The Winter Garden Mystery

Daisy Dalrymple #2

by Carola Dunn

England 1923. Plucky Daisy Dalrymple takes another Town and Country magazine assignment, to write up and photograph gloomy Occles Hall. She unearths Grace Moss, missing parlor maid, seeks killer amid occupants - school chum and wallflower Bobbie Parslow, thorny Lady Valeria.

Genres: Mystery, Historical Fiction, Audiobook, Historical, Cozy Mystery, Fiction, Historical Mystery

254 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published March 15, 1995

About the author

Carola Dunn is the author of more than 30 Regency romances, as well as 16 mysteries (the Daisy Dalrymple mystery series is set in England in the 1920s). Ms. Dunn was born and grew up in England, where she got a B.A. in Russian and French from Manchester University. She travelled as far as Fiji before returning to settle in California. After 30 years in the US, she says she still sounds as if she arrived a month ago.

Prior to writing, Ms. Dunn’s various jobs included market research, child-care, construction--from foundation trenches to roofing--and writing definitions for a dictionary of science and technology. She wrote her first novel in 1979, a Regency which she sold to Warner Books.

Now living in Eugene, Oregon, Ms. Dunn has a son in California who has just made her a grandmother, and a large black dog named Willow who takes her for a walk by the Willamette River each morning. (www.belgravehouse.com)

Reviews

[Gloria · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice addition to the series. I have enjoyed listening to the narrator. The setting and time period is one I like to read. The characters are well developed and interesting.

[Nicky · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reviewed for The Bibliophibian.

No surprises that I picked up the next Daisy Dalrymple book pretty quickly — they’re just the perfect length for a long soak in the bath followed by a lazy evening, which is exactly how I’ve been reading them. I continue to enjoy the fact that Daisy’s a worker (although helped significantly by her class), and her relationship with Alec and his team; Phillip Petrie is rather a dear, despite being rather daft. His class-conscious snobbery fades away quickly as soon as he talks to someone for a while and discovers some things in common.

The new characters for this book are rather fun too: Lady Valeria is, of course, a battleaxe, while Roberta’s stubbornness is a joy. I called Sebastian’s relationships with various characters: it seemed very obvious up-front. I didn’t expect to like him, actually: he displays a pretty weak will to begin with, and a tendency to be led astray from what he should hold to — but in the end, he displays a bit of backbone and it really works. Ben was my favourite of the new characters, perhaps predictably: he sees some of the loneliness in Daisy’s past and is one of those people who reaches out and starts to help heal the wounds a little (brought on by her late love having been a conscientious objector, killed while driving an ambulance, and the way most people viewed him as a coward).

The mystery itself is solid enough providing you care enough about the characters to care about the outcome. When viewing the country house to write an article about it, Daisy sees a dead rosebush and comments on it. Once it has been dug up, however, a dead body is revealed — the body of a housemaid everyone thought had run off with a travelling salesman, who turns out to have been pregnant when she died. Daisy involves herself immediately on behalf of the young Welsh gardener (ugh, I was not convinced by his phonetically rendered accent) first accused of the murder, and calls Alec straight in. Of course, it’s a bit contrived — even twice all but falling over a dead body while visiting a stranger’s house for work is kind of unbelievable, so I do hope that there’ll be some variation on how Daisy gets involved as time goes on!

The central relationship of the books remains obvious, though it doesn’t develop too fast. Right now, Daisy and Alec are still thinking of the relationship as a possibility, despite their attraction to each other and the telling hints that they really do care. I’m looking forward to seeing this continue to develop.

All-in-all, still a fun cosy mystery, and Daisy is compelling enough a character for me to keep following the series — helped by the fact that I also care about Alec (as opposed to Amory and Milo in Ashley Weaver’s books, for example).

[Terry Southard · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyable series, or as Daisy might say, "Just spiffing." Not nearly as good as the Maisie Dobbs series, it is still an enjoyable summer read. This one has the body of a serving girl found buried in an estate's garden. The town is ready to pin the murder on the Welsh gardener, but was it really him? I thought this one was fairly obvious from the get-go, but I still enjoyed it.

[Ruth · Rating 4 out of 5]

3,5 Sterne (gut, solide, empfehlenswert, gemütlich)

- In Band 1 hat mir der Fall ein bisschen besser gefallen. Sie ist auch dieses Mal wieder auf einem englischen Landgut, um einen Artikel zu verfassen und stößt dabei auf eine Leiche. Die Auflösung ging mir ein bisschen schnell und war fast ein bisschen unspektakulär.
- Daisy wächst mir immer weiter ans Herz. Sie gibt Menschen das Gefühl, sich ihr anvertrauen zu können. So kann Daisy durch ihre Empathie immer wieder zu Konfliktschlichtung oder Verbrechensaufklärung beitragen.
- Hachja, Alec Fletcher von Scotland Yard ist ein sweeter Partner an Daisys Seite. Er schwankt gut zwischen Beschützen, Anerkennung, Überfordert Sein mit Daisys modernem Selbstverständnis. Und es knistert zunehmend ein bisschen mehr… :)
- wieder eine tolle Atmosphäre: winterlich, herrschaftlich, historisch aber nicht eingestaubt.


Inhaltswarnung: Homophobie. Fremdenhass.

[*The Angry Reader* · Rating 4 out of 5]

Let me start by saying these are not 4 star books. This ting is a solid silly three. None of the characters have immense depth. The 1920s slang is distracting and adorable. The mystery is hardly nuanced. And I think the big twist in this one was blindingly obvious.

That said - we’re still in reno-purgatory here. And that wretched hurricane made his way right past us today. My kid has been off school for 5 days. And one of my dogs got sick.

When I absolutely couldn’t bear another thing stalwart Daisy Dalrymple was a balm to my soul.

[Shauna · Rating 1 out of 5]

A murder series set in 1920's Britain. This book has a paper-thin plot and pantomime characters. Not much attention to detail- lower class characters all seem to speak the same regardless of regional accents and I found the relaxed and very modern attitudes towards sexual relationships shown by the characters very unbelievable.

[Lauren · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Winter Garden Mystery
3.5 Stars

For her new assignment with Town and Country magazine, the Honorable Miss Daisy Dalrymple travels to Occles Hall in Cheshire where she inadvertently stumbles across a corpse in the winter garden. When the innocent Welsh under-gardener is accused of the crime, Daisy is determined to uncover the truth.

Daisy is a simply delightful character. She manages to convey both inquisitiveness and caring without being excessively nosey or snooty. While she does sometimes rush headlong into trouble, she also takes appropriate precautions and often saves the day. Her slow-burn romance with the dark and sexy Detective Chief Inspector Alex Fletcher is also progressing nicely.

Unlike the first book where the mystery is resolved too hurriedly, the investigation here involves more commonplace policework (at least for the 1920s), namely questioning suspects and witnesses, and following up leads. There are one or two rather predictable twists and it is possible to guess the culprit and motive quite easily.

The real highlight of the book is Dunn's skillful portrayal of small-town life in rural England, particularly the social and economic changes in the aftermath of WWI, which add a touch of realism to the cozy genre.

Bernadette Dunne's narration took some getting used to in book #1, but she is growing on me. I look forward to the next installment.

[Miriam Simut · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was very entertaining! I love Daisy and Alec. There are just some elements of the mystery I wasn’t a fan of.

[Book Concierge · Rating 3 out of 5]

Digital audiobook read by Bernadette Dunne

Book number two in the Daisy Dalrymple series has our heroine traveling to Occles Hall to research her latest article for Town and Country on England’s country manor houses. Lady Valeria is none too pleased at this intrusion, but Daisy IS “to the manor born” so she is tolerated. Still, when Daisy asks to photograph the winter garden the last thing she expects to find is a body.

Daisy cannot help but get involved when she sees an injustice being carried out, so she convinces Alec Fletcher of Scotland Yard to investigate. There are a number of secrets being kept by the residents of the household and some are bound to come out in the process of getting at the truth of the murder.

This is a charming cozy mystery series set in the 1920s. Daisy is charming, inquisitive, intelligent and resourceful. She does sometimes plunge headlong into trouble, but on the whole, she is appropriately cautious and responsible. I also like her slow-burning relationship with Fletcher.

Bernadette Dunne does a fine job voicing the audio book. She has great pacing and enough skill as a voice artist to give the many characters sufficiently unique voices.

[Jammin Jenny · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this Daisy Dalrymple book, it was #2 in the series. I read #1 then jumped around a bit so it was nice to come back to the beginning. Daisy's mom still doesn't approve of her daughter getting involved in all this murder stuff, she's a young woman in the 1920s in England and shouldn't be behaving that way. I love it.

[Lee at ReadWriteWish · Rating 4 out of 5]

I must say I’m absolutely loving Audible’s new Plus Catalogue. I had previously read the first book in the Daisy Dalrymple series and quite enjoyed it and now it seems I can listen to all 23 for free via the catalogue. Yay!

This one sees Daisy visit an old school friend to write up her estate for Town and Country magazine. Whilst inspecting the winter garden at the house, Daisy uncovers the body of a maid. The local constabulary prove to be incompetent so Daisy gives Detective Chief Inspector Alec Fletcher, whom she met in book one, a call to assist. Also featuring from book one is Daisy’s childhood friend Phillip who, clearly, wants to be more than just a friend.

The mystery is nothing particularly intriguing and most of the plot twists are obvious (especially one which was obvious as the nose on my face) and, to be honest, probably heavily borrowed from other books. But who cares? It’s all fun and the budding romantic relationship between Daisy and Alec is really well done.

In another negative, I’m sure there’s a few historical inaccuracies and Dunn is a little heavy handed on the slang but again, I didn’t really care. It’s a quick fun read and I will definitely read more of the series. 4 out of 5

[Jim · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was a good mystery with enough twists to explore the rapidly changing world. Imagine Maggie Smith a bit younger & constantly in a bad mood. Now add in a body found in her garden along with Daisy there doing a story. Another fun glimpse at a kind of Downton Abbey murder mystery.

I love-hate the glimpses into the everyday life & expectations of the times. Manor servants get very little time off & live highly regimented lives. They're up early & don't retire until quite late. Even when they go out, they have to be back in by 11pm. A half day off once a month was used as a joke, but didn't seem terribly out of bounds. Getting fired for placing plates from the wrong side! The lord of the manor leased the village to the people that lived there! Oy! Makes me very grateful for my working day.

Thoroughly enjoyable, well written, & narrated. Highly recommended, but don't expect anything more than a pleasurable interlude.

[Andy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sehr unterhaltsamer Cozy-Krimi

[Leah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Daisy Dalrymple has a new assignment for her magazine – to write about Occles Hall and take some photographs to illustrate the article. She’s there at the invite of an old school friend, the hearty, hockey-playing Roberta, but the mistress of the house, Roberta’s mother Lady Valeria, is far from welcoming – even her discovery that Daisy is a daughter of the aristocracy, albeit mildly impoverished, doesn’t reconcile Lady Valeria to the idea of having a working woman as a guest, especially since she fears it may give Roberta ideas about leaving home and getting a job. She’s also worried that her beloved son, the beautiful Sebastian, may be beguiled by Daisy’s pretty face, but the reader is soon aware that she need have no worries on that score…

Lady Valeria’s rule extends beyond the Hall to take in the nearby village of Occleswich, built long ago as a model village and now, at the instructions of Lady Valeria, frozen in time as a picture postcard version of a village. Most of the villagers accept this, but the local blacksmith, Stan Moss, wants to bring in modern features, like a petrol pump. Lady Valeria isn’t happy about cars in the village much less petrol pumps, so these two feud, while everyone else tries not to get caught in the crossfire.

So one way and another the atmosphere in Occles Hall is already tense, even before the body turns up – buried under a bush in the winter garden. It turns out the body belonged to Grace, a maid who had disappeared a couple of months earlier. Everyone thought that she’d run off to the bright lights of London, so there had been no investigation into her disappearance. To complicate matters, Grace was the daughter of Stan Moss, Lady Valeria’s sworn enemy. The police promptly arrest the young gardener who had been in love with Grace, but Daisy is convinced he didn’t kill her, so she calls on the help of her friend, Alec Fletcher, a Scotland Yard detective…

Daisy is an enjoyable character and these mysteries are quite lighthearted in tone, although the plots are solid. Set not long after the end of the Great War, they show society trying to get back to normal, but with some profound changes that won’t be reversed. The power of the gentry has been weakened and their wealth diminished by the long years of war, and many of the men bear scars, physical or emotional, of their time in service. Daisy had been engaged to a conscientious objector who was killed while driving ambulances at the Front, and we see her continuing to recover from this loss. She’s attracted to Alec, and he to her, but there is a class divide which neither of them is sure how to cross.

The investigation element is perhaps the weakest part of the book. It seemed to me that Dunn kept ignoring obvious things the police, or Daisy, should be doing, in order not to get to the fairly obvious solution too quickly. However, it’s always fun to see how slowly things had to move in comparison to now – no mobile phones, no internet searches, even cars were still rare.

My other complaint is that, in line with every historical fiction book written in the last thirty years, we are now all supposed to pretend that, while ‘society’ was nasty and homophobic, all our characters somehow manage to have twenty-first century views on the subject. It’s amazing that since everyone was apparently absolutely fine with homosexuality, gay people still felt they had to hide the love that dare not speak its name. I’d love authors to be true to the attitudes of the time even if it makes their characters seem a little less likeable.

Still, I suppose that removal of outdated language and prejudices is part of what makes cosies cosy. Overall, this is a fun series, well written and with a very likeable protagonist in Daisy. Her impending love affair with Alec didn’t get much closer in this one, but that gives the reader something to look forward to in future instalments. The crimes themselves are dark enough – how could murder not be? – but there’s plenty of humour woven through to keep the tone light. I don’t know that I feel ‘completist’ about this series, but I’ll be happy to dip in from time to time when I’m in the mood for some cosy reading.

www.fictionfanblog.wordpress.com

[Andree · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. Continuing to find this series super enjoyable.

Okay, the first third was a bit slow, but then DI Fletcher showed up, and I was mollified.

Also, guessed the "twist" on about page 15. But whatevs.

I am also totally a sucker for mysteries set in English manor houses.

2017 Reading Challenge: A book with one of the four seasons in the title

[Cheryl James · Rating 3 out of 5]

Book 2

The book was a little drawn out, but I love the story and the characters. A easy breezy audio series that will keep your attention until the end!! Family can be our worse emeny!!

[Wealhtheow · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Honorable Daisy Dalyrymple is visiting an old school chum while writing about her ancestral home when a body is discovered in the garden. Although the local police are happy to pin the housemaid's murder on her young foreign swain, Daisy has doubts. She calls in her childhood friend Philip Petrie and her new friend, Alec Fletcher of Scotland Yard, to help her investigate. Who killed Grace? Was it the beautiful but spineless heir who had gotten her pregnant? His best friend, the jealous Ben? His devoted sister, manipulative mother, or cowardly father? Grace's father or fiance? Or was it the travelling salesman who was seen talking to her only hours before she was killed? There are no physical clues. Only Daisy's stubborn will and insight into human nature can help her solve this case.

This is not as good as the first Daisy mystery, Death at Wentwater Court. The main characters have already been introduced, so Dunn spends less time drawing them out. The murder itself is not one of those incredibly convoluted schemes that takes the latest forensic tech to solve. It is just a basic small village murder, and is simply solved by buying rounds of drinks at the village pub and interviewing suspects. The real delight to these books is the 1920s themselves, which Dunn draws with a deft and light hand. Reminders of a depressed economy, rumbles of discontent against the upper classes, growing independence for women, and the damages of the first World War are woven throughout. And the characters themselves are fresh and breezy. Daisy has a great deal of spirit and sympathy, but as smart and kind as she is, she is still very much a product of her upbringing--she can't bring herself to shingle her hair, or stop grouping people according to class. This is, overall, a murder as cozy as a murder can be, and well worth the few hours it will take to read.

[Aerykah · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn't think this book was as good as the first one... Daisy is funny and, for the most part, an enjoyable character. And I have enjoyed Alec and Philip too. But the stories just aren't quite what I like. Add to that the bad language (mild, though it is) and the important roll that homosexuality played in the story and I'm thinking that I most likely won't be reading any more of these books.

Warning: there is some bad language in this one and homosexuality plays a pretty important part in the story too.

[Jennifer · Rating 2 out of 5]

I picked this up the other night because I was wanting a mystery and it's set during the 1920s, probably my favorite historical era. It was just okay - a quick read for a lazy weekend. Although some of the historical details were interesting, the story wasn't too compelling and there were modern sensibilities that seemed out of place.

[benebean · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think I'm going to give up on this series. It looks to be one of those series where some sexual perversion is always woven in to the mystery and I'd rather not fill my head with those types of imaginings.

[Domic · Rating 4 out of 5]

Das ist wirklich eine nette Serie, mit jeder Menge Downton Abbey-Vibes - ich freue mich schon auf weitere Bücher - wenn ich sie irgendwo finde, muss ich mal die englischen Hörbücher probieren, in der Hoffnung, dass die von jemanden mit so einem richtig heftigen britischen Akzent gelesen werden...

[Renee M · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars. Cozy mysteries are just so pleasant... even with a decomposing body in the garden.

[Olga Godim · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars
A nice cozy with one of my favorite literary sleuths, Daisy Dalrymple, a young journalist from an aristocratic family in the 1920s England. The book is a bit slow, but Daisy is her charming self, and as always, I enjoyed reading her story.
Daisy is comforting and very pleasant, and what is more important, she is never in danger. She is just too nice, so no one threatens her, which is often the case in other cozies, but instead, everyone confides in her, while she tries and fails to stay out of a murder investigation. Not her fault, really. She makes me smile.

[Anna · Rating 3 out of 5]

I just discovered that I had neglected to review this book when I read it. It has been a couple months but I remember several uncomfortable episodes, that the villains are really horrible (yes there is only one murderer but there are more than one villain here), and the end was a bit of a cop out. Nevertheless, I enjoyed Daisy's deepening acquaintance with Alec and I thought there were some really funny bits.

[Filip · Rating 4 out of 5]

A definite improvement over the first volume. The cast of characters is much more interesting and less forgettable. The mystery itself is also quite good having a bit of a 'cold case' vibe. The ending was so obvious that I completely didn't see it coming, expecting a last minute twist to the last... well, minute. The only thing I didn't like is that the vast majority of the book had the investigation retreading the same steps and going nowhere, though in fairness that did result in a clue appearing that pushed it into the right direction.

[Ver · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one was probably a bit more boring than the first one. The pace of action was very slow, it didn't really move forward for 2/3 of the book. Nevertheless, I liked the ending as many interesting things were revealed and everyone went their way. As usual, the atmosphere of these times was nicely presented, however, it still felt a bit too excentric for those times. I will definitely read the next part if I have a chance.

[Ellen · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

So far, this has been an enjoyable series. Daisy, Alec and Philip are fun characters.

[Mela Madrzak · Rating 4 out of 5]

Super! Nie spodziewałam się zakończenia :D zabieram się za 3 tom

[Reuben Koshy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really expected Daisy to conduct the investigation and then fall into trouble than the inspector doing most of the work. Definitely not Sherlock Holmes-esque but it was a fun paced listen.

[Sina & Ilona Glimmerfee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Worum geht es?
Miss Daisy ist wieder einmal unterwegs, um für eine Zeitschrift, ein Herrenhaus zu fotografieren und darüber einen Artikel zu schreiben. Die Hausherrin, ist ein echter Drache und Daisy ist ihr ein besonderer Dorn im Auge, ist es doch für ein Mädchen aus gehobenen Kreisen, in den 20er Jahren nicht schicklich, selber Geld zu verdienen. Pech für die schreckliche Lady, dass gerade jetzt im Wintergarten die Leiche eines Dienstmädchen aufgefunden wird. Natürlich muss Daisy ihre Nase wieder einmal in die Dinge stecken, die sie nicht angehen.

Wie hat es mir gefallen?
Ich mag den Charme der 20er Jahre sehr und die Charaktere sind mir auch in diesem Fall sehr sympathisch, bzw. wurden sehr gut entworfen. Beim Lesen bekommt man sehr gut vermittelt, was als guter und schlechter Ton zu dieser Zeit galt. Sowohl Setting, Charaktere und Story haben mir wieder sehr gut gefallen. Ich bin sehr gespannt, wie es mit Daisy und Inspektor Alec Fletcher weitergeht.