A Winter Garden Mystery - Carola Dunn 1995 ***

What started off as an exciting read turned into a boring and long, drawn out affair. Carola Dunn does a good job of drawing up the initial characters and staking out the plot, but then it slowly goes downhill and we wander off in a daze. Daisy Dalrymple is our heroine, a quirky journalist on a photographic assignment who finds herself drawn into a murder plot at Occles Hall, after a body is discovered in the grounds. I think Daisy is a brilliant heroine. She's young, fresh, intelligent and can give Poirot or Miss Marple a run for their money. This is the third book in the Daisy Dalrymple series (I was amazed to see that there were 20!) so I might not give up quite yet and try the first one.

Started 25th June

Finished 7th July

The Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald 1925 ***

For a start, the cover of this classic is meant to be one of the most iconic images in the world. Not sure why, but there it is. Regarding the story - I was expecting a fast-living and exciting glimpse into the flapper era written by someone who was actually there and while it was a good story, it was really nothing like I had expected. The characters didn't seem to flow as well as they should've, the general descriptions weren't as detailed as I had hoped, and I couldn't help feeling rather distanced from Gatsby, Daisy and Tom. It wasn't that they were unpleasant characters, it was more that they didn't seem to have any gripping or outstanding traits or qualities that landed them into these situations. Gatsby himself was a peculiar person, and Daisy was what I would call 'dippy.' I read a review of the 1970s movie adaptation of the book, where the person said that they couldn't understand what the fascination with Daisy was, and why so many men seemed to be squabbling over her. I agree completely. She wasn't a particularly strong character (when you think of someone like Elizabeth Bennett she doesn't really compare) and didn't really have much in the way of 'oomph'.
There was a bit of a shock towards the end of the book, but not enough that it would convince me this was any sort of masterpiece. Glad to have read it though, as am hoping to see 'Gatsby' at the cinema sometime soon.

Started 14th May
Finished 16th May