Review by Booklist Review
Eleanor Trewynn, a widow who traveled the world with her husband, is now living in Port Mabyn, a small Cornish fishing village, where she runs a secondhand store that supports a charity. Her niece, Megan Pencarrow, is a recently promoted detective sergeant now assigned to a local station. Unfortunately for Megan, her DI does not approve of women on the police force. He also does not like Megan's aunt, who rather enjoys baiting him. When Eleanor and the vicar's wife find the dead body of a scruffy-looking young man in the stockroom of the shop, Eleanor becomes involved in the investigation. Then, after some donated jewelry that they thought was paste turns out to be very expensive and stolen in a London robbery, everyone assumes that the two cases are related. Dunn has a knack for writing meatier-than-usual cozies with strong female characters, and she has another charming winner here.--Bibel, Barbara Copyright 2009 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Set in Cornwall "somewhere in the 1960s and '70s" (per an author note), this lively first in a new cozy series from British veteran Dunn (Death at Wentwater Court) introduces Eleanor Trewynn, a plucky widow who runs a charity shop in the village of Port Mabyn. Eleanor gets entangled in a murder investigation after she and her curious dog, Teazle, happen on a dead body of what first appears to be a tramp in the shop storeroom. Eleanor exasperates Detective Inspector Scumble as her less than perfect memory trickles out details of her discovery. Scumble, whose partner is on sick leave, doesn't relish pursuing the case with Eleanor's determined niece, Det. Sgt. Megan Pencarrow, who has to continually prove herself to the gruff, old-school inspector. Adept at showing character through witty dialogue, Dunn paints an amusing picture of a small town that readers will want to visit again soon. (Mar.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Welcome to Cornwall, beautiful land of Cornish pasties, cream teas and murder. Eleanor Trewynn, aka Aunt Nell, lives in the village of Port Mabyn, where she collects donations for the local charity shop she founded. In her time, she was a world traveler who lived in some pretty dicey places. Now she and her terrier Teazle are leading a more peaceful lifethat is until Teazle sniffs out the dead body of a scraggy youth in the thrift-shop storeroom. Eleanor is more pleasantly surprised when she finds a briefcase full of beautiful paste jewelry among her latest collection. Her niece, DS Megan Pencarrow, recently transferred from London, works the case with DI Scumble, whose choleric, misogynist disposition is not sweetened by the fact that Aunt Nell has a tendency to forget things. When the jewels turn out to be the real thing, stolen from a London jeweler, Megan's old boyfriend is sent over to help. As Scumble waxes more and more annoyed, Megan travels to a Bristol squat in hopes of identifying the corpse, and the dithering but self-sufficient Eleanor, slowly remembering bits and pieces with a little help from a neighboring artist (just the man for Megan!) and the vicar's formidable wife, stumbles upon the clues that will solve the case. Shades of Miss Marple. Dunn's departure from Daisy Dalrymple (Black Ship, 2008, etc.) is a serviceable modern-day version of the classic English village mystery. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
