I really can't evaluate this book fairly because I was so distracted by the numerous grammatical errors, especially the misplaced phrases, the first of which would have been hilarious except that it occurred at a moment of what should have been high drama. Some examples:

"Returning, sobbing, to Josh’s compassionate arms, we all stared guiltily at one another."

"Entirely lost in my own world, my paintbrush crashed to the floor and rolled to the door."

“If left in Max’s hands, they’ll lose the estate.”

"I asked if she wanted to join Sir Marcus and I, but she refused, resuming her usual sullen outlook."

“We were inseparable, much to our detriment and our parent’s distress.”

"After refusing to pass the jam bowl on my third request, I said, 'Miss Woodford, do you not hear me on purpose?'"
library-books3 s Khanh, first of her name, mother of bunnies831 41.2k

The second book in an imagined series of Daphne Du Maurier's youth. I love Daphne Du Maurier's writing, and the love she obvious has for the Cornwall region. So far in this series, I feel that Joanna Challis does an excellent job at capturing the atmosphere that a young Daphne must have encountered that evolved her into the writer that she became. Her struggles as a fledgling writer are described, along with the mystery, in a way that is by no means obtrusive.

The fun thing about this mystery is that if one is a lover of other Daphne du Maurier books, one can easily see the (imagined) characters and how they must have panned out and developed into characters in a later novel. I see myself going, oh! There's young Max. Oh, she must be the inspiration for "me." As a book lover, it is a fun read.

The mystery plot is compelling, but secondary to the characters and their development. It is a well-written plot, the developments are believable, and it makes for a lovely cozy little read on a rainy day.cozy-mystery detective mystery ...more2 s Amy372 4

This book was almost -- almost -- amusingly bad. Except it was too awful to be funny. Uneven, unconfident writing that seemed soooo pleased with itself. Characters that are tissue thin and painfully obvious stereotypes. Plus, the writer begins the story in winter, but keeps forgetting and makes multiple references to the sparkling sun on the sea, sitting outside to eat and drink, and dresses the people in summer clothing. There are also an irritatingly high number of typos. But the piece de resistance is that the story is set just after WWI. Yet, the heroine walks into the parlor to find the hero listening to Edith Piaf's recording of "Non, je ne regrette rien." Gosh, that's wild, since Piaf was born in 1915 and the recording was released in...1960. 2 s Christine Mathieu467 75

This Daphne DuMaurier Mystery by Joanna Challis (volume 2 in a trilogy) was even better than her first book, "Murder at the Cliffs".
Daphne's sister Angela is with her on the Scilly isle of St. Anne where they are stuck due to bad weather. They are invited at a friend's mansion on St. Anne when a murder on the property occurred.

I've been briefly to St. Anne in 1987, but spent more time on the Scilly isle of Tresco which I found more rewarding.
I got the impression that the author described the mansion garden just the Tresco Abbey Gardens with exotic birds.

Challis has a very beautiful writing style, without a doubt influenced by reading lots of DuMaurier, Brontë and Jane Austen novels.
Everybody who enjoyed "Rebecca" will fall in love with these three mysteries with Daphne DuMaurier solving the murder cases.

Now I'll read volume 3 "The Villa of Death".This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.Show full review Mary Alex113 2

If the rating system here would have zero star rating, I would happily give this book zero stars. I find the protagonist, the future Rebecca author, Daphne du Maurier to be a spineless doormat to her bitchy sister, Angela and most of the guests of Somner House. I was so angry at Daphne not defending herself that I officially quit reading this dreadful book a few minutes ago and I hope I never look back. Dorothy478 6

This novel is strictly for du Maurier fans, who will probably enjoy playing spot-the-references. It sounded promising at first, but then the author started using overly convoluted phrases (and some strange expressions). It's so long since I read du Maurier, I assumed she was trying to emulate the writing of her era, but I couldn't be sure. Whatever, it didn't work. I got impatient with the characters and with the plot, and flipped to the end to see whodunnit. Jennifer78

Very slow read, characters' interactions made no sense, and the ending was completely bonkers (and not in a good way) add to that, though no date was specified, the ages of the fictional characters that were supposed to have fought in World War I seemed to imply that the book was set in the early 1920s which would have made Daphne a young teenager...unless these guys were supposed to have been flying planes at the ages of 14 or so. It hurt my brain to try and figure out.2020 Andrea220

Quick, tantalizing murder mystery! If you were a fan of "Rebecca," this is a good read that is much quicker. At the beginning it was a tad hard to keep all the characters straight, but it became easy once they were developed.

Not a complete 5 star review, due to my lack of remembrance of who certain characters were and for some of the out of sorts conversations they had that didn't seem real. Jack729

On an Island off the coast of Cornwall, young Daphne finds so much to inspire her writings and the ideas for stories are presenting themselves each day. However, it won't be long until a dead body shows up. A strong second entry in this 3 book series. Véronique Israël71

Entertaining Joan Horkey1,323 1 follower

Good plot. I would have enjoyed it more without the references to a previous book. Cornerofmadness1,785 16

This is the second in the Daphne du Maurier series. I’m not sure why I get the real person fictionalized as a sleuth stuff (if you think about it, it’s sort of creepy to be writing fiction about real people). Most of these series don’t work. This one works better than most. Overall, it’s relatively enjoyable. Daphne is roped into going to one of the small islands off the English coast by her sister, Angela.

Angela knows Lady and Lord Trevalyn, i.e Kate and Max. Somner House is Max’s family estate though his brother, Rod, would be a better heir. Max is too loose with money and as we later find out, has a form of PTSD. Daphne had no idea she was going to be stranded on this island with the Trevalyns, Sir Marcus, Josh Lissot and the Trevalyn’s cousin, Bella, among others.

Daphne quickly learns that Max is the spendthrift, womanizer while his brother maintains the house, a house she quickly comes to love. She also learns that Kate is having an affair of her own and shortly after Max is killed, she and her lover come under suspicion. Kate wants Daphne to help prove they didn’t do it.

The local constabulary seem almost corrupt and Daphne first enlists Sir Marcus and then later, when he shows up, Major Browning. In some ways this gets a bit Mary Suish as several of the men take a liking to Daphne (then again I don’t know enough of her history to know if anything of this is factual. I only know which of the characters she eventually marries)

The mystery wasn’t a bad one, though the ending was a bit deus ex machine and she makes a totally idiotic decision that lost a lot of points with me. It’s a quick easy read.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.Show full reviewhistorical mystery Linda1,468 17

Daphne du Maurier and her sister Angela have arrived on an island to stay and visit with Max & Kate, owners of the Somner House. While Daphne is trying to get inspiration for the novels she s to write, Rebecca being one of them, Max is murdered. The murderer is somewhere on the island as storms keep everyone from leaving. But who is it? Daphne risks her own life to find the culprit and it is someone no one would suspect.

This was interesting but a bit of a slow read. It took me about 1/3 of the way into the book to really be interested. I d the character of Daphne and Major Browning, but I didn't much care for most of the others. Even Angela was not particularly able but that may have been because she had so many secrets of her own. Those secrets made her stern and often unfriendly, even toward her own sister.

british historical-fiction mystery Phair2,129 35

Was not really impressed by this one. At the start, the writing felt slightly amateurish but it did improve as it went along. There was no author note giving info on DuMaurier's life or a timeline which would have been helpful as the text didn't really provide many hints as to the actual time period (latter 1920s?). I think I'd have d this better if I'd read the first book as the relationships and references to previous happenings left me wondering who? what? why? I have also not read a lot of DuMaurier's books and I imagine part of the fun of this series might be seeing where this Daphne encounters people and events that become the seeds of her future novels. The Cornwall and Scilly Isles setting was nice but I'd have d even more description of the natural beauty of the area. Probably not a series I will pursue.historical-mystery Kate 232 72

This was very cute. A fictionalized Daphne DuMaurier, fresh from solving a murder case in Murder on the Cliffs, arrives at a friend's castle in the Isle of Scilly, Cornwall, with her sister for what seems to be a week or two of rest an relaxation. Upon arrival, she finds out that they've just passed the last boat to the coast for the winter. Two days later, the drug-addled lord of the manor is found murdered, and Daphne is on the case.

THe author does a great job of creating a young, naive but plucky girl detective in her Daphne DuMaurier. Daphne's partner in crime, Sir Marcus, is a boatload of fun, too. Recommended for fun. library mystery new-in-2010 Ashley113 13

This was one of the worst books I have ever read. The main character was insufferable. She didn't see people as people but as a character in one of the books she read. She wasn't able to connect which made the whole book off, if the person telling the story can't see the people as people then how are the people reading it supposed to. She had this annoying habit of quoting passages from books and then trying to connect the people to them even if there was no connection at all other than she said there was. Christina164 3

This book was fine light reading, but so poorly edited as to distract from the core story. I wanted to redline full paragraphs. It's odd--the first book in the series did not have this editing issue, and the third doesn't seem to either so far. But this book...eesh...the errors were numerous and disappointing. They included everything from basic syntax errors, to repetition of phrases within a few paragraphs, to completely contradictory facts from one chapter to the next. Disappointing, as I find the other books in this series lighthearted, enjoyable reads. Casceil296 52

This book is the second in a series, with Daphne du Maurier as the protagonist/amateur sleuth. I really enjoy these books, mostly because the characters are well-drawn. The plots don't always seem to come together quite right, and there are loose ends, but the books are fun despite that. There are allusions to Jane Austen novels, and I think some to du Maurier's work, though I have only read three of her books, and I could be missing a lot. Kristen54

I love these mysteries featuring a young Daphne du Maurier. I enjoy how Challis weaves bits of the real Daphne's life, along with tidbits that will later influence her writing, and still creates a mystery that could stand on its own two legs. This is a great series for readers who writers. I hope Challis continues the series. Jenny25 16

Loved it - a very classic who-dun-it with characters and plot reminding me quite a bit of an Agatha Christie tale - just the sort of thing I love, murder on an island, a mysterious tower, a grand estate, multiple suspects. I delighted in reading this story and am pleased to have found a new favorite author. Susan1,284



Since I have enjoyed Daphne DuMaurier
novels, I was looking forward to reading a mystery where she was the "detective".
However the author made DuMaurier a
very unappealing character who cared most about status and money; the plot was weak; the writing was pedestrian.
mystery Alison503

I Daphne de Maurier as a character in these books a lot, though I don't know what she was in real life. The pace kept me going better than her first book, but it ended really quickly. A pretty good read. Melanie673

Fairly enjoyable weekend read. I d the overall story and descriptions. The editing could have been better (e.g. mistake with Edith Piaf song, consistencies and some grammatical errors). I the characters so will probably read the next in the series. Lauren34 11

The writing was pretty poor, there were far too many typos, and the plot wasn't as developed as I would've d. I was intrigued by the idea of a mystery featuring Daphne du Maurier but this just didn't deliver in my opinion. Debbie Teixeira Zagorski28 2

I would read another of this author's books. Fluff, but entertaining Zoe 113

Interesting series; not quite as good as the first one.mystery read-2011 Jane149 2

Forced fit. Johanna326 68

This book was fine. It didn't really hold my attention though. The character development is weak, which made it hard to care about the plot.mystery united-kingdom Sue70

I would read more by her, read quickly.
Corvina Q468 11

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