Category: Mystery

Fateful Words by Paige Shelton

On By BarbaraIn Barb's Reviews, Contemporary, Mystery, Part of a Series, Scottish/HighlanderLeave a comment

Fateful Words (Scottish Bookshop Mystery, #8)Barbara’s rating: 4 of 5 Stars
Series: Scottish Bookshop Mystery #8
Publication Date: 4/4/23
Period: Contemporary Edinburgh, Scotland
Number of Pages: 304

Delaney, originally from Kansas, has loved Scotland from the first day her feet touched the soil. Since she came to live in Edinburgh, she has made many wonderful friends and married the love of her life. She loves the town, she loves the people, she loves the books, she loves her job and she cannot imagine living anywhere else on earth.

As she arrives at the bookstore, Delaney immediately knows something is amiss from the look on Rosie’s face. Every year their boss, Edwin, conducts a multi-day book-related tour for four winners who have sent him the best reasons why they should be chosen. The tour includes various locations in Edinburg that are mentioned in books and Edwin always looks forward to the tours and conducts them personally. Delaney quickly learns that this year’s tour will be different because she will be leading it. What! She’s an American, she can’t be leading the tour and telling all of the stories and legends. It needs Edwin’s charm, wit, and beautiful Scottish accent to do justice to those stories. Delaney is alarmed – more for Edwin than herself. She’ll do the tour, but Edwin has left no word of why he is missing the tour or even where he has gone.

Delaney has hardly met the tour participants – Meera Murphy from Ireland, Kevin Moore from London, Luka King from Australia, and Gunter from Germany – when the manager of the hotel in which they are staying jumps or is thrown from the roof of the hotel. Oh! What an auspicious welcome to the tour group.

Something strange is going on at the hotel. One of the employees was struck down and hospitalized with a concussion, there was never any staff visible when you entered or left the hotel, and the one clerk who made an occasional appearance was free with information about odd things around the hotel.

Of course, Delaney decides to help her friend Inspector Winters solve the case. However, her investigations put her in danger. Will she be rescued? Can she save herself? Can she help bring the villain to justice?

I always enjoy the books in this series, but this is my least favorite so far. The entire scenario feels contorted and unreal, but the characters are so likable that you can live with the rest of it. So, while I mostly enjoyed the book, I wouldn’t read this one a second time.

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

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Murder at an Irish Bakery by Carlene O’Connor

On By BarbaraIn Barb's Reviews, Contemporary, Mystery, Part of a SeriesLeave a comment

Murder at an Irish Bakery

Barbara’s rating: 4.5 of 5 Stars
Series Irish Village Mystery #9
Publication Date: 2/21/23
Period: Contemporary County Cork Ireland
Number of Pages: 304

This is the ninth book in the series and they are still fresh, interesting, and delightful reads. The author, through the characters, shares her love of Ireland with us – its quaint population and its green fields. The O’Sullivan Six has grown from a set of struggling orphans into a robust, confident set of siblings who are always 100% behind each other, yet pursue their separate interests as well. You do not have to have read the previous books in the series to enjoy this one, but – goodness – you are missing so much if you don’t read them.

Garda Siobhan O’Sullivan and DS Macdara Flannery have been married for almost a year and their love has only grown during that time. As luck (fate) would have it, Macdara is off in Dublin for business meetings, leaving Siobhan in charge at Kilbane. That certainly isn’t a problem because the town is normally quiet and peaceful. What more could Siobhan ask for than leading the security at a celebrity baking contest being held at Kilbane’s best bakery – Pie Pie Love? Siobhan is so excited – she’s addicted to sweets (as is Macdara) and she’ll be sampling the baked goods all week. Ah! Life is sweet!

Of course, things go wrong on the very first morning when an ‘anti-sugar’ protester shows up outside the bakery – with a bullhorn. Cameras are everywhere, so Siobhan wants to handle the situation with quiet dignity, but the protestor isn’t having any of that! When he ends up dead within a few minutes of arriving, things don’t seem to be going too well for the contest. Was the young man allergic to something? Did he have some sort of fatal medical condition? They won’t know until after the medical examiner does her job, and until then, they have to treat it as a suspicious death. Drat! That will certainly throw the contestants into a tizzy.

Yet the show must go on with six contestants, a director, a cameraman, and two hosts. With banter and jibes among the hosts and contestants, the contest gets underway – until one of the contestants ends up dead as well. Accident? Could be? Maybe not. You’ll just have to read the book to find all of the twists and turns this case takes.

I thoroughly enjoyed this excellently paced mystery with an antagonist who seems to always be one step ahead. Macdara and Siobhan certainly have their work cut out for them because nobody seems to have a motive for murder.

If you love a good mystery, witty banter among the protagonists, wonderful secondary characters, and a tad of romance, then this book is definitely for you. I recommend it – I’d buy it for a friend – and I’d read it again. Should you choose to read it, I hope you will enjoy it as much as I did. I can hardly wait for the next one.

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

View all my reviews