This is one of those series that's a reliable old friend for me. Definitely cozy, a little bit frothy, and terribly innocent but never twee or precious, Dunn writes an historically accurate mystery that aims to offer a bit of harmless escapism. She generally succeeds.

Daisy and her step-daughter Bel are entertaining some young cousins for a week at their home in London, and on the agenda is a day at the Crystal Palace. When Daisy finds out that neither the nanny nor the nurse have been there, she ends up with a large group outing on her hands. Everyone splits off to explore the huge building and grounds, and when it's time to meet back up, Bel and her cousins spy Nanny Gilpin running out of the "Ladies conveniences" in pursuit of another nanny. They cannot resist following her, playing spy, to see what's up, and it's all great fun until they find Mrs. Gilpin unconscious in one of the ponds.

Meanwhile, Daisy arrives at the rendezvous point to find the nurse and her twins, but no nanny. After an appropriate amount of time has passed, Daisy goes off to the Ladies conveniences to find out what's holding up nanny's return. Only instead she finds another nanny, dead. When Mrs. Gilpin regains consciousness (the children having dragged her out of the pond), she can't, of course, remember anything.

And so begins another amateur investigator by Daisy, who is determined to find out why her heretofore grave, humourless but ultra responsible nanny would hare off and leave the twins, even if it was in care of the nurse.

Dunn has fun playing up the meddling Daisy does, lightly pitting her in a race against her husband, DCI Alex Fletcher. Daisy has a knack for purposely putting herself in the right place at the right time, but rather than press the point and interrogate, she merely observes and listens, picking up information as she goes, so it really isn't meddling. This along with her connections to the peers of the realm (she's an Honourable), gives her access to information faster than the police and makes her contributions valuable, though it pains her husband to admit it.

The plotting of the mystery was so-so. I should say, it was technically well done, but the motivation behind a couple of pivotal moments felt weak. They worked, but only just. This would probably be a crucial point in book 1, or any of the early entries, but by book 23 most readers are invested in the characters and will probably forgive a less than riveting plot for the chance to catch up with Daisy and her friends and family. I did, anyway. ( )

Daisy takes Nanny Gilpin, the twins, Belinda & two cousins to the Crystal Palace...

While Nanny Gilpin is leaving the "Ladies Convenience" (the first ever public loo for women) she notices another Nanny leaving her pram & walking off in the other direction. Nanny Gilpin quickly goes after her, which leads to a chase... with the children tagging behind. The kids find Nanny Gilpin face down in the fountain & pull her out.

Wondering what is taking Nanny Gilpin so long in the loo, Daisy goes to the Ladies Convenience looking for Nanny Gilpin and instead finds another Nanny, who looks quite familiar, dead in a stall.

It turns out that the dead nanny is Lucy's disreputable & much-widely loathed cousin, who never ceased to harm or play malicious practical jokes.

Meanwhile, upon investigating Lucy's Cousin, daisy & Alec are led to a family of Russian jewelers who seem to be hiding a secret.

Interesting history about the Crystal Palace and its offerings. ( )

The Corpse at the Crystal Palace neither disappointed nor thrilled me. it was an easy read, but not as good as some of the previous books, because there weren't as many interesting supporting characters this time around. The mystery wasn't particularly enthralling, and neither the victim nor any of the suspects were people we'd known before. I was entertained throughout and don't regret the time I spent reading it, but I would never recommend it to anyone who wasn't already a fan of the series. ( )

Very enjoyable mystery from Carola Dunn in the Daisy Dalrymple series. I liked this one a lot because it focused on Daisy's family life but also because it gave the flavor of upper middle-class family life in the 20's and 30's. This story was told in terms of the facts of the murder unfolding slowly. The murderer doesn't really turn up, as other than a hardly glimpsed figure, until the end of the book. It looks like Alec Fletcher is going to be promoted to Superintendent. It made me wonder if Dunn is going to continue the series. ( )

This series is still going strong after 23 titles. In 1927, Daisy takes her children, her visiting cousins, and some family friends on on outing to the Crystal Palace. When the older children see the little one's nurse pursuing someone through the gardens, they follow, arriving just in time to pull Nurse Gilpin from a pond where she is drowning. A young man in a nurse's costume is then found dead in the ladies' convenience. Although Scotland Yard is called in, Daisy naturally can't leave it there. Her contacts in high society come in handy in solving a very puzzling crime.

Recommended. ( )