Dorothy Martin and her husband, retired Chief Constable Alan Nesbitt, have spent some months visiting peculiar and eccentric English rituals and pageants, enjoying the spectacles while not particularly impressed with their costs. In the course of their travels, they run into the nephew of one of Alan’s old colleagues when he worked in Cornwall, a young man who has a minor hereditary title, a nice manor house and a newborn son who is to be baptized and confirmed as the heir to the title. The young man asks Alan to stand godfather to his son, as he has no living male relatives, and Alan agrees, but when the time comes and he and Dorothy travel to the man’s estate, they find the place in an uproar: it seems the baptism ceremony had to include the presence of a hereditary knife in order to the child to be considered the legitimate heir, and that knife is missing! Matters only become more confused when a woman claiming to be the young man’s birth mother is found dead, with a suspicious-looking ornamental knife in her back….This tale, the 21st in the long-running Dorothy Martin series, is rather more absurd than most of the books. There are a lot of digressions into various silly-sounding rituals, while at the same time Dorothy’s frequent praising of various Anglican Christian rituals are presented as utterly rational, and the solution to the crime is really quite arbitrary and rushed. However, I’ve stuck with Dorothy for this long and there are only a few more books in the series to date, so I’ll keep on going; a very mild recommendation from me, though. ( )

Dorothy and Alan have been asked to stand godparents by a young father whom Alan hasn’t seen since he attended his christening. Being that he was the nephew of Alan’s old partner on the force, they felt they couldn’t refuse. But there is a hitch in the ceremony: an ancient family dagger must be present at the christening for the infant to inherit the entail, and it is missing. Thus begins a rather long and twisty tale, with of course, a murder along the way. An enchanting cozy, the plot is intriguing and the characters are delightful and sure to delight cozy mystery readers. ( )

I had expressed my disappointment with the previous entry in this series here, and am happy to report that the newest entry in Dorothy Martin's adventures seems to return to form, though I would recommend that you take the author's suggestion and skip to chapter 9.
The first 8 chapters are about Dorothy being bored and Alan taking her to experience some quintessential British ceremonies; they don't contribute the mystery at all.

Like Miss Marple and Jessica Fletcher, Alan and Dorothy seem to have friends and relatives everywhere who get into scrapes. Here, Alan runs into the nephew of an old friend, and is asked to stand as godfather to the nephew's infant son (I did wonder that the nephew didn't have any one else to ask other than a man he hadn't seen in decades).

Upon arriving for the christening, the ceremonial dagger that must be present at all baptisms in the family is missing. Throw in a suspicious death, a snowstorm, and two inquisitive little girls, and you have Dorothy Martin mystery.

The story dragged in a few places, and the set-up seemed overly contrived, but not a bad read if you're willing to suspend disbelief at times.

A digital review copy was provided by NetGalley. ( )

A Dagger Before Me is the twenty-first book in the Dorothy Martin series.

The author points out in the Author Notes that if the reader is familiar with English history they can skip the first nine chapters and not miss much of the plot of the story. One, if the author went to the trouble of writing the mentioned nine chapters, this reader is going to read them and two, most of the information in the first nine chapters I was not familiar with and found them to be very interesting and well worth the time to read them.

After attending the Lord Mayor Show they run into Edwin Mountcalm. Edwin is the nephew and godson of Andrew Mountcalm. Alan and Andrew were partners in their early days on the police department. Edwin has a son who 6 months old and asks Dorothy and if they would consider being godparents for his son and they agree. When they had first met and gone their separate ways describes the elaborate christening. There is the ceremonial dagger that has been used for generations to pass on the family estate to the firstborn or lose same.

When Dorothy and Alan arrive at Edwin’s home they find it in turmoil as the dagger has gone missing. The local constabulary is called and Alan offers his assistance with the investigation. Before much of an investigation can be started there is a body of female found in her room at a local pub. She has been stabbed and there is a dagger found next to her body and Edwin begins the prime suspect of her murder. Dorothy and Alan need to take more of an interest in proving his innocence, rather than walking around thinking woe is me.

I love this series. The stories are well-plotted and told. There is always a beautiful description of the countryside and the villages and their residents. The book also has a cast of wonderful characters that I always think I would like to be friends with.

I am eagerly awaiting the next book of this interesting series. ( )

This is the 21st book in the terrific Dorothy Martin traditional village cozy series. As with any Jeanne Dams book, there are some elements of travelogue, some British pageantry, food talk, and other customary Jeanne Dams trademarks. Dorothy, an American expat, lives in England and is married to a retired Chief Constable, Alan Nesbitt.

As is typical with Dams books, the pace is slow and leisurely but I find them interesting, though I realize that not everyone might feel the same.

In this book, Dorothy and Alan are asked, by, Edwin, the nephew of one of Alan's old colleagues, to be godparents for the nephew's new son. To keep the family property in the family, a dagger must be used during the Christening ceremony. Alas, the dagger is missing and, without it, the family could lose their property. Needless to say, Dorothy and Alan try to help the family find the dagger and then, to solve a murder.

Unlike others, the story mostly takes place in the home of Edwin, his wife, and 3 children. Once things get going, it becomes a "stay at home" sort of book.

I would recommend this book to people who like traditional village cozies.

(I received this book from the publisher, via Net Galley, in exchange for a fair and honest review.) ( )