Death in a Scottish Castle by Lydia Travers: The Scottish Ladies' Detective Agency Book 4

Publication Date:

July 11, 2024

Length:

313 Pages

Summary:

I read book one of this series and since I got this advance copy I decided to go ahead and skip to book four. It was easy to pick up the storyline and these books can be read as standalone. I don't like to do that with a series but it worked out here okay.

It's 1912 in Scotland and Lady Detective Maude McIntyre and her former maid Daisy are thriving with their business, chasing down criminals and solving mysteries. When they are asked to investigate a missing statuette in a remote Highland castle they jump at the chance to travel. Clachan Castle on the Island of Mull is as far as they can imagine and when they arrive they expect only to find a theft to solve. Little do they know they will become embroiled in not one, but two murders and a locked room mystery. 

Stacking the Shelves #31

 

Stacking the Shelves is a weekly meme hosted by Reading Reality. It's a place to showcase any books I have purchased, borrowed, or been lucky enough to have been given an advance copy of. Hope you find something that looks interesting to you or that makes you remember a favorite book you need to finish. Enjoy your reading this week!

Another Golden Age of Detective Fiction book from the British Library Crime Classics.....this book features a set of short stories from G.K. Chesterton, Arthur Conan Doyle, and others. I thought it would be great for quick reads when I'm short on time. You can't go wrong with the authors in this book.

The Santa Klaus Murder by Mavis Doriel Hay

 

Publication Date:

1936

Length:

253 pages

Summary:

Hay only published three novels and all were detective mysteries written in the 1930's. I had not heard of her before reading this one. I thought the cover was adorable and the perfect read for the hot June weather. So I am calling this review a "Christmas in June" book review. This is part of the revived collection of British Library Crime Classics and so it falls into the category of the Golden Age of Detective Fiction. I am glad these books are being republished and with such vibrant, beautiful covers. The story is told in a series of chapters written from the perspective of each character, with the main detective having most of the story from his thoughts on the case. It is unique, giving insight into how each person is thinking.

The Melbury family is gathering for their annual Christmas. Sir Osmond, patriarch of the clan is domineering and particular in how he likes things done. His five children: George, Hilda, Edith, Eleanor, and Jennifer are all very different personalities, including how they feel about and handle their father. There is also the money and inheritance to consider as each vie for what is in theirs and their children's best interest. Although they don't always see eye to eye, they gather together and try to get through another trying holiday reunion.

Stacking the Shelves #30

 

Stacking the Shelves is a weekly meme hosted by Reading Reality. It's a place to showcase any books I have purchased, borrowed, or been lucky enough to have been given an advance copy of. Hope you find something that looks interesting to you or that makes you remember a favorite book you need to finish. Enjoy your reading this week :) 

This looked like an interesting mystery series. Set in WW II in Sydney, Australia with an intriguing main character, I was drawn to the cover, the synopsis, and the setting. I bought book one on sale for Kindle and hope to start it this year. There are ten books in the series so of course I had to pick another set of books I can't possibly read at once! But I'll start here and see if it's good enough to continue with more. The author has won an impressive array of awards for this series as well as previous ones.

Traitor's Arrow by David Field (The Medieval Saga Series Book Two)

 

Publication Date: 

April 25, 2022

Length:

222 pages

Summary:

I have always been interested in what really happened in the forest all those years ago when King William Rufus mysteriously died from an arrow wound. His brother Henry racing to Westminster to seize the royal treasury seemed like a cold hearted act to me. Field portrays this from a new perspective using some real historical people and facts and some fictional ones as well. While no one can ever be sure what really happened, Traitor's Arrow manages to give an entertaining story of the rise of Henry I due to the demise of his wicked brother, while also portraying him as a sympathetic character, only doing what he needed to save England and usher in a new era of stability.

Will Riveracre, or as he is now known in Book Two, Sir Wilfrid de Walsingham, having been knighted and land bestowed to him, is content to live out his days with his family. The current King William Rufus has other plans for him and needs constant support to field off his enemies in foreign and domestic entanglements. Wilfrid is unable to have a moments peace when William is king and longs for the day he can finally be left alone in his advancing years. Trying his best to walk a line between his family and his loyalty to the King, he eventually finds himself a prisoner for two years, scared and alone and far from home. When William Rufus meets his demise in the forest with the mysterious arrow and Wilfrid is brought before the new King Henry, he is amazed to discover he has been tasked with Henry's request of finding out what happened and clearing Henry of any wrong doing in the death of his brother.