Murder in the Scottish Hills by Lydia Travers Book Review - Blog Tour

Publication Date: May 25,2023
Publisher: Bookouture
Series: The Scottish Ladies' Detective Agency #2
Format: Paperback, ebook and audio
Genre: Historical Mystery, Cosy

Synopsis

When Maud McIntyre and her lady’s maid Daisy travel into the Scottish Highlands, the last thing they expect to find is a body on the train… Will these keen amateur sleuths stop a murderer in his tracks?

Edinburgh, 1911: When Maud McIntyre receives a letter from a maid called Rose, sharing her suspicions that something strange is happening in the house where she works, she and her assistant Daisy immediately travel to the Highlands to investigate.

But as they are changing trains, the body of a man falls from the carriage right in front of them, a bullet in his head. Maud and Daisy can’t believe it – they’ve waited ages for a new case, and now one has literally landed in front of them! And when the local police rule the death as a tragic accident, the pair have no choice but to investigate what they believe is a murder…

Arriving in the Scottish village, Maud and Daisy go undercover to begin their hunt for the murderer, while also investigating the strange behaviour of Rose’s employer, a local art dealer. As they begin to piece together the chain of events, Maud and Daisy wonder whether the cases might be linked. Is it possible the man on the train was killed to cover up something in the village? And, if so, who would do such a thing?

When a local artist is found murdered, Maud and Daisy become convinced the two cases are connected. Searching for the link between the deaths, will Maud and Daisy solve the case before another mysterious murder takes place?

A page-turning historical whodunnit, perfect for fans of the mysteries of Helena Dixon, Verity Bright, T.E. Kinsey and Catherine Coles.

My Thoughts

In this instalment of the Scottish Ladies' Detective Agency series, Maud McIntyre and her assistant, Daisy Cameron, are off to the Highlands. A case comes to them through a newspaper column where a maid suspects her employer of wrong doing through the art gallery he owns in Braemar, a small village near Balmoral. With no other cases on their books and a need for action, Maud and Daisy pack their bags and travel to Braemar, but before they reach their destination, they become involved in a suspicious death, which also has links to the village.

As they immerse themselves in village life, take in the scenery and sights, and follow the few clues they have, the body count rises. Before they finally crack the case, Maud and Daisy will undertake some housebreaking, catch a thief, meet royalty, aid an eloping couple and engage in a madcap pursuit of a murderer.

This, as the first book in the series The Scottish Ladies' Detective Agency (my review), is an entertaining read with two delightful main characters, Maud and Daisy, who are still novices when it comes to their new careers as private investigators. When stumped, they do not lack imagination or courage and often use outlandish methods to garner evidence to support their suspicions. While not always successful, it does add a sense of anticipation as you never know what these two will undertake to solve a case.

Once again there are multiple mysteries to be solved, which has the story line going off in different directions. While at the time they seem to have no bearing on the main case, they do actually serve a purpose. I love a mystery with lots of red herrings.

In addition, my interest was captured by the lovely descriptions of the countryside, the area's history, information on art and ornithology, the humour, details specific to the time (the popularity of wooden Indian clubs for exercise and the launching of the RMS Titanic, for example) and a plethora of new and recurring characters, one of whom is the handsome Lord Hamish Urquhart whose presence is not welcomed by Maud. After their first encounter, she believes he wants her agency to fail, which makes their subsequent meetings very amusing. While she professes to dislike him, her inner thoughts suggest she is not as immune to the handsome lord as she would have others believe.

Murder in the Scottish Hills is a quick read, lots of fun and a great addition to the series.

Meet the Author

Lydia Travers was born in London. She moved progressively north until settling with her husband in a village on the edge of the Scottish Highlands. She has raised children, bred dogs and kept chickens; and for as long as she can remember has written for pleasure. A former legal academic and practitioner with a PhD in criminology, she now runs self-catering holiday accommodation, sings in a local choir and is walked daily by the family dog.

Lydia also writes as Linda Tyler and her first novel under that name, Revenge of the Spanish Princess, won a 2018 Romance Writers of America competition for the beginning of an historical romance. Her second novel The Laird's Secret was Commended in the 2021 Scottish Association of Writers' Pitlochry Quaich competition for the beginning of a romantic novel. Mischief in Midlothian won the 2022 Scottish Association of Writers' Constable Silver Stag trophy. She has had a number of short stories published in magazines, journals and anthologies in the UK, the USA and Australia.

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Where to Purchase

Amazon

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