27 Apr 2023

The Scottish Ladies’ Detective Agency, a review by Kristin

by Kristin | posted in: Kristin | 0

💎💎💎💎

The Scottish Ladies’ Detective Agency
By: Lydia Travers

Publication Date: April 27, 2023
Published By: Bookouture
340 pages

*This post contains affiliate links. We earn a small commission if you purchase the book through the link.

ABOUT THE BOOK
When Maud McIntyre sets up her own private detective agency, she never imagines her first case will involve murder… A mystery in the Highlands? The Scottish Ladies’ Detective Agency is on the case!

Edinburgh, 1911: When Maud McIntyre and her lady’s maid, Daisy, form a detective agency, they never dream their first case will take place at a glamorous house in the Scottish Highlands. But when the Duchess of Duddingston, concerned that a notorious jewellery thief will target her lavish weekend party, employs Maud to go undercover as a guest to find the culprit, the agency has its first case to solve…

Undercover with Daisy as her maid, Maud follows a trail of clues across the Duddingston House estate. And as she meets the weekend guests, she hopes one of them will reveal themselves as the jewellery thief. But when one of the house guests is discovered dead, Maud and Daisy realise they’re not only hunting precious gems, but a murderer…

As Maud and Daisy investigate, they realise that a connection in Edinburgh might hold a vital clue that will help them solve the case. Travelling back to the city, Maud hopes that what she and Daisy uncover will help them piece together the mystery.

But when Maud receives a telephone call from the Duchess requesting urgent assistance, she realises that the murderer didn’t have just one victim in mind. Speeding down the drive to Duddingston House, Maud and Daisy hear gunshots ring out across the estate. Will they reach the Duchess in time to save her? And might they catch the murderer in the act?

A warm page-turning historical whodunnit, perfect for fans of the mysteries of Helena Dixon, Verity Bright, T.E. Kinsey and Catherine Coles.

MY REVIEW
Travers did such a wonderful job with this book. The book starts off getting right into the storyline. I appreciate that there wasn’t too much back story into how Maud and Daisy decided to go into the private investigation business. Instead, it got right into them receiving cases and solving various inquiries. One of my first thoughts into the book was “this is a great whodunit!” It’s great because there is no clear suspect; Travers doesn’t try to make you look one way to go another (which so many authors do). What she does is make everyone a suspect equally. Travers also artfully layers mystery upon mystery in this novel. It never felt like too much and you didn’t necessarily know if there was any connection between the mysteries. I would best describe this as a cozy mystery and would recommend it to anyone that enjoys a good whodunit.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

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.

https://www.facebook.com/LindaTylerAuthorScotland

https://twitter.com/LindaTyler100

Sign up to be the first to hear about new releases from Lydia Travers here: https://www.bookouture.com/subscribe/lydia-travers

Hello

Welcome to our blog! We are a group of dedicated readers who have joined forces to bring you the best reviews of current and classic novels. We enjoy a wide variety of genres and read on ebook, audio and paper. Be sure to check out our about us page to learn more about each of us.

We are always delighted to hear from authors. We are currently open for review requests and we are happy to review a wide variety of genres. Please submit your information below and we will be in touch asap.

Book Review Request

Our Rating system

We like to have a little fun around here, below you find an outline for our rating system, everything is out of 5. Also you”ll often see we replace the star emoji for something that reflects the read.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐= Knocked my socks off. Will not stop talking about it. Have lost friends because I won’t shut up about it. Will take it personally if you do not stop what you’re doing and start reading it. Would actually read it again. A hot guy who is smart AND so pretty. A perfect cloudless 75 degree day.

⭐⭐⭐⭐= Knocked only one sock off. Will more than likely follow/read everything by the author and will keep a copy on my bookshelf. Chai tea on a cool crisp autumn afternoon.

⭐⭐⭐= Neutral; did not lose any socks over this book and will be wishing I got it at the library instead of purchasing. An average piece of work. If it were an ice cream flavor, it would be vanilla.

⭐⭐= Wouldn’t recommend to someone I like. Overall meh feeling on this one.

⭐ = Waste of time, VERY close to not finishing it but my parents didn’t raise a quitter. Will mourn the loss of time that could’ve been spent reading something else. Kissing someone with bad breath.

The Scottish Ladies’ Detective Agency, a review by Kristin

Like this:

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Never miss a review