Welcome, Booklovers!
It’s been a rainy fall in the Midwest, a great time for reading and book talk! This week’s guest on the Coffee Chat is Carola Dunn, an author of dozens of books, including the long-running Daisy Dalrymple cozy mystery series and numerous regency romances.
I’m delighted you stopped to chat, Carola. What may I offer you to drink?
Carola: I'm a dedicated tea drinker. I start the day with a mug of plain black, usually Typhoo, but I love Darjeeling, Assam, and Ceylon. In the afternoon I move on to herbal and fruit teas. Bedtime is always lemon ginger.
Ally: Then tea it is. While I prepare our drinks, please introduce yourself to readers.
Bio:
I was born and grew up in England, and most of my 63 books are set in England, though I've lived in the US for most of my life. Presently I live in Oregon with my dog, Trillian, and visit my grandchildren in Southern California as often as possible.
Something that isn’t in your regular bio: “I enjoy growing fruit—apples, cherries, plums, raspberries, rhubarb, currants, blackberries, grapes, and strawberries (though I've never had much success with those)--and veggies (tomatoes, green/runner beans, peas, lettuce, cucumbers, French sorrel, parsley, mint).”
Contact the Author:
Www.CarolaDunn.weebly.com
https://www.facebook.com/CarolaDunnMysteryAuthor
https://www.facebook.com/Carola.Dunn.Author/
https://www.facebook.com/DaisyDalrympleMysteries/
https://www.facebook.com/CornishMysteries/
https://www.facebook.com/RegenciesByCarolaDunn/
I was born and grew up in England, and most of my 63 books are set in England, though I've lived in the US for most of my life. Presently I live in Oregon with my dog, Trillian, and visit my grandchildren in Southern California as often as possible.
Something that isn’t in your regular bio: “I enjoy growing fruit—apples, cherries, plums, raspberries, rhubarb, currants, blackberries, grapes, and strawberries (though I've never had much success with those)--and veggies (tomatoes, green/runner beans, peas, lettuce, cucumbers, French sorrel, parsley, mint).”
Contact the Author:
Www.CarolaDunn.weebly.com
https://www.facebook.com/CarolaDunnMysteryAuthor
https://www.facebook.com/Carola.Dunn.Author/
https://www.facebook.com/DaisyDalrympleMysteries/
https://www.facebook.com/CornishMysteries/
https://www.facebook.com/RegenciesByCarolaDunn/
INTERVIEW:
Ally: For readers who haven't yet found your books, what can they expect when they open a Carola Dunn novel?
Carola: I've written 27 mysteries (23 in the Daisy Dalrymple series, 4 Cornish mysteries) and 32 Regencies plus 4 collections of novellas. My mysteries have minimal explicit violence and the romances have no explicit sex.
Ally: What's the best writing/marketing advice you’ve been given?
Carola: The great English author Somerset Maugham's words of wisdom: “There are three rules for writing a novel. Unfortunately no one knows what they are.” In other words, take any and all rules with a pinch of salt.
Ally: Do the people in your real life show up in your writing?
Carola: Absolutely not, but of course the characteristics of people you know illuminate your understanding of people in general, so help you to create characters. The nearest I've come to using a real person was in my “dead dentist” book, Die Laughing. I'd had a lot of unpleasant dental work done, and I quite simply wanted to kill a dentist. The character had nothing in common with any dentist I've ever had treat me, however.
Ally: Do you enjoy research? Does your genre require it?
Carola: My books are all historical, from the Regency (early 19th century) to the 1920s and the 1960s. They require lots of research into the various periods, besides specific subjects related to the stories. For example, when I wrote The Bloody Tower, I read a lot about the history of the Tower of London and how the garrison was organized, what the Governor's responsibilities are and the building he lives in, etc. I contacted the librarian of the Royal Armories Library which was then in the Tower, and she provided all the information I could possibly want, a large scale plan, and even the Governor's Day Book for the week Daisy (my protagonist) was there. In general, for the mysteries I researched the state of forensics at the time.
I love research, so it's all too easy to spend far too much time on it. Much, probably most, will not appear overtly in the books, but the knowledge is in the background. When a writer has done only superficial research and relies on a scattering of details, it's usually pretty obvious.
Ally: What’s the most meaningful thing a fan could say about your book?
Carola: I love it when fans tell me my books distract them from their troubles when they're going through an illness or a difficult time.
Ally: Let’s finish the interview with a few short answer questions.
Ally: For readers who haven't yet found your books, what can they expect when they open a Carola Dunn novel?
Carola: I've written 27 mysteries (23 in the Daisy Dalrymple series, 4 Cornish mysteries) and 32 Regencies plus 4 collections of novellas. My mysteries have minimal explicit violence and the romances have no explicit sex.
Ally: What's the best writing/marketing advice you’ve been given?
Carola: The great English author Somerset Maugham's words of wisdom: “There are three rules for writing a novel. Unfortunately no one knows what they are.” In other words, take any and all rules with a pinch of salt.
Ally: Do the people in your real life show up in your writing?
Carola: Absolutely not, but of course the characteristics of people you know illuminate your understanding of people in general, so help you to create characters. The nearest I've come to using a real person was in my “dead dentist” book, Die Laughing. I'd had a lot of unpleasant dental work done, and I quite simply wanted to kill a dentist. The character had nothing in common with any dentist I've ever had treat me, however.
Ally: Do you enjoy research? Does your genre require it?
Carola: My books are all historical, from the Regency (early 19th century) to the 1920s and the 1960s. They require lots of research into the various periods, besides specific subjects related to the stories. For example, when I wrote The Bloody Tower, I read a lot about the history of the Tower of London and how the garrison was organized, what the Governor's responsibilities are and the building he lives in, etc. I contacted the librarian of the Royal Armories Library which was then in the Tower, and she provided all the information I could possibly want, a large scale plan, and even the Governor's Day Book for the week Daisy (my protagonist) was there. In general, for the mysteries I researched the state of forensics at the time.
I love research, so it's all too easy to spend far too much time on it. Much, probably most, will not appear overtly in the books, but the knowledge is in the background. When a writer has done only superficial research and relies on a scattering of details, it's usually pretty obvious.
Ally: What’s the most meaningful thing a fan could say about your book?
Carola: I love it when fans tell me my books distract them from their troubles when they're going through an illness or a difficult time.
Ally: Let’s finish the interview with a few short answer questions.
- a. book you're currently reading: News from Tartary by Peter Fleming
- b. high heels or sneakers: sneakers
- c. something unique in your handbag: Scottish horn-handled fruit knife that my mother gave me 55 years ago.
- d. Last book that made you laugh: 'The Unexpected Inheritance of Inspector Chopra by Vaseem Khan
- e. Your pets: Dog—mutt--Trillian (named for a character in the Hitchikers Guide to the Galaxy)
The Corpse at the Crystal Palace
Daisy Dalrymple series
Genre: cozy mystery
Released: July 2018
Publisher's blurb:
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 . . .
Buy Links:
https://www.amazon.com/Corpse-Crystal-Palace-Dalrymple-Mysteries/dp/1250047056/
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Corpse-Crystal-Palace-Daisy-Dalrymple/dp/1472125444/
Daisy Dalrymple series
Genre: cozy mystery
Released: July 2018
Publisher's blurb:
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 . . .
Buy Links:
https://www.amazon.com/Corpse-Crystal-Palace-Dalrymple-Mysteries/dp/1250047056/
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Corpse-Crystal-Palace-Daisy-Dalrymple/dp/1472125444/
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
'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
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