The Winter Garden Mystery

Publisher's Summary

In this second installment of Carola Dunn's cozy mystery series set in 1923 England, plucky Daisy Dalrymple embarks on another assignment for Town and Country magazine and discovers that daffodil bulbs aren't all that's buried in a country estate's flower bed.

Feisty flapper Dalrymple is a breath of fresh air to the occupants of gloomy Occles Hall in Cheshire, among them her former school chum, wallflower Bobbie Parslow, and the thorny mistress of the manor, Lady Valeria. While photographing the barren ground behind the house, Daisy suspects someone has been digging amidst the soil's first green shoots, and promptly unearths the corpse of Grace Moss, the missing parlor maid. So begins a harrowing romp as the dead woman's shocking secret is revealed.

©1995 Carola Dunn (P)2006 Blackstone Audio Inc.

Critic Reviews

"Set in a British manor house in 1923, this traditional charmer will please most everyone." (Library Journal)
"Manners (P.G. Wodehouse-style) and mystery get equal time in a low-keyed story with considerable charm." (Kirkus Reviews)

Can't wait for more

This is a surprisingly substantial slice of life in the 20's. I enjoy all the characters, especially Daisy. Yes, it's a dumb name for a well drawn character. Daisy is everything a heroine should be.
The narration is excellent as well!

10 of 10 people found this review helpful

Cozy 1920s English Mystery

This is one of my favorite mystery series. As someone who thoroughly enjoys Agatha Christie, Sir Arthur Connan Doyle, and Rex Stout, I was pleased to find another writer who appreciates period-based stories. Although I do agree with other reviewers that the writer embellished the characters' speech with lots of "spiffing" and "biffing," the book has a nice flow and rhythm. The characters are fun and interesting and I look forward to following their adventures for many books to come.

6 of 6 people found this review helpful

A Frustrating Experience

Daisy Darymple is an annoyingly demure and helpless protagonist - this will not please fans of Phryne Fisher or Amelia Peabody. Further, the narration is by an American who has much trouble with British accents ('noos-paper' and 'Se-BAR-stian' were two recurring travesties!) I was glad when this was over.

13 of 15 people found this review helpful

Imagine a 20-something Miss Marple! Fun & Light

The Daisy Dalrymple books are great fun and take readers into the world of a uniquely independent 25(?)-year-old aristocratic lady of the roaring-20s.Daisy's family is horrified that she is independent and chooses to work and support herself rather than marry a "suitable" gentleman -- ideally one who is both titled and wealthy.

In her work as a writer for Town and Country magazine, Daisy comes into contact with the rich and powerful of the era, repeatedly finding herself drawn into their lives and those of their families, friends, and servants. She is definitely a busy-body, but one with great compassion, warmth, and humor. As a result, her character is endearing rather than annoying and is great fun to follow.

As horrified as her family is that she works, they would likely be even more horrified if they realized that she also repeatedly manages to become embroiled in murder cases while on the job. (What would the neighbors think?!) As it happens, her insight, memory for detail, and personable nature serve to help the detectives from Scotland Yard as they seek out the culprit(s) responsible for the crimes in each book in the series.

The entire series is great fun -- light, laced with humor, fast-paced. While these are generally murder mysteries, there is nothing gory or offensive.

3 of 3 people found this review helpful

Roaring 20's Disappointment

Performance was excellent. But this #2 in the series was a disappointment. #1 was so fun and enjoyable---so, good in fact, that I will still try Book #3.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

She actually gets how cozy a cozy should be!

What made the experience of listening to The Winter Garden Mystery the most enjoyable?

No excessive gore, no creepy thoughts from the murderer, characters aren't so multi-dimensional you feel like you're in the real world. I was in the mood for brain candy. This was it!

What did you like best about this story?

Like I said: pure escapism! Dialogue and characterization are all there. The unlikeable characters might have been a little too unlikeable, but it was perfect otherwise.

Have you listened to any of Bernadette Dunne’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

No. People seem to react negatively to her on other reviews, but it wasn't distracting. I've heard worse on audible.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

I relaxed!!! That was priceless. Thank you!

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

More!

I started with this secornd book and are now getting the first (which I really should have started with had I only known!) and the 2 later ones. What a character Daisy is - a shroud seluth in a time where women were mostly just for show - or were supposed to be in the upper circles!

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Why, oh WHY this narrator?

How did the narrator detract from the book?

There are SO many wonderful English narrators out there - why choose to ruin an Audible book by using an American narrator who is unable to produce even a reasonable facsimile of an English accent? Bernadette Dunne might be a wonderful narrator in her own native accent but not for this series. She lapses at times into Southern USA inflection. It is distracting in the extreme and basically ruined the story for me.

6 of 8 people found this review helpful

Very Funny!

I love this series! This is the 2nd one I read and it's light, refreshing, and the characters fun! I love going back in time!

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Still good!

I am enjoying my second book
By this author and reader. The pace is good and despite others opinions, the narrator is pleasant. The heroine is still enjoyable and not too perfect to be real. I like a realistic character in a book. Too many today are just unbelievable with their performing each task perfectly and never having to work even in their own jobs and businesses. This plot was moving along quickly and the ending just fine without a silly chase or dumb cliffhanger.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Hear the sample before you buy...

I didn't and I could kick myself. I can't move beyond the silly accent, it keeps grating on my nerves and what should have been a very enjoyable few hours (at least based on the first Daisy Dalrymple mystery which I read in paperback) has turned into a painful chore. I'd rather it was read in an American accent or whatever the reader's native accent is, than this farcical attempt at English RP. Sounds to me like it could only be passed off as an English accent to any other than an English audience. Maybe this was aimed at the American market? I rate it two starts for the narration, not the book which I shall have to read in paperback.

11 of 11 people found this review helpful

Dreadful narration

I bought this because I read and enjoyed the first book in the series. I am a sucker for "'tween the wars" detective novels, whether authentic or pastiche. I'd heard of other people not enjoying spoken word books because of the accent of the reader, but always wondered how bad it could really be. Now I know. I presume Bernadette Dunne is American or possibly Canadian and is trying her best at an English accent. It is dire. Her vowels are strangulated; gas becomes 'garrrss' and the name Sebastian is an assault on the eardrums - Sebaaarstiaaan'. It seems to go on forever and is dreadfully off putting; it has really spoilt my enjoyment of the book. And I think I bought another by the same reader ... Oh dear! Save your money

10 of 10 people found this review helpful

Excellent Story,but the narration !!!! TERRIBLE

What a shame,a good story ruined by this woman who is reading it.Did nobody ever listen to it before putting it on the market ? Unbelievably poorly read and pronounced,what nationality is this woman? She should never record anything else.

9 of 9 people found this review helpful

What is going on with the accent?

I loved this book, good and involving story with the characters well defined.

My reason for only giving 3 stars is the way some of the words are pronounced, bordering on the ludicrous.

The reader is apparently of American origin, and in her attempt to put an English slant to her reading, she strangles a lot of words, which need a second listen to make out what she is saying..

Most of the words with an 'a' in them are pronounced as in 'hark' or 'bark' - when this is done with the word 'happy' it sounds more like 'harpy'.

A good English accent would have been great given the setting of the book, but an American accent would have been preferable to the strangled vowels we have instead.

5 of 5 people found this review helpful

Dreadful accent!!!

What would have made The Winter Garden Mystery better?

Better narrator with an English accent!!

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Winter Garden Mystery?

The strangled vowels of the narrator.

How did the narrator detract from the book?

Farcical pronunciation.

If you could play editor, what scene or scenes would you have cut from The Winter Garden Mystery?

N/a

Any additional comments?

Fun story marred by the narrator.

4 of 4 people found this review helpful

A very odd choice of reader

If this book wasn’t for you, who do you think might enjoy it more?

Someone less sensitive to the reader

How could the performance have been better?

The book is light and frothy and should be fun, if only it was well read. The reading by Bernadette Dunn is atrocious. The Honourable Daisy Dalrymple's 'English' accent wanders around the British Isles and at times is definitely transatlantic. aagh!!

4 of 4 people found this review helpful

incorrect choice of narrator

This narrator has no idea of 1920's aristocratic England. Not only is her command of English (she speaks American English) and especially as it was spoken in the 20's non existent but she seemed to keep forgetting which voice she gave to each character. I have read all the Daisy Dalrymple books and enjoyed them but to enjoy an audible you have to have a complimentary narrator. Very disappointing. I am new to audible and must be much more careful what I choose. Some of the Daisy books I would have liked are now out of the question. I do hope when Carola Dunn's Regency books are on Audible there is an English narrator.

3 of 3 people found this review helpful

The Winter Garden Mystery

A good read,a good book of the jolly hockeysticks and gungho type. I really enjoyed the book had it in the car and it was quite easy listening. The thing that grated was the mangled english and strange pronounciation of the reader (think Dick VanDyke in "Mary Poppins" but with upper class english being vandalised).
It didn't spoil the story and it was a good buy.

6 of 7 people found this review helpful

Daisy is always a guaranteed winner!

Daisy does it again and as the main characters develope my joy increases. Another mystery and another delightful few days in their company. The only fleeting shadows for me are with Dunnes narration. I love her voices and if you've never spent time in the UK you will love it, however, the 'posh' accent attempts produce some weird pronunciations but it does get better towards the end. I'd still buy these books with the same narrator would suggest you listen to a sample first.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

fun story

I have all four Daisy Dalrymple stories from Audible. I enjoyed them but the narration was erratic, to put it mildly. In addition to the mangled English pointed out by Susan, the narrator also mixed up her characters, and Daisy would occasionally speak with Alec's voice, for example.
I found myself listening for the 'mangled English'. The accents were rubbish, and she was inconsistent about pronunciation e.g. sometimes she would say Sebastian, and others it would become SebAHstian (A was sometimes a and sometimes ah, but often in the wrong place). There was certainly no northern accent for the yokels. Oh for the professional delivery of Barbara Rosenblat...
Having said all that, the stories are fun, nice and light to listen to.

8 of 10 people found this review helpful