Book Description:
When members of a choir start dropping dead in the Highlands, Maud McIntyre and her lady’s maid Daisy go undercover to discover the inharmonious culprit. But will they uncover the killer before another murder takes place?
Edinburgh, 1911: When Maud and Daisy receive a letter from Daisy’s cousin, Clara, sharing her fears that two sudden deaths in her local choir weren’t accidental, at first Daisy thinks her cousin is overreacting. But Maud’s detective senses tell her something is afoot, and so they make haste to the Highlands to investigate.
As soon as they arrive, Maud and Daisy go undercover in the choir to find potential suspects. But with one murder deemed a heart attack, and the other declared an unfortunate drowning, Maud and Daisy have their work cut out when it comes to persuading the local police that perhaps the choir isn’t as perfectly in tune as everyone thinks...
But finally they receive a clue in the form of an anonymous letter. Enclosed is a rhyme which they’re certain holds the key to the next murder…
With the clock ticking down to another death, they know they can’t miss a beat - but will Maud and Daisy solve the mysterious rhyming verse before another singer is silenced, or will this case lead to their own untimely swan song?
A gripping and unputdownable historical whodunnit, perfect for fans of the mysteries of Helena Dixon, Verity Bright, T.E. Kinsey and Catherine Coles.
BLOG TOUR REVIEW
Review for 'Mystery In The Highlands' by Lydia Travers.
Read and reviewed via NetGalley for Lydia Travers, Bookouture publishers and Bookouture anonymous
Publication date 26th July 2023.
This is the third book I have read by this author. It is also the third book in her 'Scottish Ladies' Detective Agency'' series. I have also read 'The Scottish Ladies Detective Agency (book 1 in the series) and 'Murder In The Scottish Hills' (book 2 in the series) which I would also highly recommend. All books can be read as standalones.
This novel consists of 26 chapters. The chapters are short to medium in length so easy to read 'just one more chapter' before bed...OK, I know yeah right, but still just in case!
ANOTHER HUGE CONGRATULATIONS TO LYDIA ON A PAGE TURNING SUCCESSFUL ADDITION TO WHAT AN ADDICTIVE SERIES!!
This book is yet another successful unputdownable cosy mystery in this fantastic series by the very talented Lydia Travers. I'm always a bit dubious with books based historically as I worry about not being able to 'deal' with the language used but I absolutely love how Lydia has written her books. The language used is perfectly suited to the era whilst being easy to read and making it quite humorous on several occasions. The atmosphere and descriptions were perfect. The synopsis and cover also suit the storyline.
Lydia takes us on another adventure with Maud and Daisy which is just as action packed, funny and addictive as the first two books in this series 'The Scottish Ladies Detective Agency' and 'Murder In The Scottish Hills', if not even better!!! This is a fantastic addition to what has quickly become an addictive series and I cannot wait to get stuck in to the next book in this series which can't come quickly enough!! In this page turning story we meet Maud McIntyre and Daisy Cameron again, who set up their detective agency in Edinburgh in 1912. Their Scottish Ladies Detective Agency' has become quiet after the initial caseloads came piling on after they solved their previous cases in 'The Scottish Ladies Detective Agency' which you can read more about in book one and two. In this fantastic addition Daisy's cousin Clara asks for help after two recent deaths in her choir that were not accidental. With the choir taking part in a competition tensions are already high but with death added to the mix things have gotten much worse. With the local police dismissing concerns it's down to Daisy and Maud to discover the truth along with the dashing Lord Hamish Urquhart who makes another appearance in this book. One of the things I love the most about this fantastic series is how Lydia incorporates the Scottish dialect into her storyline which ensured every thing I read mentally came out in a Scottish accent making it all the more realistic for me. I even had lots of fun learning new words and sayings in Scottish Gaelic which will come on handy when I do head back to Scotland on holiday!!! This series is set in a time when it is uncommon and practically unknown for a female to participate in detective work and is also set during the suffragette movement. The fact that Lydia has done her research shines through the storyline. It is one of my pet hates when an author does not do enough research on the topic they are writing about as it can lead to unnecessary mistakes which can spoil the storyline for me so a HUGE CONGRATULATIONS LYDIA on researching your history well!! I thoroughly enjoyed disappearing into the past and it felt like I was on a beautiful holiday to Scotland and the stunning Highlands losing myself in the fresh air and the Scottish dialect. I became completely hooked and every time I would tell myself one more chapter and then I will get on with something else each chapter ended in a way I just had to carry on reading and in the end I completely devoured it in several hours! Lydia's evocative writing skills ensures the reader is completely captivated throughout. is ram packed with friendship, lies, murder, crime, mystery, history , tension, suspense and everything you could ask for in a cozy mystery. Lydia had me laughing, shocked, angry at the lack of respect fior women and absolutely hooked throughout!! This is definitely one of those books that can be read in front of a fire, on a beach or relaxing in the garden and it sweeps you away to the beautiful Scotland in times gone by. The storyline had me hooked immediately and I love the way that Maud and Daisy go about their detective work. There was so much going on that it kept me entertained thoroughly throughout with mystery after mystery and clue after clue. It was filled with suspense, mystery, laughter, murder, clues, deceit. tension, suspense and so much more!! The atmosphere was perfectly suited to the mystery. One of the things that I loved the most was that although this is predominantly a crime book is that it has plenty of moments of humour throughout which lightens up the atmosphere and had me giggling away one moment and shocked the next! An absolutely perfect start to what promises to be a fantastic and addictive cozy mystery series and I cannot wait to get stuck into the next book especially after reading the teaser chapters at the end of this one!!
Although this is the third book in the series I had would have had absolutely no problems reading it without the others. Any details or events that have previously happened are mentioned in just the right amount of detail to let a new reader know what has happened and yet not too much to bore a previous reader.
I absolutely loved meeting these larger than life and fun characters again which are all realistic, well rounded, have a mix of personalities and each work their part perfectly in the book! Thanks to Lydia's evocative writing skills they all jump out of the pages and come to life before the readers eyes. They are all larger than life, realistic and a complete breathe of fresh air. Maud is an amazing and very likeable character, strong willed and made me laugh on several occasions, she is absolutely unique as well as a very strong female lead which is a great bonus for myself being female. She is keen to follow in the footsteps of fictional detectives that include Sherlock Holmes and uses his techniques in her own discovery work which included sleuthing and disguising herself! It would not have been easy trying to make a name for herself in a time where the main roles were predominately filled by men and there was the Suffragette movement ongoing but Maud and Daisy held strong and made themselves known. She is determined and when she does make mistakes she ensures that she learns from them. I absolutely love her calm determination and strong personality and I really cannot wait to see what she gets up to next!! I especially enjoyed seeing the hints of potential romance between Maud and Lord Hamish Urquhart who I first met in The Scottish Ladies Detective Agency but who definitely didn't make a good impression on Maud with his lack of faith in the two female detectives. However after lots of mystery and death surrounding them they are definitely drifting closer! Daisy is another loveable lead character who I adored. She made me laugh on several occasions also and is cheeky, loveable and funny. She is definitely a woman that I would love to be around when I'm doing my work!! They are both young women with Maud being 25 and Daisy being 24 and in a "mans world" where woman are taking a stand and these are two fantastic women to have around at the time! They both take their investigations seriously but also have some fun ways to get the information they need which included several lots of fancy dress items!! I loves the fantastic dynamic between them and enjoyed watching their characters and friendship develop. They both complimented each other and worked perfectly together sometimes not even having to talk to know what the other needs/wants making them a great, strong female duo! I would absolutely love for these to be real women as they would make absolutely amazing women!! I loved meeting them along with several other characters that we come across in this fascinating funny page turner and cannot wait to meet them all again and see what they get up to in their next adventure!!!!
Love, love, love this fantastic and explosive addition to this fantastic series that I cannot wait to get stuck back into!!
An absolutely explosive addition to an amazing series! This is exactly why you are one of my favourite cozy mystery authors! A page turning and unputdownable success! Here's to looking forward to your next book 🥂
Overall a fun and easy to read page turning cozy murder mystery with the perfect amount of crime and humour that will keep you turning the pages.
317 pages
This book is just £1.99 to purchase on kindle, free with kindle unlimited and £8.99 in paperback at time of review via Amazon which I think is an absolute bargain for this book!!!
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Author Bio:
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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