Cover Image: The Corpse at the Crystal Palace

The Corpse at the Crystal Palace

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I read a couple of the Daisy Dalrympe mysteries close to twenty years ago so when I saw this one I couldn't help but pick it up not realizing that it is expected to be the last mystery in the series. This was a fun mystery with quite an interesting start. The mystery does a good job of alternating between Daisy's amateur sleuthing and Alec's professional investigating. There are a lot of tiny threads and an untold amount of people wanting the victim dead which made for quite the mystery. This mystery was much lighter on historical detail then most of my other historical mystery reads and really could have taken place at anytime between cars coming into regular use and the internet coming to be. It's definitely a lighter cozy but was still a fun read and made me want to go back to the beginning of Daisy's story.

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This was my first Carola Dunn book and it seems that it was the final in the series. But, I didn't feel lost even though I hadn't read the previous novels. This story was a nice standalone, even with some references to previous incidents. As is often the case with me, I quite enjoyed the London setting and the 1920s timeframe was fun. The mystery didn't take itself too seriously. It was a just enough to keep me guessing, but not too hard.

My thanks to NetGalley and Minotaur Books for the advanced copy of the ebook in exchange for an honest review.

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I love the Daisy mysteries. This is a great addition to the series. I loved that the kids got involved in the mystery. I can't wait for the next one in the series.

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Daisy Dalrymple is a delightful character who discovers murders. It seems she can’t get away from murder much to her husband Scotland Yard detective Inspector Alex Fletcher chagrin. It seems she is the joke of the station house and predictably she once again becomes involved in a murder that she cannot let her husband solve alone. This series has a delightful appeal to the reader who wants a murder but doesn’t need the accompanying terror or suspense. Daisy goes off hunting the criminal who eventually gets caught by her husband and the story is a sweet easy read involving likable characters and interesting setting and situations. I look forward to each new adventure. This is a good “afternoon curl up and relax” book.

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This is book #23 in the Daisy Dalrymple Mystery series. I had no idea when I requested this book I had missed 22 previous stories. I am sure reading the prior 22 would have made things more clear, but I do have to say I did not feel lost having not read them. It is April 1928, which was a new theme for me. I have not read any mysteries written with London in the 1920's as the setting. I enjoyed the differences that were noted being set in 1928 London. In this story, Daisy Dalrymple Fletcher is having visitors and she decides to take them to the Crystal Palace. While there they discover a body of a man dressed as a lady in the ladies room. Daisy enlists the help of friends to help her help her husband the inspector solve the murder. I do not think I will read the previous 22 books, but I am glad I read this one and look forward to book 24. I am giving this a 3.5 star review rounded to 4.

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I really like historical mysteries and this is a nice entry. It's the 23rd entry in the Daisy Dalrymple series. Daisy has changed a lot over the course of the books, and now she's a wife and a mom. She and her family and friends are out for an outing with their nannies when her sons see their nanny chasing after another nanny. One is knocked senseless, another nanny is found dead and Daisy's nanny has amnesia. Of course, Daisy has to investigate!

I love her likable manner, and the historical time period was well-described, I recommend this book.

Thanks to Minotaur Books and NetGalley for the ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

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Much Ado About Nannies: this was a fun book and my first experience with Carola Dunn's writings, although I've always wanted to read the Daisy Dalrymple series. A day visiting the Crystal Palace goes horribly wrong when Mrs. Dalrymple's nanny goes missing and a body is discovered dressed in the nanny's clothes - but it's a different person. More nannies disappear and Mrs. Dalrymple enlists the help of her husband at Scotland Yard to track down the missing women. As this is the 23rd book in the series, I've missed quite a bit so I'll be starting at book 1. And I did not feel like I was hopelessly lost starting so far in the series - a few things from the past were alluded too but not so much that I couldn't appreciate the story.

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If I ever met Daisy Dalrymple Fletcher in real life, I’d stay a good, long distance away from her. An ocean might be just about enough space.

Don’t get me wrong; I like Daisy very much. She’s kind, compassionate, forthright, and curious. She’s also a magnet for murder. Dead bodies seem to crop up with alarming frequency any time she’s in the vicinity. Yet so far, neither motherhood nor the loving injunctions of Alec, her Scotland-Yard-inspector husband, have yet put a damper on Daisy’s predilection for a spot of detecting.

And this murder is no exception. Daisy’s twins’ nanny has been injured, and Daisy herself discovered the body of a second nanny in a Crystal Palace loo. Not only is Daisy right in the thick of things again, this time she feels an obligation to find out how Nanny Gilpin became involved.

Most of the series regulars put in an appearance, from Alec’s former sergeant, Tom Tring (now retired) to daughter Belinda and Daisy’s friends Lucy and Sakari. Add in a cast of suspects ranging from high society to a trio of Russian émigrés and a victim with more enemies than friends, stir in a puzzling plot, and the result is a satisfying and entertaining mystery that goes a long way toward explaining why the Daisy Dalrymple series remains so popular. After a three-year hiatus, I’m glad to see Daisy is still in fine fettle.

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This was a very fun book. The characters were good and the story held my interest throughout. This authors books have always been good and I have never been disappointed in any of them. If you want to read a good story, try this author, you will not be disappointed.

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When I discovered this title on Net Galley, I had never heard of Daisy Dalrymple and this absolutely delightful cozy mystery series that takes place in England in the 1920’s. I love the cast of characters in this novel, which includes more than just the intrepid Daisy, but also her friends and children. While this is part of a series, it can certainly stand alone (it did for me!). I will definitely go back and read earlier installments in this well-written and plotted series; and I will look forward to new ones.

Thank you for my review copy! Description is below and a bit on the real Crystal Palace (which I had never heard of perhaps because it burned down in 1936) is at the end, compliments of You Tube. (see full review at www.drbethnolan.wordpress.com)

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This is my first Daisy Dalrymple mystery and I really enjoyed it! There were interesting plot twists and many suspects in this murder mystery, but the author brought the story together very nicely at the end. Daisy writes articles for a woman's magazine but she is also quite the detective in this story.

Thanks to the publisher and to NetGalley for an ARC; all opinions are my own.

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I came late to the cosy crime sub-genre and stumbled across Daisy Dalrymple quite by accident. So I've been reading her adventures one after the other and thoroughly enjoying them. The Corpse at the Crystal Palace doesn't disappoint as Daisy continues to fall into solving crime. I'd recommend this entire series to anyone who wants to spend time with entertaining characters in undemanding but certainly not facile books.

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This is a cute series and this latest installment fits right in. For fans of cozy mysteries and libraries with a strong demand for historical mysteries/series. Also for fans of Rhys Bowen and Laurie R King.

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I got an Arc of this book from netgally. Thank you NetGalley..
Ok on to my review even thought I have only read the first book in the series a very long time ago while reading this I didn't feel like I needed to go back and read the books before this one. Yes there we're references to previous events but nothing that would make me feel lost. I enjoyed the story and the plot. It Madame want to go back and read the proceeding book in the series. It was well written and the story line flowed well.

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An intricate and tricky addition to the Daisy Dalrynple mystery series. Taking place during the Easter holiday, Daisy, her children, their nanny, and others go to visit the Crystal Palace. Three of the children follow the nanny who is in pursuit of another many, while Daisy and a friend find a corpse dressed a a nanny dead in the ladies loo.

There are plenty of mysteries: who is the corpse, who is the third nanny? Who is the murderer? I won't tell you more than that the book is full of delightful eccentrics, a great investigation by the police, and a thrilling captive of the murderer.

It's one of my favorites in this excellent series.

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Please see my notes to publisher for my thoughts on this title. Thank you so much for approving me for a copy of this book!

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The Corpse at the Crystal Palace is a charming 1920s mystery set in Britain.  Unlike many set in the time period, it doesn’t focus on glamorous flappers and decadent society, instead focusing more on middle and upper class family life.  The entire Dalrymple clan, as well as quite a few friends and relatives, play major roles in the case. When Daisy, her children, their young cousins and a few close friends visit The Crystal Palace, the last any expect is to be drawn into another murder.  While exploring, Belinda and her cousins see Nanny following another nanny. Perplexed, they follow. Nanny is found unconscious in a fountain and another nanny is found dead in the ladies restroom. (*small spoiler*) It is soon discovered that the nanny found dead was not a woman at all, but a man in women’s clothes - a man with a history of lurid practical jokes and a bevy of angry acquaintances.  Daisy’s husband Alec is assigned the case, but as you might expect the bulk of the investigation is done by Daisy. After all, she is the one with the society connections.


The story is an entertaining one, and Carola Dunn is always good at creating interesting characters and situations.  The historical tidbits are of definite interest. Alec is a bit ineffectual, but that is to be expected with a wife who has a long history of taking over his investigations.  On the whole, The Corpse at the Crystal Palace is a solidly written mystery that can be enjoyed by a wide range of ages.


4 / 5


I received a copy of The Corpse at the Crystal Palace from the publisher and NetGalley.com in exchange for an honest review.


— Crittermom

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This title is a very fitting addition to the Daisy Dalrymple series. It's a very light-hearted cozy mystery, which is just what I needed. I enjoyed learning more about the Crystal Palace as well.

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A day at the famed London Crystal Palace turns into a nightmare for Daisy Dalrymple and her children's nanny. With teen cousins visiting, Daisy decides to take her step-daughter Belinda and her twins for an outing. Of course, Nanny Gilpin comes along to mind the twins. When Nanny leaves the twins and mysteriously starts following another Nanny, the teens follow along. They find Nanny Gilpin floating in a fountain and pull her out to save her. In the meantime Daisy heads to the ladies room and stumbles across a body, also dressed as a Nanny.

Another excellent adventure for Daisy and friends.

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In this latest (or perhaps last, considering what happens at the end) in the Daisy Dalrymple Fletcher mysteries, Daisy has guests for a few weeks: her newly-found cousins are visiting. While half the family stays with her mother, she keeps the two boys, Ben and Charlie, and arranges for a visit to the Crystal Palace with them along with Alec's daughter Belinda, twins Oliver and Miranda, their nursemaid, and the redoubtable Nanny Gilpin, who Daisy is still crossing swords with about being allowed more time with the twins. When Nanny doesn't return from a visit to the ladies' room, Daisy goes to find her, and instead discovers a dead nanny inside one of the stalls. Meanwhile, Belinda, Ben and Charlie are following Nanny Gilpin; they lose her temporarily and then find her floating unconscious in a fountain. When Nanny Gilpin awakes, she has no memory of having taken out across the property.

This time Alec must accept a little help from Daisy as she is a witness and the children are involved. Everyone is afraid Nanny Gilpin knows something or has something to do with the murder, but she swears she can't remember. Then examination of the corpse turns up another big surprise.

By now I'd say this is standard Daisy fare. The kids comport themselves very well and are not annoying, and once again a retired Tom Tring offers assistance. My only quibble with this is historical: both Ben and Charlie are from Trinidad, and while people of color were not treated the same in England as they were in the United States, the British of that time still showed considerable prejudice toward anyone who wasn't light-skinned—all the mystery novels written in that era show that. It just seems unrealistic that everyone accepts Ben and Charlie and no one is ever rude to them.

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