The Hope Stapleford Mysteries are a series of historical mysteries by Caroline Dunford. They're a sequel series to the Euphemia Martins Mysteries.
Set before and during World War 2, the series follows Hope Stapleford, Euphemia's daughter, as she follows in her mother's footsteps as a detective. Dealing with disappearances, deaths, unexplained events, and possible spies and saboteurs is all in a day's work for Hope.
As of 2024 there are four books in the series:
- Hope For the Innocent (2020)
- Hope to Survive (2021)
- Hope for Tomorrow (2022)
- Hope Under Fire (2024)
Contains examples of:
- Accidental Murder:
- Charlotte's death. The kidnappers only want to drug her by holding a cloth over her mouth. They accidentally suffocate her instead.
- Charlotte's kidnapper drops dead of a heart attack while being "interrogated" by Johnson. On the one hand, Johnson didn't do anything worse than slap him a few times. On the other, he had a weak heart and wouldn't have had a heart attack if it wasn't for the interrogation.
- Collins' death. Hamish drops a spider down his collar, knowing he's an arachnophobe. He only wants to scare Collins, not kill him. Unfortunately, Collins decides to go flying. He only notices the spider while he's coming in to land. He panics, loses control of the plane, and is killed in the crash.
- Age-Gap Romance:
- In the first book Bernie, a debutante in her twenties, has an affair with a man who's at least ten years older than her. This is the least of the reasons he's unsuitable for her.
- In the second book Bernie marries Cedric, a widowed naval officer in his fifties.
- Bus Crash: Bernie disappears half-way through the second book. She's absent for the first half of the third book, and then Hope gets a telegram informing her of Bernie's death.
- Casual Danger Dialogue: The landing gear on Fitzroy's plane doesn't work, right when they're about to land in a field. Fitzroy asks Hope to check the instruments as calmly as if he does this every day.
- Criminally Attractive: Bernie has a relationship with a man who turns out to be a Nazi spy.
- Drives Like Crazy: Fitzroy. Euphemia refuses to get in a car with him because of his dreadful driving. Even worse, he flies like this too.
- Every Proper Lady Should Curtsy: All of the debutantes have to curtsey when they're presented to the king and queen.
- Gorgeous Period Dress: Hope For the Innocent starts with Hope being presented at court. She and all the other debutantes wear fancy dresses complete with trains. Hope specifically mentions the train makes it difficult to curtsey; all of the girls have to rehearse their curtsies before being presented.
- Historical Domain Character: In Hope For the Innocent: King George VI and Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother (referred to only as "the King" and "the Queen") have cameos. Oswald Molesley and his supporters are the villains. And of course, Hitler is a looming threat in the background.
- Honorable Marriage Proposal: Invoked: Cedric sleeps with Bernie then does the honourable thing and proposes to her. Except he planned the whole thing because he knows Bernie will tell him important secrets.
- I Have Many Names: Hope's godfather is known as Eric (which appears to be his real name) and Fitzroy (which is probably an alias). He also has a title (probably his real title) and several other aliases. Justified because he's a spy.
- Immediate Sequel: Hope for Tomorrow starts at most a few hours after Hope to Survive ends.
- The Jeeves: Johnson, Hope's mechanic, is a rather darker example than most. He's equally at home driving Hope around the city and violently interrogating kidnappers.
- Killed Offscreen: Hope's father dies early in the third book. Hamish dies between the last chapter and the epilogue.
- Like Mother, Like Daughter: Hope investigates mysteries before and during a world war, just like her mother did twenty years earlier.
- Likes Older Men: Bernie has an affair with Paul, a crush on Eric, and gets engaged to Cedric. All of them are at least ten years older than her. In Eric and Cedric's cases, they're closer to twenty-five years older than her.
- Loose Lips: Bernie is utterly incapable of keeping a secret, to Hope's despair. Played for drama when Cedric gets engaged to her, knowing she'll tell him everything she hears.
- Lovable Rogue: Harvey, a con-man and Hope's reluctant assistant. In his own words, he's a bounder but not a cad.
- Mama's Baby, Papa's Maybe: Cole tells Hope that Eric/Fitzroy is her biological father, and she was born after he had an affair with her already-married mother. Fitzroy denies this accusation and is furious that Hope would think so little of her own mother. Hope still has doubts, though, especially when Fitzroy marries Euphemia a few months after the death of Hope's father.
- No Escape but Down: Harvey, who is currently wanted by the police, visits Hope and Bernie in their flat. The police come to arrest him. Hope delays them while Harvey makes his escape via the window... but the police expected this and are waiting for him at the bottom.
- Only Known by Their Nickname: Bernadette is always called Bernie.
- Protagonist Title / Pun-Based Title: All of the books' titles contain Hope's name.
- "Scooby-Doo" Hoax: In Hope for Tomorrow, the airbase believe they're being sabotaged by angry faeries. Hope investigates and discovers the saboteurs are human, and the whole thing started as an attempt to cover up an Accidental Murder.
- Shout-Out: Hope and her father discuss Gaudy Night in the first book.
- Spin-Offspring: Hope is the daughter of Euphemia Stapleford née Martins, heroine of the first series.
- The Spymaster: Hope's godfather Eric, AKA Fitzroy. In addition to spying on the Germans, he recruits Hope to keep an eye on what's happening in parts of the British army.
- World War II: The first book is set in 1939, just before the war starts. The rest of the series is set during the war.
