Death at Wentwater Court by Carola Dunn

Carola Dunn starts the Daisy Dalrymple series with Death at Wentwater Court.  Dunn drops the reader into the Hampshire countryside in the early 1920s.  The reader is transported to the cold, snowy English countryside.  Daisy Dalrymple is a likeable character both for her strength and her spirit.  Her intelligence and insight also draws the reader to her side in most situations.  When her plans to write an article for a magazine are interrupted by the suspicious death of a fellow houseguest, Daisy is drawn into the investigation and drawn to the Scotland Yard Inspector on the case.  Class distinctions will have the reader biting his/her tongue to keep from shouting at the pages.  During the course of the investigations, secrets are revealed that change the lives of the Wentwater family and their houseguests.  Dunn immerses the reader in the stories of each of the guests so that the reader wants no one to actually be guilty at some points and to wish for guilt of most of the guests at other points.  The characters engage, amuse, intrigue, and frustrate the reader in a way that keeps the mystery a mystery and explores human nature along the way.   Dunn's first book in this English cozy series leaves the reader curious about what will happen with Daisy next.