Buried in the Country: A Cornish Mystery (Cornish Mysteries, 4)

I've read all four of the books in this series and this one, like the others, is pleasant enough to read while also being incredibly frustrating. The novel has two distinct plots. Plot A focuses on Eleanor's somewhat mystifying presence at a very oddly conceived and poorly explained secret conference relating to international affairs. Plot B focuses on two shifty characters who turn up at the hotel where the secret conference is taking place--and whose motives are given away by a brief expository passage before they head for Cornwall. These stories muddle along for most of the book with no apparent point until one plot is revealed to exist solely to get 65% of the novel's characters into position for the other plot, which then dominates the balance of the book. So more than half the book is spent setting up the conflict and resolution, and of that half a bunch of it is irrelevant. The other 35% of the characters don't matter whatsoever.

The conflict and resolution take place within a small number of pages that somehow manage to be kind of dull. I fell asleep during a section in which a dog looks for people on the moor not once, not twice, but three times running. The story is mostly resolved when one of the bad guys just decides to explain his actions to Eleanor, who just happens to find him. Then a few page later there's a fairly long discussion of whether it's better to eat Chinese or Indian food where other people can smell it. And then the book continues to go on for several more pages, ending in an Agatha Christie-style exposition of unresolved questions, but only those relevant to one of the plots, because again, the other one was completely unnecessary. Also unnecessary is the repeated commentary on how one character is the best-dressed woman in the area because she has first pick of the goods at the Lonstar charity shop.

Baffling.

Furthermore I have gotten extremely confused about the time frame of this series. My understanding is that it's mid-to-late 1960s at this point, and there's a good amount of "the times they are a-changin'" going on here--there's some hint of interracial relationships, gay characters, co-habitation without marriage, etc. That time frame also matches my understanding of the historical events referenced by Plot A. So I couldn't really shake the fact that Eleanor casually references disco dancing early in the book, a concept that Google Ngram Viewer confirms didn't really exist until after 1975, and she is an older woman who lives in rural Cornwall. Really?

So. Should you read this? If you are just interested in the exploits of Eleanor, Megan, and Nick, sure. Otherwise . . . not recommended.

I enjoyed this book - Carola Dunn writes a great mystery. I wouldn't mind if the niece had her own story but I really get involved and can't put the book down until it's finished then I regret finishing it too fast.

I question the judgment of those readers who gave this novel a 4 or 5 star rating. I made it to the half-way point of the book and tossed it into the trash. The premise of the story was ridiculous. A diplomat is holding a peace conference in an out-of-way hotel on the Cornish coast. The two principals in the conference are two students from Africa, who already have a history and do not want much to do with each other. Who on earth, I ask, is going to give credence to two non-noteworthy students. Eleanor Trewynn, who has traveled the globe for an international charity, is hired to help maintain amicable relations between these two students. Up to the point at which I dumped the book, there was no interaction among these three individuals. Eleanor was more concerned with spending time with the diplomat's wife so that she would not be alone. When she was not doing that, she was seeking out her niece, a police detective assigned to keep the bad guys (whoever they were) from disrupting the peace talks. Megan, the niece, is assigned to watch one of the students, while a former boyfriend is assigned to watch the other (female) student. Of course, Megan and the other officer are former lovers and don't want anything to do with each other. Megan thinks she has zeroed in on the bad guys when one of them goes into the post office and purchases a local directory. From this, she deduces that these really are the bad guys, and they intend to hunt down a local person. This was such a load of crap that I simply gave up and tossed the book. I generally donate my books to the library, but there is no way I would inflict another reader to this drivel.

I really like a heroine who I can relate to and who is my age and living a full life and having adventures!

arrived on time. great book

A new set of characters for Carola Dunn, set in a different time and place from her earlier mystery works. Very nice.

The 1970s were my formative decade – I managed to squeeze High School and College in, while things like Watergate, Jonestown, and disco occurred around me. In “Buried in the Country”, the 4th book in the Cornish Mystery series, author Carola Dunn looks at the 1970s from the perspective of a small slice of England. To be more specific, she's examining a small slice of England which itself is looking towards the conflict between locals and settlers in Rhodesia (or, as one of the characters keeps calling the country, “Zimbabwe”).

“Buried in the Country” is a pleasant enough little cozy mystery. The characters are likeable – well, the ones the reader is SUPPOSED to like are – and the plot easy to follow. But the pacing … I kept wanting to make little hand gestures to increase the speed and pace, and get things going just a little faster. Even the car chase scene felt as though it was occurring in slow motion. I believe the book would have been greatly improved with some judicious editing, sacrificing 10-20% of the content for an improved flow. (Mind you, I do not claim to BE an editor, and wouldn't dare attempt to determine just WHAT to trim – although perhaps the dragnet contained too many red herrings.)

Definitely worth a read, and I would not hesitate to dive into another of the authors works again.

RATING: 3 1/2 stars, rounded down to 3 stars in applications where 1/2 stars are not permitted.

DISCLOSURE: I was awarded this book in a random draw, without obligation. It was stated that an honest review would be appreciated, and hinted that a timely one would be even more appreciated. For once, I actually accomplished both.

Lovely scenery, great characters, intriguing plot.

Carola Dunn is always fun. Classic cozy mystery with great characters and a clever plot. Very enjoyable. Janice

Good read. Couldn't put it down.