Art
student Morag Merrilea likes to sit in the pub and sketch
the people she sees. After one such evening,
she awakens with no memory of the previous night, Is
she drinking too much, or could she have been slipped
a date rape drug? As her precious sketchbook
has been stolen, she is keen to get to the bottom of
it and after reporting it to Hamish, she is booked in
with a hypnotist. But she fails to turn up,
and when her body is found in a ditch, Hamish sets out
to discover who killed her. He is going to
discover a lot more than that…
As
with any long running series, it is always good to get
back and see how the inhabitants (or perhaps “denizens”
might be more appropriate) are faring. The
gang is all here in a good tortuous mystery that keeps
the reader guessing until the author reveals all. By
then, as usual, it is more about the exciting denouement,
and I enjoyed the treat of reading a story with a teasing
beginning, entertaining middle and satisfying end. I
don’t know enough about the Highlands
to tell whether Ms Beaton’s asides about the daily
local life and customs of the people who live there
are based on fact or fantasy. This notwithstanding,
she can dream up a good lively yarn spiced with plenty
of humor and populate the village of Lochdubh and environs
with interesting characters. There aren’t
many examples of the British cozy, but
this one of the better series and long may it run.
Reviews of other titles in this series
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#6
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