Carola Dunn – författare

While out on a walk, Eleanor Trewynn, her niece Megan, and her neighbour Nick spot a young, half-drowned Indian man floating in the water. Delirious and concussed, he utters a cryptic message about his family being trapped in a cave and his mother dying. The young man, unconscious and unable to help, is whisked away to a hospital while a desperate effort is mounted find the missing family in time. The local police inspector presumes that they are refugees from East Africa, abandoned by the smugglers who brought them in, so while the countryside is being scoured for the family, Eleanor herself descends into a dangerous den of smugglers in a desperate search to find the man responsible while there is still time.

Eleanor Trewynn, recently widowed, returns home from years of working overseas to retire to the cosy village of Port Maybn in Cornwall, England. Even in retirement though, she continues her charity work, leasing out the first floor of her house to a charity shop. One morning as she opens the shop, she finds both a particularly valuable donation and a corpse stuffed into the storeroom. The donation is linked to a violent robbery in London but the corpse looks nothing like the robbers being sought by the police. With the help of her niece, Detective Sergeant Megan Pencarrow, and, begrudgingly, Detective Inspector Scumble, Eleanor is determined to unscramble this confounding case of daring theft, double cross, and murder most foul.

An isolated spot in the Cornish countryside is no safe haven when a determined foe is out for blood...Having worked for an international charity in her days before retiring to Cornwall, Eleanor Trewynn is asked by the Commonwealth Relations Office to assist in secret negotiations about to take place in a hotel just outside Tintagel. Meanwhile her niece DS Megan Pencarrow, as well as investigating the disappearance of Port Mabyn solicitor Alan Freeth, is sent to help provide security for the conference. So is her bete noire, DS Ken Faraday of the Yard. They have to escort to Tintagel two African students, refugees from Ian Smith's Southern Rhodesia. Everyone arrives at the hotel in a raging storm, as do two sinister Londoners who have followed Megan from Launceston. Who are they and why have they turned up in the depths of rural Cornwall? Are they spying for Smith? And what is their connection with the missing solicitor? The answers set the scene for murder, and take Eleanor and Megan on a chase across fog-bound Bodmin Moor in a desperate attempt to prevent further deaths. Praise for Carola Dunn:'Adept at showing character through witty dialogue, Dunn paints an amusing picture of a small town that readers will want to visit again soon' Publishers Weekly'Dunn has a knack for writing meatier-than-usual cosies with strong female characters, and she has another charming winner here' Booklist

The Honorable Daisy Dalrymple-Fletcher is on a convalescent trip in the countryside, visiting old school friends. The three of them, all unmarried, have recently bought a house together. They are a part of the generation of 'superfluous women', brought up expecting marriage and a family, but left without any prospects after more than 700,000 British men were killed in the Great War. Daisy and her husband Alec - Detective Chief Inspector Alec Fletcher, of Scotland Yard - are invited for Sunday lunch, where one of the women mentions a wine cellar below the house which remains resolutely locked. Alec picks the lock but when he eventually opens the door, what greets them is not a cache of wine, but the stench of a dead body. And with that, what was a pleasant Sunday lunch becomes a much darker affair. Now Daisy's three friends are the suspects in a murder and her husband Alec is a witness. So before the local detective, DI Underwood, can officially bring charges against her friends, Daisy is determined to use all her resources and skills to solve the mystery behind this perplexing locked-room crime.Critical Praise for The Daisy Dalrymple novels by Carola Dunn: "The period sense remains vivid, the characterizations are excellent, and the mysteries are, if anything, more perplexing than ever." The Oregonian on Rattle His Bones "Styx and Stones is a swift, deeply enjoyable read. While Dunn's influences are many, she ultimately makes this territory her own." The Register-Guard "Reading like an Agatha Christie thriller, Rattle His Bones is a charming look at life after the first World War." Romantic Times "Dunn captures the melting pot of Prohibition-era New York with humorous characterizations and a vivid sense of place, and with careful plotting lays out an enjoyable tale of adventure." Publisher's Weekly on The Case of the Murdered Muckraker

A casual outing to London's Crystal Palace takes a mysterious and murderous turn . . .April 1928: Daisy Dalrymple Fletcher is being visited in London by her young cousins who are desperate to see the Crystal Palace. On discovering that her children's nanny, Gilpin, has also never seen the palace, Daisy decides to make a day of it with the family. But this ordinary outing starts going wrong when Nanny Gilpin fails to return from the ladies' room. When Daisy goes looking for her, she doesn't find her nanny but instead the dead body of another woman dressed in a nanny's uniform.Meanwhile, the rest of Daisy's party spot Gilpin chasing after yet another nanny. Intrigued, they trail the two into the park and stumble across Gilpin lying unconscious. When she comes to, she has no recollection of what happened. Daisy's husband, Detective Chief Inspector Alec Fletcher of Scotland Yard, soon finds himself embroiled in the murder investigation. Worried about her children's own injured nanny, Daisy is determined to help. But first she has to discover the identity of the third nanny, the presumed murderer, and to do so, Daisy must uncover why Gilpin followed them in the first place . . .Praise for the Daisy Dalrymple mysteries'Cunning . . . appropriate historical detail and witty dialogue are the finishing touches on this engaging 1920s period piece' Publishers Weekly'For fans of Dorothy L. Sayers' novels' Library Journal'As always, Dunn evokes the life and times of 1920s England while providing a plot that is a cut above the average British cosy' Booklist

Daisy's hot on the trail of a murdered writer!September 1926, and Daisy's in Derbyshire, visiting an old school friend who's currently employed by a novelist as his personal secretary. Sylvia Richmond has asked Daisy to investigate discreetly as she suspects something is seriously amiss with him. Upon arrival, Daisy finds a household of relatives and friends all living off the hospitality of Humphrey Birtwhistle who has been supporting them through his pseudonymous Western sales. When he took ill a while back Sylvia carried on penning the books, only to find that her versions led to an increase in sales and advances. And now she fears someone in the house is poisoning Birtwhistle to keep him ill and keep Sylvia writing the better paid versions.Before Daisy can even begin a bit of decent investigating however, Birtwhistle dies under suspicious circumstances - and Daisy now faces a death to untangle with a household of suspects... and a husband who is less pleased to find his wife in the centre of a murder investigation!Praise for the Daisy Dalrymple series:Cunning... appropriate historical detail and witty dialogue are the finishing touches on this engaging 1920s period piece. Publisher's WeeklyAs always, Dunn evokes the life and times of 1920s England while providing a plot that is a cut above the average British cosy. This will delight readers who love country-house mysteries. BooklistFor fans of Dorothy L. Sayers' novels. Library Journal

When a claimant to the title of Lord Darlymple comes to an unexpected sticky end, the cry goes up: 'Was it murder?'The Honourable Daisy Dalrymple is recruited by her cousin Edgar - the current Lord Dalrymple - to help him find the next heir to the viscountcy. With the involvement of the family lawyer, they come up with four claimants who, along with Daisy, are invited to Fairacres, the family estate, to celebrate Edgar's fiftieth birthday.And they're a mixed bunch. A hotelier from Scarborough, a diamond merchant from South Africa, a mixed-race boy from Trinidad and a sailor from Jamaica. But then the sailor goes missing... and so begins a series of inexplicable and troubling accidents, resulting in the death of one of the would-be heirs. Daisy and her husband, DCI Alec Fletcher of Scotland Yard, are left wondering who might be behind all of this and, more importantly... who's next?Praise for the Daisy Dalrymple series:Cunning... appropriate historical detail and witty dialogue are the finishing touches on this engaging 1920s period piece. Publisher's WeeklyAs always, Dunn evokes the life and times of 1920s England while providing a plot that is a cut above the average British cosy. This will delight readers who love country-house mysteries. BooklistFor fans of Dorothy L. Sayers' novels. Library Journal

Love can entrap the most guarded of hearts!The distinguished Viscount Roworth can only hope his clandestine activities on behalf of the British Army will restore his family fortune and gain him entry into Brussels' high society. But the only fly in the ointment is the young woman with whom necessity has forced the penurious peer to share lodgings. The lovely, fiercely independent Miss Fanny Ingram seems to care not a whit for matters of rank and social standing. And although good sense tells Roworth he must resist her uncommon charms, nothing can protect his heart against the slings and arrows of Cupid's unerring aim!

When love takes command... hearts must obey!Lady Constantia Roworth has no fortune and doesn't give a fig about rank. But her father, the Earl of Westwood, expects his offspring to make matches that benefit their station - or enrich the family coffers. Alas, Captain Frank Ingram has neither blue blood or money - only dashing good looks. The wounded soldier has accepted a kind invitation to recover at the Westwood estate... and it takes only the meeting of eyes, the touch of hands and the mingling of sighs before the handsome war hero and Lady Connie begin to lose their hearts!

Eleanor Trewynn, recently widowed, returns home from years of working overseas to retire to the cozy village of Port Maybn in Cornwall, England. Even in retirement though, she continues her charity work, leasing out the first floor of her house to a charity shop. One morning as she opens the shop, she finds both a particularly valuable donation and a corpse stuffed into the storeroom. The donation is linked to a violent robbery in London but the corpse looks nothing like the robbers being sought by the police. With the help of her niece, Detective Sergeant Megan Pencarrow, and, begrudgingly, Detective Inspector Scumble, Eleanor is determined to unscramble this confounding case of daring theft, double cross, and murder most foul.

After a lifetime of travel and experiences, widow Eleanor Trewynn is more than happy to retire to the sleepy village of Port Mabyn in Cornwall - but unfortunately, excitement seems to follow her around!Her friend and neighbour, artist Nick Gresham, discovers several of his paintings in his shop have been slashed and destroyed. The finger of suspicion rests on rival local artist Geoffrey Monmouth but when Nick and Eleanor go to have it out with him, they find Monmouth's stabbed body in his studio - and Nick is immediately flagged up as most likely suspect. DI Scumble and DS Megan Pencarrow, Eleanor's niece, have been assigned to investigate the murder but Eleanor isn't leaving anything to chance - but once she starts investigating she learns Nick is far from being the only candidate with a compelling motive for murder...

A cryptic message spurs Eleanor on a frantic search for a refugee's missing family.While walking her dog with friends, Eleanor rescues a young half-drowned Asian man out the water.Delerious and concussed, he talks about his family being trapped in a cave. While the young man, unconscious by this stage, is whisked away to a hospital, a desperate effort is mounted to find the family of which he spoke.The local police inspector presumes they are refugees from East Africa, abandoned by the traffickers who brought them in, so while the countryside is being scoured for the family, Eleanor herself descends into a dangerous den of smugglers in a desperate search to find the man responsible while there is still time.