Book Review: The Winter Garden Mystery

Reviewed By: Carol Schwaderer Dickinson - RAM

The Winter Garden Mystery     Amazon US PB Amazon Canada PB
Carola Dunn
Class/Genre:   Mystery   Historical   Woman Main Character
Series: Daisy Dalyrmple # 2
Kensington, 1995, $5/99, 254pp

Heigh-oh. For those who mourn that the likes of Christie, Sayers and Marsh are no longer writting mysteries, the discovery of Carola Dunn's Daisy Dalrymple series will be joyful. She has managed to recreate the the style and feel of the era perfectly. Much of the genre sterotype s present. There's plenty of nifty slang, and a bit too much phonetic spelling to represent accents of the lower class. The Honerable Daisy is a 'modern' choosing to work as a reporter for Town and Country magazine in the '20's. There's the cast of characters in the country manor, the nearby village connected to the house through the servants, the befuddled master pottering about, the domineering matron, and the youngest generation coping with the world changing rapidly after WWI. Of course Daisy has a love interest from Scotland Yard to bail out the bumbling local Officer Dimwit. It is the definition of cozy.

Despite the title, readers seeking a true garden theme mystery will be disappointed. Its merely the location the body was found.

Carol Schwaderer Dickinson - RAM

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Carol Schwaderer Dickinson - RAM