Manna from Hades

There's always a bit of trepidation on the reader's part when a favorite author starts a new series. Am I going to like it as well as the old favorite, or will I think it was a mistake? My fears were quickly dismissed as I settled in to enjoy [b:Manna from Hades: A Cornish Mystery|5645276|Manna from Hades A Cornish Mystery|Carola Dunn|http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51-nfqqcqaL._SL75_.jpg|5816723], [a:Carola Dunn|125558|Carola Dunn|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1240244764p2/125558.jpg]'s inaugural book in a new series.
[b:Manna from Hades|5645276|Manna from Hades A Cornish Mystery|Carola Dunn|http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51-nfqqcqaL._SL75_.jpg|5816723] has both differences and similarities to Ms. Dunn's Daisy show more Dalrymple series. Where Daisy's adventures take place in the 1920s, this book appears to be set in the 1960s (although the clues to that are fairly subtle). And where Daisy is based in London but travels widely, Eleanor Trewynn and her niece, DS Megan Polcarrow, are firmly rooted in Cornwall after their own travels. But the common threads are the strong female characters and the cooperation between amateur sleuth and police officer.
Widow Eleanor Trewynn has retired to her native Cornwall after a lifetime of traveling the globe with LonStar, an NGO apparently based on Oxfam. She lives above the LonStar shop (=thrift store) and spends a lot of time driving about the countryside in her ancient Morris Minor, collecting castoffs for the shop. Her niece Megan, a detective sergeant who has transferred to the Cornish police force from London, must contend with a supervisor and colleagues who aren't too sure about women in the force, and "Aunt Nell's" involvement in a murder case doesn't make things any easier. Among other characters I expect and hope to meet again are the artist next door; the kind but scarily efficient vicar's wife and her rather foggy husband; Megan's boss, who seems like a good guy at heart despite his old-fashioned views; and Teazle, Eleanor's West Highland terrier.
Returning from a collecting trip, Eleanor finds a briefcase full of jewelry (which she assumes to be good copies) among the books and old clothes, with no idea where it came from. The next morning, there is an even more shocking discovery. Although Megan and the other police, through good solid detective work, do most of the investigation, it is Eleanor's good works that bring matters to a head and enable the solution.
Eleanor Trewynn reminds me a bit of Mrs. Pollifax in that people tend to underestimate her abilities. A charming and well-described Cornish setting adds to the engaging characters and intelligent plot to make me hope this is the first of a long series. The dustjacket is the most beautiful I've seen in a long time, and the title, too, is worthy of applause. Highly recommended. show less

Cornwall, cosy-mystery, family, 1960s, small-business, small-town, widow, law-enforcement, murder, murder-investigation*****

Ever wonder why a woman proven to be highly intelligent who has different priorities in her observations is labelled "scatty" or "dim" while a male is labelled "eccentric"?
This tale is set in the 1960s in England.
Eleanor Trewynn is herself in her 60's and widowed after a peripatetic life all over the globe with her husband.
DI Scumble is set in his ways and a veritable parody of the breed.
Eleanor's niece, DS Megan Pencarrow is more than capable despite having to tolerate her DI.
Eleanor finds a body in the back room of the charity shop where she volunteers, and then the lunacy begins.
It's a nice, slow cosy good for show more sitting with a mug of caffeine and simply enjoying a look at where we've bee, how far we've come, and, maybe, how far we still have to go.
The narration is very nicely done by Wanda McCaddon who made the voices differentiate well. show less

A comfortable, slightly unusual mystery set in the 1960s in Cornwall, but I like Dunn’s Daisy Dalrymple series better.
The story starts with the protagonist Eleanor, a senior in a small seaside village, discovering a corpse in her charity shop. Or rather it starts even before, when she found a briefcase full of jewelry in her car, after she came home from collecting donations for her shop. And she doesn’t know who donated the mysterious briefcase.
This is the first mystery I’ve ever read with a witness as the protagonist. And an inept witness: she doesn’t remember so many details. She forgets to lock her doors. She didn’t remember to tell the investigators about the jewelry until a couple days after her discovery of the show more corpse. She is a kind, absent-minded woman, but her character is vague, blurring around the edges: for the lead investigator as well as for the readers. Not the best choice of a protagonist, in my opinion.
The lead investigator DI Scumble, on the other hand, is very well defined, the most colorful among the characters of the novel, although his role is less than secondary. The author tries to picture him as a rude, uncouth boor, but he comes out as competent policeman, perhaps a bit sarcastic and definitely overworked.
The exchanges between Scumble and Eleanor, as well as many other dialogs in the book are worth mentioning. As always, Dunn’s language sparkles. Not as distinctive as her vernacular for the Daisy Dalrymple books, it’s nonetheless marvelously inventive and funny.
For example, after one of his infuriatingly uninformative interviews with his dreamy witness Eleanor, Scumble sighs. “His sigh was deep enough to have originated in the Antipodes.”
Another quote – a snatch of a dialog – made me laugh out loud. In it, one of Scumble’s associates is questioning Eleanor’s friend Nick.
“… you don’t think I had anything to do with this murder, do you? I’m a pacifist.” [Nick said]
“Don’t tell the inspector. He was hit over the head with a nuclear disarmament sign by an Aldermaston marcher.”
“Strewth, you’re having me on!”
“It’s a fact….”

Overall, a nice cozy read. show less

Much as I thought this was a fun whodunnit there were a few mistakes that spoilt it for me. Mainly the fact that Range Rovers were not introduced until the 1970’s and this book is set in the the 1960’s. Sadly lack of research made this a glaring error in an otherwise cosy read. The countryside of Cornwall is however well described and the plot is well done.

First Line: "We put in several frogs, Mrs. Trewynn," said Miss Annabel Willis anxiously.

The 1960s find Mrs. Eleanor Trewynn living in the small fishing village of Port Mabyn in Cornwall, England, where she's retired and living above the LonStar charity shop that she founded. She and her husband, Peter, spent many years doing charitable works in third world countries, but after Peter's tragic death, Eleanor and her West Highland Terrier, Teazle, travel the back roads and tracks gathering donated goods for the shop.

One day when Eleanor and the vicar's wife go to the stockroom to sort and price the donations, they find the body of a scruffy-looking young man hidden under bags of clothing. Eleanor's niece, Detective Sergeant Megan show more Pencarrow, arrives as part of the investigating team, and the Detective Inspector in charge is a big, gruff man who has no use for women in the police force.

The setting for this book is perfect, with a picturesque village and the sea on one side, and the wandering narrow back roads of the countryside on the other. The secondary cast of characters is well drawn and memorable. The murder and the way it ties in to a donated case of jewelry is interesting, but I found the execution of some of the parts a bit uneven.

Eleanor Trewynn, the main character, is in some ways an endearing creature who knows the truly important things in life are people, their relationships to one another, and their well being, but she can be absolutely exasperating. Her keys need a 24-hour armed guard because Eleanor never knows where they are. The constant fumbling about for keys got old after the first dozen times they went missing-- as did her continued reluctance to tell the Detective Inspector important information in a timely manner. No wonder the man wanted to strangle her!

Also, her charitable work in third world countries was only obliquely referred to. If there had been more backstory, or a flashback or two that had fleshed out this period of Eleanor's life, I think it would have gone a long way to dampen my exasperation with her character.

Although Manna From Hades does have a problem or two, it does show promise as the start of a new series. I hope the second book is a stronger entry. show less

I liked Cornwall when I visited there twenty-five years ago so I was curious to "read" a mystery set there. I didn't realize until I was into it a bit that although the book was written in 2009 it is set in a much earlier time, probably the 1960s.

Eleanor Trewynn retired to a small Cornish town after a life of travelling the world with her husband. She bought a property where she lives in the top floor of the house and uses the bottom floor to house a small charity shop. While out collecting donations for the shop one day she comes home to find she has acquired a case full of jewellery that looks pricey. She can't remember where it came from but figures the owner will either reclaim it as being given by mistake or advise that it is for show more the charity to sell. The next morning when she goes down to the storeroom she discovers a corpse who has probably been murdered. Her niece, Megan Pencarrow, has recently been hired as a Detective Sargeant in the local constabulary and it falls to her and her supervisor to solve this murder. There are lots of discussions over tea and scones or biscuits just as you would expect.

I don't think I'll be following up on this series. show less

I enjoyed this and will look for others of the series. Not the best mystery I ever read, but fun. A bit too much focus on keys! Wanda McCaddon is a wonderful reader!