A Colourful Death: A Cornish Mystery (Cornish Mysteries)

Carola Dunn is a relatively prolific writer of historical mysteries. A Colourful Death is one of the Cornish mysteries featuring Eleanor Trewynn as the village sleuth. She has a niece in the local police force which gives her a slight inside track when it comes to passing on her hints and suggestions as to who might have dunnit.

Set in the 1960’s, this series gives us a chance to reflect on life in a relatively sleepy part of England. Of course there have to be serious crimes for our heroine to investigate, but she does her work by talking with people and understanding what makes them tick.

This time around, a friend and neighbor gets into a situation where an unthinking police officer might think him guilty of murder. That this is patently absurd is obvious once more experienced heads are brought to bear. Nevertheless, while her friend is under arrest, our sleuth is quickly off the mark to talk with a group of artists who rent rooms at a nearby farm. This is a Golden Age format in fairly cozy mystery style with a limited set of suspects and a reasonably engaging cast of supporting characters. It’s quite good of its type.