Scottish Bookshop Mystery, #4
My Review
Delaney Nichols is the MC who is originally from Kansas but now lives in Scotland. Delaney works at The Cracked Spine, a bookstore owned by Edwin MacAlister. The bookstore is a very interesting place with all kinds of items that have been discovered or continue to be discovered as Delaney helps Edwin organize the “Dark Side”, which is a warehouse where he keeps the things he has collected over his lifetime.
Delaney and her fiancé Tom are planning their wedding. Delaney’s family comes over from the U.S.
We are treated to more of the recurring characters at the bookshop, Edwin, Hamlet, Rosie, and Hector, the miniature Yorkie. Delaney’s landlord, Elias, returns as well. All the characters have well-defined personalities and it was a joy reading more about them.
In this mystery, however, much evolves around the myth of Nessie, the Loch Ness Monster, and those who believe they have seen her. The lives of families Nessie has touched over several generations are told around the unraveling of the murder Delaney and her friends and family work to solve.
There is also a bit about the legend of King Arthur, for those who are interested in that.
All in all, it was an interesting mystery but the highlight for me was the individual characters themselves.
I received an advanced digital copy of The Loch Ness Papers by Paige Shelton from NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press in exchange for an honest review.
Goodreads Blurb
Bookseller Delaney Nichols befriends a Loch Ness monster enthusiast; when he stands accused of murder she’ll do whatever it takes to learn who the killer is―and whether Nessie herself is really lurking in the Scottish waters.
Delaney Nichols is delighted with her life in Edinburgh, working at The Cracked Spine―a shop that specializes in hard-to-find books and artifacts. With a job she loves, and her fast approaching marriage to devastatingly handsome Scottish pub-owner Tom Shannon, Delaney’s life could be straight out of a fairy tale―at least it would be, if the pastor meant to perform the wedding ceremony hadn’t recently passed away. Outside the church where Delaney is searching for another reverend, she stumbles across Norval Fraser: an elderly man obsessed with the Loch Ness monster. Always attracted to the interesting and unusual, Delaney befriends Norval. But when his nephew is found dead, the police decide Norval’s obsession has moved from monsters to murder.
With a wedding to plan, her family arriving soon from Kansas, and the arrival of an over-the-top Texan with a wildly valuable book, Delaney’s plate is full to bursting, but she can’t abandon her new friend. Determined to help Norval, she sets out to learn the truth. The Loch Ness buries its secrets deeply, but Delaney is determined to dig them up―whether Nessie likes it or not.
Where to Find More from Paige Shelton
Author Website | Goodreads | Facebook | Twitter
Paige Shelton also writes the following mystery series: Farmers’ Market, Alaska Wild, Gram’s Country Cooking School, and Dangerous Type.
I am a big fan of the Dangerous Type series. In that series, Clare and her grandfather repair old typewriters and restore old books. Their shop is located in Star City, a ski resort town in Utah.
There are three books in the series. The last one was published in 2017, but I still find myself hoping to hear (and checking on Goodreads to see) that another one will be coming out.