Carola Dunn is the author of
twenty-six mysteries and thirty-two Regencies. She was born and grew up in
England but has lived in the US for many years. When not writing, she enjoys
gardening, reading, and walking the dog. She has two grandchildren and cannot
believe one is a teenager. Where did the years go? Learn more about Carola and
her books at her website.
The Joy of Walking
One of the features of
England that I miss most here in the US, at least in the West, is the public foot paths. They crisscross the countryside, paying no heed to boundaries,
climbing over walls and fences with the aid of stiles, crossing farmers' fields
as freely as woods, hills, and dales.
Many of the paths are of
ancient origin, medieval at least. Legally they are rights of way and can't be
closed by landowners. The Ramblers organization zealously guards the public's
access.
Cornwall, like the rest of
the country, has footpaths everywhere. The main character of my Cornish
mysteries, Eleanor, loves walking with her Westie Teazle on the cliffs and
moors. She enjoys it the more because she spent most of her adventurous life
traveling the world, working for an international charity.
On retiring to Cornwall, Eleanor
looks forward to tranquility. She settles in a small fishing port on the North
Coast and opens a charity shop, a peaceful occupation. But human nature is the
same the world over. When crime comes to Port Mabyn, Eleanor finds the skills learned
in far off places are not forgotten and become useful once again.
In the fourth book in the
series, Buried in the Country, Eleanor’s talent for diplomacy is called
upon by a friend from the past, a government official. He is holding a secret
conference at a hotel on the cliffs near Tintagel, and he wants Eleanor to
smooth relations between the antagonistic participants.
Megan's niece, Detective
Sergeant Megan Pencarrow, is helping with security for the conference, although
she's already on another case, the disappearance of a local solicitor. When two
strangers turn up at the hotel, she can see they're villains. What she can't
guess is whether they're a threat to the conference, connected somehow with the
lawyer's disappearance, or contemplating some other nefarious business.
Now Eleanor's enjoyment of
walking becomes vital to the story. Her description of the view of King
Arthur's legendary castle ruins from the cliff top paths inspires enthusiasm in
the young people. Their insistence on going for a walk, whatever the risk of
being seen, leads to the revelation of what the two London villains are up to.
Caught in the act, the
villains flee with hostages. The ensuing car chase takes them to fog-bound
Bodmin Moor at dusk. Eleanor's familiarity with the rural byways helps Megan to
follow and to rendezvous with her colleagues. They end up on Bodmin Moor, where
the murderers disappear into the fog.
Night is falling. It seems
they'll escape. But Eleanor often walks here. She knows the lay of the land and
all the hazards: bogs, old mine shafts, precipitous quarry walls. She describes
it for the searchers, and when she's denied a part in the search, she goes off
hunting on her own.
Using every scrap of her local
knowledge, combined with her talent at diplomacy and a few tricks she's learned
in foreign parts, Eleanor emerges from the fog triumphant: She has captured one
of the villains and he's spilled the beans.
Walking
the footpaths of England, you are not at all likely to meet a murderer, of
course. Nor will you meet a bear, a cougar, a skunk, a porcupine, or a
rattlesnake; you won't even encounter poison oak or poison ivy!
Buried in the Country
After many years
working around the world for an international charity in the late 1960s,
Eleanor Trewynn has retired to the relative quiet of a small town in Cornwall.
But her quiet life is short-lived when, due to her experience, the Commonwealth
Relations Office reaches out to her to assist in a secret conference that is to
take place in a small hotel outside the historical village of Tintagel.
Meanwhile,
her niece, Detective Sargent Megan Pencarrow, is investigating the
disappearance of a local solicitor when she is assigned to help provide
security for the conference. Two African students, refugees from Ian Smith’s
Rhodesia, arrive for the conference, escorted by Megan’s bête noire from
Scotland Yard. They are followed by two mysterious and sinister Londoners,
whose allegiances and connections to the conference and the missing solicitor
are unclear. With a raging storm having trapped everyone in the hotel, the
stage is set for murder, and it’s up to Eleanor and Megan to uncover the truth
before more lives are lost.
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