Barbara’s rating: 4 of 5 Stars
Series: Scottish Bookshop Mystery #7
Publication Date: 4/5/22
Period: Contemporary Edinburgh
Number of Pages: 304

I have read and loved each new release in this series, and this was no exception. I have come to love transplanted American Delaney Nichols and her adventures in Edinburg. She has a fascinating host of supporting characters – from her co-workers at the Cracked Spine to her pub-owning husband Tom and his father, right on to Detective Inspector Winters of the Edinburg Constabulary. Delaney makes friends wherever she goes and just cannot pass up solving a mystery.

In case we didn’t all know it already, Robert Burns is a really big deal in Scotland. So, when Delaney is unexpectedly invited to a Robert Burns dinner at one of the local Burns organizations, she is a tad skeptical but decides to go. She doesn’t want to go alone, so she invites her young friend and co-worker, Hamlet, to go along with her because he is a huge Burns fan himself. After there is a confrontation at the dinner – one that makes Delaney really uncomfortable – she and Hamlet leave. The next morning, they learn that there was a murder and a fire at the dinner location sometime after they’d left. Of course, Inspector Winters needs to question both Delaney and Hamlet – but Hamlet’s tale doesn’t seem to be quite right.

There are several interconnected mysteries to solve during the course of their investigation. Some mysteries are decades old and some, like the murder and arson, are very recent. When arson continues – and it affects the Crooked Spine – Delaney is more determined than ever to find the murderer, the arsonist, and to solve whatever mystery is going on with Hamlet. Oh! What a tangled web we weave. 😊

Delaney’s entire crew – including her brother who is visiting from America – is pulled into the investigation, you know it can’t be long before the entire thing is solved – or can it. It is quite a tangled tale with Fortune Tellers, Burns fanatics, arsonists – well, you name it.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and I hope you will as well. The character growth and development from book to book is excellent and the writing is outstanding. I mean – who doesn’t love Scotland and all of those beautiful accents. Of course, in Scotland, it is Delaney with the accent and not the Scots. 🙂

I voluntarily read and reviewed an Advanced Reader Copy (ARC) of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

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