Valley of the Shadow

October 1, 2012
The wider world comes to the Cornish village of Port Mabyn in Dunn’s meandering third mystery featuring doughty widow Eleanor Trewynn (after 2010’s A Colourful Death). While out walking by the ocean with her dog, Teazle; her detective sergeant niece, Megan Pencarrow; and neighbor Nick Gresham, Eleanor spots a drowning Indian man, whom Megan saves. In the absence of any identifying documents on the man, who lapses into unconsciousness, Megan’s boss, Detective Inspector Scrumble, suspects that he’s an East African trying to illegally enter the country after learning of the end of Britain’s open-door policy for former colonials. There may be other refugees, moreover, in distress along Cornwall’s rugged shores. Dunn lives up to her reputation for cozies that take on serious stuff, allowing her ragtag bunch of investigators to unearth a story with roots deep in international politics, but would have kept her tale livelier with tighter plotting. Agent: Alice Volpe, Northwest Literary.

October 15, 2012
A Cornish cliff walk involves some impromptu investigators in a life-and-death situation. Aunt Nell (nee Eleanor Trewynn), her dog Teazle, her niece DS Megan Pencarrow and their artist friend Nick Gresham have taken advantage of a lovely day to walk near a rocky beach when they spot a body floating in the water. Nell goes for help while Megan and Nick struggle to get the barely living man out of the water. Unexpected help arrives in the form of young hikers Chaz and Julia. The half-drowned Indian just manages to tell Megan that his family is trapped in a cave before he passes out and is sent off to the hospital. Nell, who lived in many remote areas before retiring, guesses that the family must be refugees from East Africa. Most Indians who lived there are being turfed out in an Africanization plan. Despite carrying British passports, they've been refused entry to Britain. A desperate search is launched to discover which of the many caves in the area is hiding the family, who seem to have been smuggled in and then left to die. Aunt Nell's charity work in the area gives her an in with so many locals that she manages to learn about several possibilities, and Megan's boss, DI Scumble, is so determined to catch the smugglers that he grudgingly accepts Nell's help. As it turns out, the things they learn put them in danger that they can't foresee. Dunn's third Cornish adventure (Manna From Hades, 2009, etc.) offers strong female characters, a double helping of tension and the revival of some largely forgotten history.

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November 1, 2012
While on a ramble, Eleanor Trewynn; her niece, Detective Sergeant Megan Pencarrow; and her neighbor, artist Nick Gresham, spot a man bobbing in the sea. Megan jumps in to save him, and Nick and two young hikers help with the rescue. Megan accompanies the unconscious victim, an Indian immigrant, to the hospital, where he wakes briefly, long enough to say his family is stranded in a cave and his mother is dying. Prodded by Megan and her boss, Detective Inspector Scumble, the authorities race to organize a search while Eleanor uses her contacts in a nearby village to identify hidden smugglers' caves. Following their rescue, the investigation turns to finding those who left them to die. This series is set in the fictional village of Port Mabyn, in Cornwall, England, in the late 1960s, and this entry highlights the immigration troubles of Indians with British passports, who, when forced to leave their homes, were not welcomed in other countries, including England.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2012, American Library Association.)