Damsel in Distress

In her latest adventure, Daisy Dalrymple, Dunn's engaging 1920s British journalist last seen in Murder on the Flying Scotsman (1997), takes on a gang of kidnappers. Her young friend Philip is motoring in the country with his new ladylove, American Gloria Arbuckle, when they're captured by thugs. Philip is set free near the Dalrymple country manor and immediately contacts Daisy in London to ask for her help in rescuing Gloria. The young woman's millionaire father, adamant about following the kidnappers' instructions not to involve the police, begins to raise the demanded ransom while Daisy devises a scheme to ferret out Gloria's whereabouts and snatch her back. She summons a group of her London friends to the manor but doesn't include her Scotland Yard detective heartthrob Alec Fletcher, whose presence would jeopardize her plan. Under the guise of a house party, Daisy sends her guests off on a treasure hunt to find clues pertaining to recent strangers--particularly Americans--in the countryside. Although Alec, suspicious at being left out, crashes the party and endangers her plan, Daisy prevails once more. Mysteries don't get much campier than this, but Dunn's style gives an entertaining spark to the light plot. (Oct.)