The Winter Ground
On sale
8th January 2009
Price: £9.99
A cosy Dandy Gilver mystery set in 1930s Scotland. For fans of PG Wodehouse, Alexander McCall Smith and Agatha Christie.
‘McPherson is an exemplary crime writer’ Scotsman
BAD LUCK? BAD TIMING? OR GOOD OLD-FASHIONED MURDER?
When a circus comes to spend the winter at the neighbouring estate to Gilverton, Dandy Gilver’s two sons are cock-a-hoop and they are not alone in their excitement.
The allure of Tumbling Topsy Turvy, Tiny Truman and the Troupe Prebezhensky also draw the attention of the fast set, who would never normally be seen dead with the nouveau riche Mr & Mrs Albert Wilson. ‘The name, darling, tells you everything you need to know.’
But when Dandy Gilver is asked to investigate a series of nasty tricks taking place in the circus she discovers, under the colourful charms on the surface of circus life, a hotbed of passion and resentment she cannot begin to understand. But, when one of the artistes suddenly dies, Dandy must somehow get behind the smoke and mirrors to find answers in a world where nothing is as it seems.
‘Dry wit . . . sparkling dialogue and meticulous description.’ Herald
‘The most engaging and ingenious crime-cracker I’ve met in ages’ Scotland on Sunday
Dan Brown meets Barbara Pym . . . Dandy is brisk, baffled, heroic, kindly, scandalised and – above all – very funny – Guardian
Catriona McPherson’s latest novel in the series, Dandy Gilver and a Spot of Toil and Trouble is now available for pre-order.
‘McPherson is an exemplary crime writer’ Scotsman
BAD LUCK? BAD TIMING? OR GOOD OLD-FASHIONED MURDER?
When a circus comes to spend the winter at the neighbouring estate to Gilverton, Dandy Gilver’s two sons are cock-a-hoop and they are not alone in their excitement.
The allure of Tumbling Topsy Turvy, Tiny Truman and the Troupe Prebezhensky also draw the attention of the fast set, who would never normally be seen dead with the nouveau riche Mr & Mrs Albert Wilson. ‘The name, darling, tells you everything you need to know.’
But when Dandy Gilver is asked to investigate a series of nasty tricks taking place in the circus she discovers, under the colourful charms on the surface of circus life, a hotbed of passion and resentment she cannot begin to understand. But, when one of the artistes suddenly dies, Dandy must somehow get behind the smoke and mirrors to find answers in a world where nothing is as it seems.
‘Dry wit . . . sparkling dialogue and meticulous description.’ Herald
‘The most engaging and ingenious crime-cracker I’ve met in ages’ Scotland on Sunday
Dan Brown meets Barbara Pym . . . Dandy is brisk, baffled, heroic, kindly, scandalised and – above all – very funny – Guardian
Catriona McPherson’s latest novel in the series, Dandy Gilver and a Spot of Toil and Trouble is now available for pre-order.
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Reviews
A jaunty romp with a gripping ending... delightful
'As ever, McPherson's research is exhaustive and she captures the patois of the circus people beautifully . . . At the circus, things don't quite turn out as Dandy expects but this simply makes McPherson's delightful tale all the more enjoyable.'
Praise for the Dandy Gilver series:
Dan Brown meets Barbara Pym . . . Dandy is brisk, baffled, heroic, kindly, scandalised and - above all - very funny
McPherson is on to a winner with her 1920s society sleuth Dandy Gilver, who is the most engaging and ingenious crime-cracker I've met in ages. She is gauche but perceptive, married but unromantic (although there's a lovely frisson to her co-solver), sly but endearingly innocent. The period detail is accomplished and convincing, the crime is neatly convoluted and McPherson's prose bristles with clever asides under a lucid surface. I wouldn't be surprised if she is translated on to the small screen soon, and I can't wait for her next adventure.
'Dandy Gilver is an enthralling heroine; part Dorothy Parker, part Miss Marple, utterly engaging. [Catriona] can send chills up your spine and provoke a fit of the giggles in the space of a few short pages. Absolutely wonderful'
McPherson is an exemplary crime writer, effortlessly balancing the driest wit with melodramatic suspense. Her range of reference is seriously literary, her research impeccable, and her exuberance with period detail utterly beguiling. And Dandy herself is wonderful: blundering bravely through this mad and murky tale with perfect aplomb and a drop-dead vocabulary, she is a lesson to us all.
Compelling
A well-paced tale
