The Winter Garden Mystery - Carola Dunn

So who put the body in with the spring bulbs? The merest hint of spring has arrived in Cheshire, and so has young reporter Daisy Dalrymple. The feisty flapper’s visit is a breath of fresh air for gloomy Occles Hall. But while photographing the rather barren grounds, Daisy spots that someone’s been digging among the first green shoots – and much to her horror unearths the corpse of missing parlour maid Grace Moss. So begins an extraordinary adventure, as first the dead woman’s shocking secret is revealed and then Daisy swiftly realizes she needs to catch the killer before she herself is left pushing up the daisies . . .

This spiffing mystery harks back to the Golden Age of crime fiction, with nods to Agatha Christie, Dorothy L Sayers and even P G Wodehouse. It is a nice, easy read, without jarring anachronisms and vocabulary - although I'm sure Christie never used "spiffing" quite as much! The plot and motivations are plausible, and the denouement is done in the classic style.

Excellent froth for a lazy day!