A Cold Highland Wind
A Lady Emily Mystery
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- $17.99
Publisher Description
In this new installment of Tasha Alexander’s acclaimed Lady Emily series set in the wild Scottish highlands, an ancient story of witchcraft may hold the key to solving a murder centuries later.
In the summer of 1905, Lady Emily, husband Colin Hargreaves, and their three sons eagerly embark on a family vacation at Cairnfarn Castle, the Scottish estate of their dear friend Jeremy, Duke of Bainbridge. But a high-spirited celebration at the beginning of their stay comes to a grisly end when the duke’s gamekeeper is found murdered on the banks of the loch. Handsome Angus Sinclair had a host of enemies: the fiancée he abandoned in Edinburgh, the young woman who had fallen hopelessly in love with him, and the rough farmer who saw him as a rival for her affections. But what is the meaning of the curious runic stone left on Sinclair’s forehead?
Clues may be found in the story of Lady MacAllister, wife of the Laird of Cairnfarn Castle, who in 1676 suddenly found herself widowed and thrown out of her home. Her sole companion was a Moorish slave girl who helped her secretly spirit her most prized possessions—a collection of strange books—out of the castle. When her neighbors, wary of a woman living on her own, found a poppet—a doll used to cast spells—and a daisy wheel in her isolated cottage, Lady MacAllister was accused of witchcraft, a crime punishable by death.
Hundreds of years later, Lady Emily searches for the link between Lady MacAllister’s harrowing witchcraft trial and the brutal death of Sinclair. She must follow a trail of hidden motives, an illicit affair, and a mysterious stranger to reveal the dark side of a seemingly idyllic Highland village.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Alexander's meandering 17th historical cozy featuring amateur sleuths Lady Emily Aston and her husband Colin Hargreaves (after 2022's Secrets of the Nile) interweaves events from 1905 and 1676. The 1905 story line sees Colin, Lady Emily, and their three sons visiting Cairnfarn Castle, the Scottish estate of Emily's friend Jeremy, Duke of Bainbridge. Following a lively celebration, Angus Sinclair, Jeremy's gamekeeper, is found beaten and stabbed to death near a lake on the property. The ferocity of the attack leads Emily to deduce that it was a crime of passion, and indeed, handsome Angus seems to have had more than his fair share of jilted admirers. Alexander intersperses Lady Emily and Colin's investigation with chapters set in the 17th century and narrated by Tansy, a young woman who was kidnapped from her North African home, sold into slavery, and presented as a wedding gift to Rossalyn MacAllister, Lady of Cairnfarn Castle. When Rossalyn is widowed, she and Tansy are cast out of Cairnfarn by the new laird and conscripted to life in the nearby village, where they're rumored to practice witchcraft. The Tansy chapters are often fascinating, but their connection to the main murder plot is labored and slight. This offers pleasant historical escapism but misses the mark as a mystery.