I’m delighted to take part in the book blog for Through Dancing Poppies, book three in the Miss Gascoigne mysteries series, by Caron Allan, as part of the Reading Between the Lines blog tour.
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Through Dancing Poppies: Miss Gascoigne mysteries book 3: an intriguing cosy mystery set in the swinging 1960s
Poppy Bell is a teenage singing sensation about to ‘hit the big time’ and newly engaged to a man old enough to be her father. Everyone says she’s a gold digger. But then…
Dee Gascoigne, now a fully-fledged—or nearly fully-fledged—private investigator working for the law firm of Montague Montague, meets Poppy a couple of times and can’t help but notice she is a very talented musician who is young, naive and on the brink of something incredible. But she is also surrounded by people who know exactly what they are doing, they’ve done this kind of thing before, are used to the spotlight and the glare of media sensationalism, and know how to present the perfect image to grow a very public career. Then there’s a near miss in a car park, and suddenly Dee has an intense feeling of danger lurking in the shadows. But who is the target? Poppy or her new fiancé, wealthy entrepreneur Teddy Reynolds?
REVIEW
Caron Allan knows how to write a mystery that draws readers in and keeps them guessing until the very end. This is the third book in the Miss Gascoigne mysteries series, set in 1960’s England during a period of rapid social change. The main character is Dee Gascoigne, an ex-teacher turned private investigator (after the breakdown of her marriage). Although this book is part of a series, it can be read as a standalone.
The setting is rich with details from the 1960’s: TV shows, music, jargon, hairstyles and clothes; there’s even a coin-operated phone box, and I enjoyed reading a mystery set in this period.
Dee lives with her younger brother, Rob, a trainee barrister, and helpful sidekick. There is a large cast of other characters, but I never felt confused by this – each character is unique and well-rounded with their own quirks. For those who might struggle, a list of characters is included at the beginning.
Dee soon finds herself at the centre of another mystery when she is hired to find out who killed the young, up-and-coming singing sensation, Poppy Bell. Was her death murder or a tragic accident? The plotting is strong with plenty of intrigue as Dee tries to find out, and several key incidents along the way keep readers guessing, including some red herrings. The only time I felt a bit confused was at the start of the second incident involving Dee, but I soon caught up. With danger still lurking and several suspects in the frame, the story leads to a satisfying ending.
As a reader of cozy mysteries, this one sits with the best. I would recommend Through Dancing Poppies to anyone who likes a good mystery and is looking for a well-crafted book series.
AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY
Caron lives in Derbyshire, England, where Jane Austen’s Mr Darcy came from. She hasn’t met him yet, but nevertheless clings to the dream. She writes mysteries and crime but sometimes adds in a little dash of romance or fantasy.
Like many writers, Caron always wanted to write stories. She can remember announcing this to her mother when she was eight years old. Caron says, ‘I seem to remember she wasn’t overly impressed.’
Caron started reading adventure stories and mysteries for children when she was around 7 or 8 and graduated to Agatha Christie and Patricia Wentworth (her faves) when around 9 or 10. She has never looked back.
Caron has tried writing literary fiction – she was terrible at it. She has tried writing romance but got bored and killed everyone off. So now she sticks to what she loves – murder mysteries. The Dottie Manderson mysteries are set in the 1930s and feature a terminally-nosy well-to-do young woman, the Miss Gascoigne mysteries are set in the 1960s and a spin-off from the Dottie books, and the Friendship Can Be Murder series are set ‘now’ and written as diary entries by a posh woman, Cressida Barker-Powell, who plans to make the world a better place by getting rid of bad people, starting with her mother-in-law.
LINKS TO BUY
KINDLE EDITION https://www.amazon.co.uk/Through-Dancing-Poppies-Gascoigne-intriguing-ebook/dp/B0G3JPXG4Y
WEBSITE AND SOCIAL MEDIA LINKS
https://www.amazon.co.uk/stores/Caron-Allan/author/B00BN97SMK
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