Wednesday, May 11, 2011

What is Carola Dunn reading?

The current featured contributor at Writers Read: Carola Dunn, author of the Daisy Dalrymple mystery series, set in England in the 1920s. The nineteenth book in the series, Anthem for Doomed Youth, is just out.

Her entry begins:
A Different Shade of Blue is a fascinating book about the difficulties encountered by women joining the male-dominated environment of the police, by Adam Eisenberg, Commissioner of the Municipal Court in Seattle. He interviewed women police officers who had joined the Seattle force from the 1940s onward. Reading their stories has helped me understand what my character, DI Megan Pencarrow [in my Cornish Mystery series], would...[read on]
Among the early praise for Anthem for Doomed Youth:
"amusing and sprightly"
--Kirkus

"Set in 1926, Dunn's enjoyable 19th Daisy Dalrymple mystery (after 2009's Sheer Folly) will please fans of traditional English whodunits. When the graves of three men turn up in Epping Forest, once a royal hunting preserve just outside London, Det. Chief Insp. Alec Fletcher, the lead investigator, is relieved that his wife, Daisy, along with her friends Melanie and Sakari, are away at their daughters' school for the weekend, so she won't be able to nose her way into the case. Later, Melanie's daughter discovers a dead teacher while lost in the medieval maze of Bridge End Garden. Leave it to clever Daisy to figure out that all the bodies are related to the Great War. The aristocratic but very modern Daisy makes a formidable amateur sleuth as she acts to stop more murders and get justice for the victims."
--Publishers Weekly

"Dunn’s striking portrait of Daisy continues to remind readers that there were strong women with careers in England during the 1920s—and women who successfully balanced work and parenthood. As always, Dunn combines an entertaining story with fascinating historical material."
--Booklist
According to Publishers Weekly: "The aristocratic but very modern Daisy makes a formidable amateur sleuth." Being "very modern," she has her own Facebook page, Daisy Dalrymple, Fictional Character. You can also read more about her at Carola Dunn's website.

Read--Coffee with a Canine: Carola Dunn & Trillian.

The Page 69 Test: Anthem for Doomed Youth.

Writers Read: Carola Dunn.

--Marshal Zeringue