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Transcript

Welcome to Mystery Books Podcast, where you’ll discover new mystery books and authors. I’m USA Today bestselling mystery author, Sara Rosett. I’m also a bookworm who specializes in the mystery genre. I love sharing my favorite mystery discoveries from classic golden age novels to contemporary cozies.

This episode is all about The Three Dahlias by Katy Watson.

Blurb

Here’s the blurb. Three rival actresses team up to solve a murder at a stately home of the author who made them famous, only to discover the solution lies in the stories themselves.

The first line is a quote, it begins as a quote, this is someone speaking. “Home can be a sanctuary or a prison, a haven or a horror,” Dahlia said, sipping thoughtfully on her white lady cocktail. 

Now, you might think that with a name like The Three Dahlias that this would be a gardening mystery, but it’s not. It is set at Aldermere House in English Country Estate and home of the famous Golden Age author Lettice Davenport, creator of a famous fictional sleuth, Dahlia Lively.

Now, I realize that the British pronunciation of Lettice is, I believe, Lettice? But I can’t say that as a woman’s name without stumbling over it, so I’m going to call her Lettuce or Lettie. This house, Aldermere House, is hosting a fan convention, Dahlia Books and Series has become so popular that it has created this huge fandom and they’re hosting a fan convention on the grounds of Aldermere House when this book opens.  The Dahlia Books have been adapted into films and TV series. And the actresses that have played them are at the convention, plus there’s been a film adaptation and a TV adaptation, and then there’s going to be a new film coming out soon, and the actress that’s been cast to play Dahlia in the new film will be there as well.

Now the first line of the book about the home being a sanctuary or a prison, It is an excerpt from one of the Dahlia books, and the excerpts, they appear at the beginning of the chapters of the books, and they were one of my favorite parts of this book because they’re so witty and so much fun, and the titles of the books that they come from, these fictional books, like the book within the book are very clever, and it matches up with what’s going on in this story, and I just thought the whole thing was very clever, and I really enjoyed those.

Setting and Characters

All right, on to the characters. We have the three Dahlias. The first one is Rosalind King. She’s in her 60s. She made movies. She was cast as Dahlia in the movies that were made in the 80s. Then we have Caro Hooper, who is in her 40s. She had, I believe it was a five season TV series. That was made in the early 2000s and then we have Posey Starling who’s about 29 I think is what was the exact age mentioned in the book, and she will play Dahlia in the new movie that is set to be Filmed at Aldermere house soon.

So we have three different women three different stages of life three different Eras that the movies and TV shows were made. So it’s all very it’s a very interesting compare and contrast between these three women And their personalities are very different too, so it makes a good setup for some interesting dialogue and interesting interactions.

In the beginning of this book, they see each other as rivals, but as the blurb said, they have to work together to solve several things happen at the fan convention. There’s blackmail, and then there’s a murder, so they have to work together to sort all these things out. 

Themes and Tropes

There are quite a few interesting themes in this book.  I enjoyed, one thing it does is it explores why Golden Age Fiction still resonates today, and it calls them safe mysteries, they’re puzzles, and I agree completely with that mystery readers like the intellectual puzzle, the trying to solve the mystery. Either before the sleuth does or right along with the sleuth in the stories.  I think that has an enormous appeal to readers today as much as it did in the 1920s and 30s. And I think that’s why some of the classic books are seeing a revival of it. Mystery readers are rediscovering a lot of these books that they didn’t know existed because now they’re being reprinted or they’re available in ebook when they weren’t before.

Another theme that this book explores is a theme of fandom. It’s the expectation or the tension between the fans who want a portrayal that recreates and captures the characters in the atmosphere of the books versus the creatives who want to do something new. So like the new film that’s coming out in this book, there’s a discussion about will it meet the fan’s expectations and how can they win over the fans versus they want to do something new and different.  And this feels very relevant to me as an Agatha Christie fan. And if you’ve listened to some of my other podcasts or follow me through my newsletter, you know that I’m not a huge fan of the new Poirot films, the new adaptations, because I don’t feel they capture the feeling and the tone of the Poirot books.  So I’m right there in this discussion and I just thought it was interesting that it was part of this book. 

Now this series was clearly inspired by a love of Golden Age fiction. It’s woven throughout the book and you can see that many things probably played into Katie Watson’s inspiration in writing this book.  I believe that Dahlia Lively and Lettie, the creator, Lettie Davenport of the books, was probably inspired by Agatha Christie or a combination of her and the other queens of golden age fiction. The author in this, Lettie, was prolific. She is loved and there’s been a huge catalog of adaptations made of her work.

And there’s even a scandal associated with Lettie Davenport, a missing maid, so we had the mystery surrounding Christie when she disappeared for several days and no one knew where she was. There are a lot of echoes of Golden Age novels in this that Golden Age mystery fans will enjoy. 

And another thing that sort of plays off that same thing is this legacy, like having a literary legacy from someone.  And how that’s handled by the family and the tension within the family over managing that estate, because these estates of these authors that are well known and well established, it’s a full time job and often requires many people to manage the rights and the licensing. So that’s another interesting aspect to this book that you don’t get in every mystery novel about the Golden Age.

Okay, on to tropes. This one of course has the country house mystery setting, which is, a favorite trope, but it has a modern twist because it’s a country house in modern day. They’re hosting this fan convention where people are coming dressed in costume. It’s recreating the 1930s and the book itself has a very 1930s feel to it.

Another trope is the filming or movies on location. That’s always a fun trope because you have the story within the story. You have the story of what’s going on within the fan convention and what’s going on in modern day. 

And then you have the stories that are mentioned within the book that are the titles of the Dahlia Lively books.  And I think it would be just great fun if those were, maybe you could download a short story or something that was a story. That was a Dahlia Lively story. Right now, all we have are the three Dahlia stories, but it would be a lot of fun to read an original Dahlia Lively story. 

Another trope that we have is the female friendship.  This story is basically an enemies to friends story. The women start out seeing each other as rivals, they’re in competition to be almost like who’s the best Dahlia, and now at the end of the book, They become friends and through working together to solve the crime. 

The Story Behind The Story

Alright, the story behind the story and some fun facts.  Katy Watson on her website said she wrote The Three Dahlias during lockdown. And she writes other books. She’s published, I think it said, over 40 books under other pen names. She writes romance and then she also writes for children and teens. 

Recommendations

Here are some read-a-likes for you. If you enjoyed The Three Dahlias, you’ll probably enjoy these books.  These, in particular, are mystery books set in when a movie is being made or a filming related type theme to them. 

The first one I have is Death in the English Countryside. This is my book, it’s the first book in the Murder on Location series, and it’s about a film scout for a Jane Austen film. There’s going to be a new adaptation, and the main character is searching England for idyllic settings for pride and prejudice.  So I indulged all my Jane Austen fangirl and Jane Austen film adaptation fangirl vibes with this book. 

The second one is called Murder on a Silver Platter by Shawn Reilly Simmons, and it’s the first book in the Red Carpet Catering Mystery Series, and it’s about a chef owner of a movie set catering company. 

Then the third one is called Hollywood Homicide by Kellye Garrett.  That is the first one in the Detective by Day series, and it’s about a Hollywood actress. 

Then we have this one. I just love this title and I think it’s such a fun different aspect that you haven’t heard a lot about. It’s called The Dog Dish of Doom by E. J. Cooperman, and it’s the Agent to the Paws mystery series.  It is an agent for animals who appear in TV commercials, television, things like that. Great concept. 

And then the last one I have is Designed for Dying by Renee Patrick, and that is a historical. It’s set in the 1930s in Hollywood. It’s Lillian Frost and Edith Head mysteries. And it’s about the real life costume designer, Edith Head, and her sleuthing buddy, Lillian.  And of course there’s lots of mysteries going on the set and lots of fashion and golden age of Hollywood themes. 

My question for you for this episode is, what are your favorite books that have a movie or film theme? You can find me on Instagram at Sara Rosett, or you can leave a comment on the show notes for this episode, which will be at SaraRosett.com/Dahlias. 

Thanks to the publisher for providing a review copy. All opinions are my own. I hope this podcast has let you revisit a favorite book or perhaps discovered a new author to try. If you enjoyed this podcast, I hope you’ll tell a fellow mystery reader. Thanks for listening and I’ll see you next time.