It’s 1929 and Dandy’s whole family has been ill with flu, bronchitis, pneumonia and even pleurisy.* She decides to take them all off to the Scottish Border town of Moffat, hoping the Laidlaw Hydropathic Hotel in the town will speed their recovery. Of course there has to be another reason for Dandy to be there – she has had a request from a family to look into the death of their mother/wife. She died at the Laidlaw Hydro and although they’ve been told it was natural causes, they suspect foul play.

Whilst the Gilver family has taken a rented villa in Moffat the menfolks are spending most of their time at the Hydro and seem to be finding it all to their taste, much to their surprise.

The brother and sister who own the Hydro have recently inherited the business from their father and it’s obvious that they have very different ideas on how the place should be run.

It’s another good investigation from Dandy and her sidekick Alec. This was a very satisfying read with Dandy’s husband playing a much bigger part than usual and their relationship proving to be much closer than either of them usually admit.

I suspect this was written in because some reviewers had been put off the series because they claimed that Dandy treated her husband badly. Ahh those critics must have been tender souls – unused to the realities of husbands and marriage in general!

*Wording thanks to the Great Northern Welly Boot Show and Billy Connolly. Obviously Dandy’s family hadn’t got their wellies!

The song is an adaptation of an old folk tune, “The Work of the Weavers.”