The Corpse at the Crystal Palace
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3.4 • 7 Ratings
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- £3.99
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- £3.99
Publisher Description
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
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Set in 1928 London, Dunn's bright and breezy 23rd Daisy Dalrymple mystery (after 2015's Superfluous Women) provides an appealing glimpse of life among the well-to-do. When two teenage cousins arrive for a visit, Daisy takes the cousins, her three-year-old twins, and the twins' nurse, Nanny Gilpin, on an outing to the Crystal Palace. At one point, Nanny excuses herself. Daisy later goes looking for Nanny in the ladies' room, where she finds a dead woman she initially mistakes for Nanny in one of the stalls. Meanwhile, the twins run into the park, where they discover Nanny lying in a pond, half-drowned. The police are unable to identify the body, and Nanny suffers from memory loss. Are the murder and the attack on Nanny related? And who is responsible for these outrages, committed in such a public place? Daisy uses her connections among the "bright young things" and the more bohemian Chelsea set in an attempt to get the answers. Fans of Dorothy L. Sayers's gentleman sleuth, Lord Peter Wimsey, will find much to like.
