Disclosure / Disclaimer: I received this ebook, free of charge, from St Martin's Press via #Netgalley, for review purposes on this blog. No other compensation, monetary or in kind, has been received or implied for this post. Nor was I told how to post about it. All opinions are my own.
The Poison Pen, the ninth installment in the Scottish Bookshop series by Paige Shelton, set in a specialty bookstore in Edinburgh called The Cracked Spine.
Synopsis:
Edinburgh is mourning recent the death of Queen Elizabeth II when Bookseller Delaney Nichols's boss comes to her with a most unusual assignment. An old friend of his, living in an estate in the village of Roslin, has found what could be a priceless relic on her property, and Delaney is tasked with investigating. Could Jolie possibly have an item of breathtaking Scottish historical significance in her possession? But when Delaney arrives at Jolie's estate, she is greeted by a legal team with a vested interest in the property. Jolie manages to remove the interlopers, but as they're examining the priceless item, they hear a scream, and meet a much less welcome discovery: a body.
As Delaney digs deeper, she discovers Jolie's own fascinating history. Jolie's mother had long claimed that her daughter was the rightful heir to the throne, not Elizabeth II, because of an affair she claimed to have with King Edward VIII. The only evidence, however, is in the form of a purported journal that one of Edward’s secretaries kept. The puzzles become more confusing when a connection is uncovered between this far-fetched story and the murdered man. Delaney will have to read between the lines to put together the pieces...or become history herself.
Review:
I have loved all the books in this series, and this is no exception. I love it when a mystery references modern life, in a way that makes sense-in this case the death of Queen Elizabeth. Even though Scotland is still part of the UK, they don't see the Queen's death quite as England does, but for American transplant Delaney, it strikes a chord with her. So when the opportunity comes to check out an artefact that someone claiming to be related to the Queen needs valued, she's more than willing to leave the confines of the bookshop. Jolie is not your typical elderly person, but she is a stand in for Delaney, and she immediately feels a bind for her. As the case to examine the artifact for authenticity increases, she soon realizes no one is as they seemed, and she'll need all here wits to solve the mystery at hand!
About the Author:
PAIGE SHELTON had a nomadic childhood, as her father's job as a football coach took her family to seven different towns before she was even twelve years old. After college at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, she moved to Salt Lake City. She thought she'd only stay a couple years, but instead she fell in love with the mountains and a great guy who became her husband. After many decades in Utah, she and her family moved to Arizona. She writes the Scottish Bookshop Mystery series and the Alaska Wild series. Her other series include the Farmers’ Market, Cooking School, and Dangerous Type mystery series. --This text refers to the hardcover edition.
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