Carola Dunn

Carola Dunn's fifty-plus novels include the long-running Daisy Dalrymple mystery series.

A week ago I asked her what she was reading. Her reply:

At present I have a great pile of library books, mostly published in the 1920s. You can find out why at Poe's Deadly Daughters, where I blog about the difficulty of changing periods, having just finished writing a book set in the 1960s (sequel to Manna from Hades) and being about to start another set in the 1920s (19th in the Daisy Dalrymple series: the 18th, Sheer Folly, is just out).

Among my library finds:

John Buchan, The Dancing Floor. This is one I haven't read, by the author of the famous Thirty-Nine Steps. I own and enjoy rereading that as well as The Three Hostages, Greenmantle and a couple of others, all great adventure stories. I'm interested to find out what goes on on the Dancing Floor.

PG Wodehouse, several non-Jeeves books, including Jill the Reckless, lovely title! Jeeves and Bertie Wooster are very funny but I'm looking forward to trying some other characters from Wodehouse's vast output.

Freeman Wills Crofts, The Cask, a police procedural from the '20s. There are rather a lot of rail and ferry timetables involved, and I found it easy to guess whodunnit, but the way the police reach their solution (and are proved wrong) is fascinating. I've enjoyed many of his mysteries.

EF Benson, Lucia in London. If you've never met the inimitable, indestructible, abominable Lucia, go and find her immediately!

Gladys Mitchell, The Saltmarsh Murders. I've only ever read one of Mitchell's mysteries. She wrote many, but they're not easy to find. I'm happy to discover the local library has at least a few.

So, wish me luck in getting my head back into the 1920s!

Visit Carola Dunn's website and blog.

The Page 69 Test: Black Ship.

The Page 69 Test: Manna from Hades.

--Marshal Zeringue