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Sharon Davis, the librarian in Inversgail, has spent a lot of time and effort to get a visiting artist in residence for the local high school. She has succeeded in her mission and a bestselling author who used to live in Inversgail is coming to town. Daphne Wood is a world-renowned environmentalist with fans of all ages and intellectual abilities. Daphne is also, as people kindly phrase it, eccentric. Or downright rude and obnoxious. She arrives early with a list of demands and complaints. She goes out of her way to be mean to people. It's going to be a long three months; Sharon is away on vacation once the opening ceilidh is over, relishing the prospect.
Just before Daphne arrives, there is a kerfuffle at Nev's, the local pub frequented by the women of Yon Bonnie Books. Nev's bartender is Danny, and he's quietly seeing Christine, one of the women from the bookstore. Danny calls Christine because there is now a dead man behind Nev's, possibly as a result of the said kerfuffle. Nobody knows the man - he's "not from around here."
Daphne proceeds to spread ill-will and no cheer pretty much wherever she goes, whoever she's with, whatever she's doing. She has no sense of time, and is therefore frequently late for commitments she has made, and then not at all apologetic. The general consensus is that's she's lived alone in the Canadian wilderness because it's the only place that will have her. Even the women from Yon Bonnie Books have reason to be unhappy. Daphne thinks they should be working to solve the murder of the man behind Nev's. She spreads the word that they are, in fact, looking into it when, in fact, they are not. Still, it comes as a surprise when somebody kills Daphne. It's almost easier to think of people who didn't want her dead - if one is willing to include anyone Daphne upset recently, as well as possible as people who can hold a grudge for a very long time. There are still plenty of people in Inversgail who knew Daphne before she went to Canada, and she wasn't a charmer then, either. In spite of themselves, the four women are dragged (almost kicking and screaming, but not quite) into the investigations, which do not at first seem to overlap. And there's another death, ostensibly a suicide. The plot(s) thicken.
MacRae is a skilled writer. She has great characters. Janet is the main storyteller for the group. She is a practical woman, as evinced by this line, "As intrigued as Janet was by the possibility of empathy meditation, she fully believed in the reality of coffee." Christine can assume, just by straightening her spine, the aura of The Queen - she knows full well how and when to use this ability. Summer runs the bakeshop, and isn't always the sunny person her name implies. This doesn't affect her baking skills, for which everyone is grateful. Tallie is Janet's daughter and has her own special skill set. The four women work well, together and separately. Yon Bonnie Books may just make a go of it, especially now that the tea shop and B&B are up and running.
The setting is Scotland - with all the weather/mood changes that come with moors and highlands and the like. Janet is keeping a list of the words for "rain." Inversgail is somewhere between a village and a city in size, which is perfect for this series. Almost anything one needs is within walking distance for most people. There are the locals and the tourists, as well as that distinct group of people new to town and establishing themselves as part of the town. Yon Bonnie Books has been there forever, the four women not nearly so long, although Janet and Tallie have summered there many times and Christine was a returning ex-pat. So they are making inroads, not unwelcome so far.
This is the second in the Highland Bookshop Mystery series; PLAID AND PLAGIARISM was the first. MacRae writes her books so that they can truly stand alone; OCD readers will enjoy reading them as they come out. Yes, these are murder mysteries. People are killed. MacRae also has a sense of humor: what other writer would give a determined environmentalist living alone in the Canadian woods a Pekinese for a dog, a Pekinese named Rachel Carson? A thoroughly enjoyable read, in my considered opinion.
§ I have been reading and reviewing mystery fiction for over a quarter of a century and read broadly within just about all genres and sub-genres. I have been a preliminary judge for the Malice Domestic/St. Martin’s Press Best First Traditional Mystery Novel Contest for at least 25 years. I live in Northern lower Michigan with my spousal unit, one large cat, and 2 fairly small dogs.
Reviewed by PJ Coldren, December 2017
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