Category: Scottish/Highlander

The Scottish Ladies’ Detective Agency by Lydia Travers

On By BarbaraIn Barb's Reviews, George V - 1910- 1936, Historical Mystery, Part of a Series, Scottish/HighlanderLeave a comment

The Scottish Ladies' Detective Agency (The Scottish Ladies' Detective Agency, #1)

Barbara’s rating: 3.6 out of 5 Stars
Series: The Scottish Ladies Detective Agency #1
Publication Date: 4/27/23
Period: 1911 Edinburgh – George V
Number of Pages: 340

I love historical mysteries and I love Scotland, so this sounded like the perfect book! I believe this is the author’s first book under this pen name, but she has written other books under the name Linda Tyler. This series is set in a politically turbulent time in England and Scotland. The country is still dealing with the loss of King Edward and George V ascending to the throne. There are whispers of war and the females of the population are demanding the vote and to be recognized as people rather than property.

Miss Maud McIntyre is a fortunate young woman. She has money of her own (from her mother) and a father who is doting enough and supportive enough to allow her to try to follow her lifelong dream of being a detective. She has read and practically memorized every detective story ever written (and you will see quotes from them as you move through the book) and she is particularly fond of Sherlock Holmes. Maude has invested a great deal of her money into setting up the agency along with her friend and former lady’s maid – so, when a potential client walks through the door on that first day – excitement abounds. Only to be lost again when he promptly leaves after discovering that the M. McIntyre Agency is run by females rather than males. He’ll come to regret that.

Daisy Cameron is Maud’s former lady’s maid who became a dear friend and is now her assistant at the detective agency. They work very well together with each augmenting the other’s weaknesses. Daisy is pragmatic, saucy, and grateful to be working where she is rather than being in service.

While their first potential client may have walked out the door, he was soon replaced by an even better one – the Duchess of Duddington. The Duchess is having a house party and since there has been a recent rash of thefts at house parties, the Duchess wants Maude and Daisy to catch the thief if they are at her house party.

There is a fairly quick but unsatisfying end to the case at the house party – and that case is quickly followed by three others – a missing dog, missing letters, and a missing fiancé. When those last cases are solved, there is still that unsatisfying end to the first case. Was the wrong man arrested? If not him, who? Then – Maud and Daisy are attacked – again. Why?

I liked this book, but I did not love this book. I liked it well enough to want to read the next book to see if it solves any of the issues I had with this one. For me, there was just way too much historical detail. Having the historical details around the suffragette movement would have been great had there just been less of it. I felt as if the mystery was just there as some filler space for all of the suffragette information. The story was also fairly slow and plodding during most of the book – no real excitement at all. Perhaps this is the author’s first attempt at a mystery, so I’ll definitely try another book to see how things go.

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Lady Len and the Mysterious Mac by Rose Prendeville

On By TracyIn Georgian Era (1714-1837), Part of a Series, Scottish/Highlander, Tracy's ReviewsLeave a comment

Lady Len and the Mysterious Mac (Brides of Chattan, #2)Lady Len and the Mysterious Mac by Rose Prendeville

Tracy’s rating: 4 of 5 stars

Series: Brides of Chattan, #2

Release Date: September 5, 2023

Silas “Si” MacKenzie, son and heir to the Laird Kintail of Castle Leod, is back after being away for 17 years. Silas never wanted to be heir, but then neither did his father, who has been away in France nearly as long as Silas has been away. Alex MacKenzie is back now, but ill and it is clear that all is not well with the clan. The crops are poor, and the crofter’s homes are in disrepair as is the castle. Si’s father hopes that having Si marry and take his place as heir will improve the clan’s morale and hopefully usher them into a more prosperous era. But his bride is not what he expected and his feelings of inadequacy and unworthiness threaten to overwhelm him. His bride is a tiny lass who looks delicate and fragile, making him feel like a huge hulking brute who is bound to break her, as he does everything he touches. But something about this wee lass calls to him and while he knows he should set her free, he can’t seem to let her go. Instead, he begins writing to her as a clansman named “Mac”, he never meant to deceive her, but when she responds, he finds himself enchanted, making it harder to do what he thinks he must; let her go.

Tiny and delicate in stature, “Wee” Ellen Mackintosh never wanted to marry, she wanted to be a nun, but her father wants an alliance with the MacKenzie clan, and as the eldest, it falls to Ellen to wed the Laird’s son. Ellen too suffers from feelings of unworthiness, but Ellen processes her feelings in a far different way, she is quiet barely speaking and she punishes herself for her perceived shortcomings. She feels conflicted in her feelings towards Silas, she wants to leave and become a nun, but at the same time, she is drawn to her giant of a husband. When letters come from a mysterious clan member, that too causes conflict in her. Can this wee lass find her voice and become the brave “Lady Len” or will she let her feelings of worthlessness destroy any chance of a happily ever after?

This was a well-written, nicely-paced story with likable, complex characters. This story is filled with wonderful characters, miscommunication, steamyish love scenes, great secondary characters, nasty villains, new ideas, assassination attempts, stupid decisions, regrets, and finally a hard-won HEA complete with an epilogue. Overall, I liked Si and Len and was rooting for their HEA, but at times I found the story a bit heavy and the repetitive use of miscommunication and misassumption became tiring. This book also has several triggers that might be upsetting to some readers (the publisher does offer content warnings on their website). This is the second book in the series, but I didn’t read the first book and had no problems reading this book (although, I now want to read the first book!). Overall, this was a very good, albeit emotional read. This is a book that I am happy to recommend and will be looking forward to reading more by this author.

*I am voluntarily leaving a review for an eARC that I requested and was provided to me by the publisher. All opinions in this review are my own.*