories you can read and relax through without it having too much angst and certainly no excess of gore. The perfect problem of twin brothers and who died first. Most of the relatives could really use the money mentioned in wills but everything isn't nearly as clear as it is first assumed. Nice twists and turns to the plot, the atmosphere of 1923 is well presented and the original publication year of 1997 presents no date/time problems. A good story for those who enjoy historical mystery settings and genteel circumstances.

Originally published in 1996 and now available as an ebook, this is the fourth in the long-running Daisy Dalrymple mystery series.

It is 1923, and journalist Daisy Dalrymple is on her way to Edinburgh on the Flying Scotsman express train to research an article. Young Belinda Fletcher, daughter of Daisy's Scotland Yard inspector friend, stows away to visit her father who is working on a case in Northumberland. (Belinda had consulted a map and seen that Northumberland and Scotland were right next to each other; being nine, she has no idea of the distances involved.) Daisy of course takes her under her wing. Also in First Class are an old schoolmate of Daisy's and the other members of Anne's extended family, on their way to try to persuade their old miser of an ancestor to leave them some money in his will. When Mr. McGowan's younger brother and current heir turns up dead in his compartment, his valet suspects murder. Soon all of the suspects--plus Daisy and Belinda--are housed in a hotel in Berwick awaiting the arrival of the very harassed Chief Detective Inspector Alec Fletcher.

Well-drawn characters, including a delightful nine-year-old, round out a satisfying mystery. Although part of a series, this stands alone perfectly well. Readers of cosy mysteries are in for a treat.