Murder at a Scottish Social
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- £8.99
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- £8.99
Publisher Description
Sweater shop owner Paislee Shaw puts the yarn in Nairn, but a killer has put poison in some Scottish shortbread cookies . . .
Opening her shop Cashmere Crush and making a new home for herself, her son Brody, Gramps, and their black Scottish terrier Wallace in the beautiful Scottish village of Nairn is a dream come true. So Paislee is happy to give back by donating a luxurious cashmere sweater for an auction to raise money for the Nairn Food Bank. She’s less happy to make the acquaintance of a clique of competitive moms at the charity event, who treat a baking contest like it’s life or death. It turns out to be the latter for Queen Bee Kirsten Buchanan when a peanut-laced shortbread cookie triggers her fatal nut allergy.
Who would poison Kirsten? How about half the town? But when Paislee’s pal Blaise is suspected, the sweater-selling sleuth leaps into action to unravel the mystery. Along with gruff but handsome DI Mack Zeffer, she has to sort through a batch of suspects without becoming this cookie-cutter killer’s next target . . .
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Hall's enjoyable third Scottish Shire mystery (after 2021's Murder in a Scottish Garden) finds Paislee Shaw, the owner of Cashmere Crush, a sweater and yarn shop in Nairn, Scotland, participating in the Nairn Food Bank fund-raiser. The animosity of some insufferable folks involved in the charitable event spills over into the baking contest. The search for best cookie gets a bit too competitive when arrogant, socially prominent Kirsten Buchanan keels over after eating a shortbread cookie that may have contained peanuts, which she is allergic to. When no one can locate Kirsten's EpiPen, Paislee tries CPR in a vain effort to save her life. The obvious suspect in what turns into a murder investigation is Kirsten's personal chef, but plenty of others had reason to want Kirsten dead, and Paislee determines to suss out the culprit. Meanwhile, she must patiently deal with the mysterious disappearance of her uncle. Witty characters match the well-crafted plot, though the Scottish dialect can be a bit much at times ("Kirsten is oot for bluid. My bluid"). Cozy fans will want to see a lot more of the compassionate Paislee.
