DAMSEL IN DISTRESS

It's 1923 in postWW I England, and the Honorable Philip Petrie—aimless, car-loving younger son of an aristocratic family- -meets Gloria Arbuckle, daughter of an American millionaire, in the countryside near Malvern. It's love at first sight, but a second meeting ends with the kidnapping of Gloria, a failed attempt by Philip to rescue her, and a note from the kidnappers to Arbuckle demanding a huge ransom and utter secrecy. Philip enlists the help of the intrepid Honorable Daisy Dalrymple, a childhood friend and neighbor in the woodlands where Gloria and her captors are holed up. Daisy resists the temptation to bring her beloved Detective Inspector Alec Fletcher of Scotland Yard into the picture. She eventually finds the captors' well-hidden shack but then is captured herself. Her escape, leaving Gloria behind, forces the kidnappers to move their hideaway, and now Fletcher, along with some of Daisy's trusted friends and servants, band together to ensure Gloria's safe return while her father arranges the money pick-up and Fletcher successfully figures out who's behind it all. Pretty much the same Dunn mixture (Requiem for a Mezzo, 1996, etc.)—a combo of P.G. Wodehouse and Boys' Own Adventures, laced with reminders of the all-pervasive class distinctions of the era. A dauntless Daisy, and good-natured fun, if a little fey.