Cornwall--Land of Mystery by Carola Dunn
Cornwall has been a mysterious place since the Phoenicians
sailed beyond the Pillars of Hercules to buy tin and gold from the misty land
of rugged cliffs, moors, and hidden harbours. Until the advent of modern
transportation, the easiest access was by sea, and that was by no means easy as
thousands of shipwrecks attest. It was a haven for smugglers and wreckers.
My first visit to Cornwall was at the age of eight. My
godmother rented a field from a farmer and parked a caravan, high on a hillside
looking west over the Atlantic between two rocky headlands, Cambeak and
Penkenna. We stayed there every summer and many Easter holidays for a couple of
decades. From there we explored the North Coast, the sandy coves, fishing
villages, and Bodmin Moor, now the setting of my Cornish mysteries.
In the meantime, my sister moved to the southern side of the
duchy, to a minuscule hamlet on the River Tamar, north of Plymouth. Just
upstream is Cotehele, a medieval fortified manor beautifully preserved by the
National Trust.
The first time I saw Cotehele, I knew I had to set a book
there. At the time I wrote Regencies. The result was Smugglers' Summer. I
managed to weave some of the legends of the house into my story, and then added
an imaginary secret tunnel, though otherwise I described the house accurately.
When I came to write Mistletoe and Murder, my 11th
Daisy Dalrymple mystery, also set at Cotehele, I simply couldn't resist using
the secret tunnel I'd invented.
Daisy's adventures take place all over England, but I really
wanted to return to beautiful Cornwall. I also wanted, after many years writing
about young women (Daisy manages to stay in her 20s for 22 books!), to have a
protagonist nearer my age.
The result is the Cornish mysteries, set around 1970,
featuring Eleanor Trewynn, a widow in her 60s. After a life of globe-trotting
diplomacy in aid of an international charity, Eleanor has retired to a Cornish
fishing village. She can't imagine anywhere more peaceful to settle after her
adventurous life.
Peace is not her lot, however. The tentacles of crime reach
even into the placid Cornish countryside. Eleanor's talent for diplomacy—and a
few tricks she learned on her travels—turn out to be unexpectedly useful when
she's faced with villains of every stripe.
US cover-- wrong! |
UK Cover--correct! |
Those who worked with her in the past have not forgotten her
skills. At the beginning of Buried in the Country, the latest book in
the series, a government official begs her to assist at a secret conference
attempting to reconcile two antagonistic African parties. In the depths of
rural Cornwall, he hopes, the meeting those who want to scuttle the conference
won't find it.
In a howling gale blowing rain off the Atlantic, even
Eleanor's niece, Detective Sergeant Megan Pencarrow, has trouble finding the
place. Her job is to deliver one of the participants and then provide security.
She's also looking for a missing person, a lawyer. When a couple of villainous
types turn up, are they spies? Did the solicitor flee to escape them? Is the
supposedly respectable solicitor a spy?
Whatever is going on, Megan has to combine coping with
attempting to keep her aunt out of trouble. In vain. Eleanor gets involved,
and—apart from a murder or two—thanks to her everything is sorted out to
everyone's satisfaction
Except her unfortunate host, whose conference tumbles in
ruins about his ears.
The storm; the sunny day that follows, tempting people out
of doors; the grey overcast turning to fog as it meets high ground; the cliffs
of Tintagel; the maze of narrow lanes; Bodmin Moor with its deadly bogs,
abandoned mines, towers of boulders
heaped by legendary giants: these are essential to the plot. Without them, it
would be a different story.
Bio: Carola Dunn is the author of 26 mysteries and 32 Regencies. She was born and grew up in England but has lived in the US for many years, at present in Oregon. Her favourite activities are gardening, reading, and walking the dog. She has two grandchildren and cannot believe one is a teenager. Where did the years go?
Kirkus review:
Buried in the
Country
Minotaur, $25.99 (336p) ISBN
978-1-250-04703-8
"The rewards of this entertaining cozy include
characters with depth, an interesting bit of history, and an exciting chase
through the moors."
The Cornish Mysteries:
Manna from Hades
A Colourful Death
Valley of the Shadow
Buried in the Country
Comments
Now, I've ordered the first of her Cornish mysteries. Ah, Corwall... sigh... the land of King Arthur. Looking forward to getting and digging into it.
Thank you, Marilyn for featuring such interesting (and talented) authors.
curry 6 shoes
golden goose
golden goose shoes
yeezy boost 350 v2
supreme hoodie
yeezy boost 350
kyrie 6 shoes
nike off white
steph curry shoes