Dandy Gilver and the Proper Treatment of Bloodstains

1st May 1926

Dear Alec,

Just when those who should be working are all downing tools for this wretched strike (and I still can t believe it I mean to say: riots, Alec in Edinburgh of all places) guess who is setting her virgin shoulder to its very first wheel?

I am dressed in serge and sensible footwear, sleeping in an iron bed and dining off pickled tongue at six o clock each day. I am, in short, that nice young Mrs Balfour's new maid. But don t worry, Alec dear: things haven t got as bad as all that. It s just that that nice young Mr Balfour is going to kill his wife. At least, she thinks so, and the more I hear about him from butler, cook and bootboy the more I m inclined to agree.

So I m undercover, in disguise, bent upon foiling. And jolly hard work it is too tomorrow is my half-day free if you d care take me out for a restorative bun. (Every maid needs a beau to buy buns for her.)

Yours,

Dandy xx

p.s. Ask for Miss Rossiter: below stairs I am she.

Winner of Sue Feder Memorial Macavity Award 2012 (UK)

“"This one is full of clever twists."”

McPherson's books are always strong on period detail, with nifty sleight-of-hand plotting and plenty of interesting secondary characters, but it's Dandy herself who makes them shine: witty, briskly humane and quietly subversive, she is a continuing delight. - Guardian

A subtle detonation of the cosy genre... an acute sense of period, sharp observation of the mores of the day (both above and below stairs), a nicely-judged infusion of humour and a winning heroine. - Independent

Guaranteed to appeal to those who have never got over the death of Dorothy L Sayers . . . McPherson has an ear for mellifluous language ... The story bristles with clues, and the resolution.. is unguessable. - Financial Times on DANDY GILVER AND THE PROPER TREATMENT OF BLOODSTAINS

Dan Brown meets Barbara Pym . . . Dandy is brisk, baffled, heroic, kindly, scandalised and -above all - very funny. - Guardian on the Dandy Gilver series

McPherson is on to a winner... The period detail is accomplished and convincing, the crime is neatly convoluted and McPherson's prose bristles with clever asides under a lucid surface... I can't wait for her next adventure. - Scotland on Sunday on AFTER THE ARMISTICE BALL

Delightful - Herald on THE WINTER GROUND

Dandy Gilver is an enthralling heroine; part Dorothy Parker, part Miss Marple, utterly engaging. [Catriona] can send chills up your spine and provoke a fit of the giggles in the space of a few short pages. Absolutely wonderful - Kirsty Scott

Catriona McPherson was educated at Edinburgh University, and spent a few years as a university lecturer before writing her first Dandy Gilver novel. Catriona now writes full-time and lives on a farm in Galloway.

1st May 1926 Dear Alec, Just when those who should be working are all downing tools for this wretched strike (and I still can t believe it I mean to say: riots, Alec in Edinburgh of all places) guess who is setting her virgin shoulder to its very first wheel? I am dressed in serge and sensible footwear, sleeping in an iron bed and dining off pickled tongue at six o clock each day. I am, in short, that nice young Mrs Balfour's new maid. But don t worry, Alec dear: things haven t got as bad as all that. It s just that that nice young Mr Balfour is going to kill his wife. At least, she thinks so, and the more I hear about him from butler, cook and bootboy the more I m inclined to agree. So I m undercover, in disguise, bent upon foiling. And jolly hard work it is too tomorrow is my half-day free if you d care take me out for a restorative bun. (Every maid needs a beau to buy buns for her.) Yours, Dandy xx p.s. Ask for Miss Rossiter: below stairs I am she.

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