Cozy mystery set in the Scottish Highlands.
Ally McKinley owns the Auld Malthouse Bed & Breakfast in the village of Locharran. She’s also a naturally nosy woman who happens to be a sort of amateur sleuth in a place that has recently seen its share of murder. When one of the locals contacts her about a friend having received a threatening letter, Ally decides to go with her to do a wellness check and find out more. Unfortunately, they are too late and the woman, Juliet, is dead. With few clues and no note to be found, they contact the local detective, Amir Kandahar, and leave it with him. But, wait, other elderly women are receiving the same notes. Ally soon finds the connection to a young woman who all of them knew when they were in school. Now Ally looks at the guests staying at her B&B and also at some of the other odd men hanging about. One of them has to be the killer.
This was basically a sort of locked room mystery since the town is small and the characters are mostly well known to each other. It takes no big investigator to realize that one of the outsiders must be doing the deeds and most of the book is Ally running around talking to people about the murders and dodging the many red herrings. There was not much excitement, suspense, or tension as the suspect pool was small. Ally and Ross romance is comfortable and village life should be more quiet as indeed Locharran seems to draw some bad actors.
This is the fifth book in the series and there doesn’t seem much more that can happen up there in the Western Highlands. I’ve read all of them from the beginning and I’m starting to lose interest. Thank you to Bookouture and NetGalley for this e-book ARC to read and review.
Books on Tour 11-3-2026
This is the fifth book in the series that is best read from the beginning in order.
Genre and tags: Scotland, cozy mystery, murder, revenge, unwed mother, suicide,
