Corpse at the Crystal Palace by Carola Dunn

I'm always fascinated with anything that relates to the Crystal Palace because although the building was no longer there when I was growing up, I heard many stories of its magnificence and spent many hours at the park. My mother once told me that she lived close to Crystal Palace Park when the glass and metal building was destroyed by fire and balls of melted glass hit the windows of her home! It was originally built for The Great Exhibition and resembling an oversized greenhouse.
The "dinosaurs" are still there and are an odd combination as they were sculpted from what they were thought to look like based on fossils found although some of the fossils didn't belong to the same creature.

Corpse at the Crystal Palace is another Daisy Dalrymple Mystery by Carola Dunn and set in the 1920s. Daisy is a likable character, intent on finding the murderer without stepping on her husband's toes (he's with the local constabulary). All in all it was a nice cozy read.

Note: There is a replica of the Crystal Palace in Dallas - The Infomart.

A Colourful Death by Carola Dunn

Many of you know I loved the time I lived in Cornwall, so reading Carola Dunn's A Colourful Death was like walking through familiar surroundings. Set in the 1960s Eleanor Trewynn lives in a Cornish village - she even drives the same car I did at the time, A Morris Minor.

From the cover:

Eleanor Trewynn is a recently retired widow who has moved to the small village of Port Mabyn in Cornwall. . .  Her friend and neighbor, artist Nick Gresham returns to Port Mabyn from a trip to London to find several of his paintings slashed, likely by rival local artist Geoffrey Monmouth. When Nick goes to have it out with him, with Eleanor in tow, they find Monmouth's body in the studio. . . Once Eleanor starts doing a little investigating on her own, she learns that Nick is far from the only one with a compelling motive for murder.

Death at Wentwater Court by Carola Dunn

Before Downton Abbey and the Crawleys, there was Daisy Dalrymple. Although Carola Dunn is a prolific writer, I have only recently discovered her mysteries. Death at Wentwater Court is the first in the Daisy Dalrymple series. There are a lot of characters in this novel and I did have trouble remembering who was who, but the story is both well written and enticing.
If you're having Downton Abbey withdrawals and want a peek into some 1920s aristocratic homes, pick up one of these mysteries.

From the cover:
As scream after scream shredded the peaceful morning. Daisy raced along the lakeside path towards the bridge. Stepping down cautiously from the bank onto the ice, she was under the stone arch before she saw what had stopped James and Fenella in their tracks. In the shadow of the bridge, the ice was shattered, and in the inky water floated a man, face down.

Manna from Hades (A Cornish Mystery) by Carola Dunn

I loved this book. Part of the reason is that is set in a Cornish village in the 1970s which is when I lived there. Eleanor drives a Morris Minor which is the car I drove at that time. There are so many things that I'd forgotten. For example, black and white police cars were called Panda cars. This is the first in the Cornish series by Carola Dunn

From the cover:
Eleanor Trewynn is a widow living in Port Mabyn a small fishing village in Cornwall, England. Until her husband died, she worked with him in many exotic parts of the world. Now retired, she volunteers at the local charity shop that occupies the first floor of her cottage. . . Eleanor discovers the dead body of a long-haired, scruffy youth hidden in the stockroom of the charity shop . . .

This one is going on my list of favorite reads for 2013.