In the midst of World War II, a Tennessee farm boy, a Jewish Cambridge student, and a German POW forge a connection that endures—against all odds.
But now everything that Will Dobbins, Dov Silverberg, and Hans Hessler fought for is at risk as their descendants clash for control of the corporation they founded together. In an attempt to remake its tattered corporate image, the firm hires event planner Hadley Jacks and her sister Kitzie to organize a reunion for the families on St. Simons Island, Georgia, the place that changed all three men’s lives forever.
As Hadley and her sister delve into the friends’ past, they uncover the life of the courageous young woman who links them all together…and the old wounds that could tear everything apart.
Told in dual timelines spanning World War II and the present, Echoes of Us follows the ripple effects of war, the bonds that outlast it, and the hope that ultimately carries us forward.
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Elise’s Thoughts
Joannie’s disappearance and a mysterious older woman who lives on the Island during the present day makes the story suspenseful.
It seems there is an unlikely friendship between an English Jewish instructor, Dov, a Tennessee farm boy, Will, and a German submarine POW, Hans, who deserted.
In the present day, 80 years later, everything that Will Dobbins, Dov Silverberg, and Hans Hessler fought for is at risk as their descendants’ clash for control of the corporation they founded together. To remake its tattered corporate image, the firm hires event planner Hadley Jacks and her sister Kitzie to organize a reunion for the families on St. Simons Island, Georgia, the place that changed all three men’s lives forever. As Hadley and her sister delve into the friends’ past, they uncover the life of the courageous young woman, Joanie, who links them all together.
It is the story of love, courage, friendship, and resilience set on St. Simon’s Island within the backdrop of WWII. The mystery is center stage and very compelling. The plot twists and turns in unexpected ways, leading to an ending that is as surprising as it is satisfying.
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Author Interview
Elise Cooper: Idea for the setting?
Joy Jordan-Lake: My family has been connected to where the story takes place, St. Simon’s Island off the coast of Georgia, which was my dad’s favorite place in the world. I knew a lot of the history of the Island, but nothing about the WWII history until after they built the Homefront WWII Museum. It is incredibly well researched and allows viewers to see what it was like to be on an aircraft carrier, working on the radar station, a fighter pilot, or someone at home.
EC: How did you realize that there were German submarines on America’s East Coast?
JJL: When I first walked into the museum, I saw the story of someone killed on the East Coast by a German submarine. In 1942 a German sub was lurking off the coast of St. Simon’s Island and ended up sinking a couple of ships and killing a bunch of people. This is where the novel starts. Some of the characters are based on actual people. All the fictional characters are based on actual people and actual events.
EC: How would you describe Joanie?
JJL: Quick-witted, fiery, courageous, and has guilt at times. She became a WASP, Women Air Force Service Pilot. Joanie has the name of one of my cousins that grew up on the Island.
EC: What did the WASPs do during the war?
JJL: They flied planes for their country. Joanie is based on a compilation of the WASP women. They are brave women. They ferried planes here in the US. They flew every single type of plane used during WWII. They had to fly with unbelievable conditions: very little rest, really hard conditions, and unable to cleanse themselves. It was anything but glamorous. In the early days they came from money and learned to fly, while others were taught by their father, or a brother. They had a love of flying. Some were fashion models, farm girls, schoolteachers, and so on.
EC: How did Joanie’s relationship with her twin brother, Sam, affect her?
JJL: He is someone Joanie can connect with and share her feelings about the mental and emotional loss of her father just as my father who died of Alzheimer’s.
EC: How would you describe Dov?
JJL: He is the Jewish character. He has integrity, regrets not being in combat, and is very tender. He is a compilation of characters. He is partly based on a real person who taught at the radar training school on the Island. I interviewed someone who helps to run the museum. She commented that there was an instructor at the radar training school who was upset that he was here teaching while those he taught would be under terrible dangers and stress. They had to decide if the plane approaching was a friendly or enemy that needs to be shot down. In the actual person’s letters, he was contemplating going back into the fighting arena. Dov represents this ethical struggle. The allies decided to have their very best pilots become instructors. He was made British because there was a Brit who was sent to the Island by the English to train Americans.
EC: How would you describe the German POW, Hans?
JJL: He was drafted into the Nazi Navy. He chose to desert. I wanted to show how Dov and Hans were suspicious of each other, wary of each other, and even had hatred. He is partly based on the Captain of a German U-Boat that was on the coast of the Island who did not desert. I did the research on what would happen if someone deserted from the German military.
EC: How would you describe William, the Merchant Marine?
JJL: I grew up in the mountains of East Tennessee so I made him a Tennessee farm boy. He quotes Shakespeare and has an artistic soul. He is brilliant. He becomes a friend with Joanie and Dov.
EC: Next book?
JJL: It is set in the North of Italy. It has some flashbacks to 1969 but is set mostly during present day. The plot has the Mafia involved in a theft. The working title is Outrageous Fortune.
THANK YOU!!
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BIO: Elise Cooper has written book reviews and interviewed best-selling authors since 2009. Her reviews have covered several different genres, including thrillers, mysteries, women’s fiction, romance and cozy mysteries. An avid reader, she engages authors to discuss their works, and to focus on the descriptions of their characters and the plot. While not writing reviews, Elise loves to watch baseball and visit the ocean in Southern California, with her dog and husband.
THE LADY FROM BURMA (Sparks & Bainbridge Mysteries Book #5) by Allison Montclair is another emotional and intricately plotted historical mystery in the Sparks & Bainbridge mysteries series set in post WWII London. I love reading this series and feel they are best read in order due to the continuing growth and evolution of the main characters.
Miss Iris Sparks and Mrs. Gwendolyn Bainbridge are partners in The Right Sort Marriage Bureau in post WWII London. Most of the lady’s clients are singles looking for a partner in this new post-war age, but the lady who seeks their services now is a happily married woman who has come to find a new wife for her husband. Mrs. Remagen is dying of cancer and wishes to find her entomologist husband someone to love and take care of him when she is gone, but Gwen, with her almost magical ability to tell when someone is lying to her, realizes there is more to her plan. When she is found dead, it appears to be suicide, but the ladies find it difficult to believe.
At the same time, Gwen is once again trying to gain legal control of her life. Her conservator who should be protecting her assets and managing her business interests is against her regaining her freedom and Gwen confronts him. When he is found dead, Gwen becomes the primes suspect.
Now with two deaths threatening The Right Sort Marriage Bureau and its founders, Iris and Gwen with help a young police officer and a variety of their friends are once again on the case.
I really enjoy reading this series. Iris and Gwen are great protagonists that always surprise you. Their differences work so well together, and their ever-growing friendship adds to their strength. I have always been emotional over with Gwen’s personal backstory and this book especially highlighted the injustice of the times. This story has a lot of set up for the two intertwining mystery plots throughout until they come together at the end which for me did slow the beginning of the book a bit. As more clues are revealed, then the pace begins to pick up and all the threads come together to the surprising climax. I stuck with it, and it became an intense page turner after the set up.
I highly recommend this addition to the series and am anxiously waiting for the next!
About the Author
ALLISON MONTCLAIR grew up devouring hand-me-down Agatha Christie paperbacks and James Bond movies. As a result of this deplorable upbringing, Montclair became addicted to tales of crime, intrigue, and espionage. She now spends her spare time poking through the corners, nooks, and crannies of history, searching for the odd mysterious bits and transforming them into novels of her own. The Right Sort of Man is her debut novel.
Today I am sharing my Feature Post and Book Review for FROZEN LIVES (Coroner’s Daughter Mysteries Book #4) by Jennifer Graeser Dornbush on this Partner’s-In-Crime Virtual Book Tour.
Below you will find a book description, my book review, the author’s bio and social media links, and a Kingsumo giveaway.
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Book Description
Chicago surgeon Emily Hartford has never quite shaken off the dust of her hometown in Michigan. She may be a professional success and have a princely boyfriend in the Windy City, but she can’t seem to let go of being “the coroner’s daughter” from Freeport.
Once again, she finds herself pulled back upstate during a wintery late March when Jeremiah, the eleven year-old son of her best friend, Jo, goes missing on the frigid shores of Lake Michigan. Emily immediately joins the search for the boy.
To everyone’s relief, Jeremiah turns up days later, alive and unharmed. But tensions remain high, and suspicions of every sort continue to grow. Jeremiah’s account of his abduction doesn’t add up and Emily worries about Jo’s unraveling marriage. Jeremiah’s recovery, it turns out, is not the end of their terrifying tale. It’s only the beginning …
For moving among them is a devious, malevolent force. Sowing panic while seeking to fulfill his own twisted needs, this wolf in sheep’s clothing leaves a trail of rack and ruin, negligent to the damages in his wake … and the bodies he leaves behind.
Emily solidifies her role as coroner’s daughter when she puzzles out this madman’s chilling machinations. Risking everything dear to her, Emily goes the icy distance to end his killing spree.
Genre: thriller, suspense, female detective Published by: Blackstone Publishing Publication Date: October 29, 2024 Number of Pages: 350 ISBN: 9798212638364 Series: The Coroner’s Daughter Mysteries, 4
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My Book Review
RATING: 5 out of 5 Stars
FROZEN LIVES (Coroner’s Daughter Mysteries Book #4) by Jennifer Graeser Dornbush is an edge-of-your-seat crime thriller/amateur sleuth mystery featuring Chicago surgeon Emily Hartford who gets pulled back to her small hometown of Freeport, Michigan when her best friend and son go missing. This is easily read as a standalone crime thriller and the author does a great job of intertwining Emily’s life from the previous books, so I never felt lost with her current relationships.
Emily is happy sharing a surgical practice in Chicago with her boyfriend, but she just cannot let go of her smalltown roots and all of her friends in Freeport, Michigan. She receives a call for help when her best friend Jo’s son, Jeremiah, goes missing. He is discovered a few days later unharmed, but the man who took him is still free. With accusations only ramping up the tensions in Jo’s crumbling marriage, Emily feels the need to support her friend.
As they all try to get back to a normal routine, no one knows the danger has not passed them by and it is about to become a race to find a twisted kidnapper and rescue Emily’s friends from a possible watery grave.
I could not put this book down and I am surprised that I had not read any of this series previously. If you have not either, this is a good book to jump in on because the author does a great job of giving the reader enough of Emily’s past and relationships so as not to be confusing. That said, I will be going back to read the previous three books because I enjoyed the author’s fast paced crime plot and hope the other three are just as interesting and well written. Even knowing who the kidnapper/killer is does not distract from the increasing tension and emotional involvement as the book races to a climax. I am excited to read the next book now that Emily has accepted the role she was born to have and to see what happens with her surprise personal ending.
I highly recommend this crime thriller/amateur sleuth mystery and look forward to reading more in this series.
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Author Bio
The television or movie screen is the closest most people will ever come to witnessing the forensic world. But Jennifer Dornbush was raised in it. As the daughter of a small-town medical examiner whose office was in their home. There were body parts in the fridge. She investigated her first fatality, an airplane crash, when she was 8 years old. Picking up pieces of skull with her father who simply saw it as an anatomy lesson. The first of many coroner lessons she experienced over two decades.
After exploring journalism and high school teaching, Jennifer turned seriously to screenwriting where she began to connect her coroner world to her writing. She sought out a degree at the Forensic Science Academy in Los Angeles to gain more forensic training and earned a unique kinship with LA’s top CSIs, fingerprint specialists, DNA scientists, and detectives.
To share her love of forensics with the writing world, she authored the top selling non-fiction authoritative book, Forensic Speak, used by not only by show-runners and writers, but also crime investigators and law enforcement. She created an Amazon top selling mystery novel series, The Coroner’s Daughter, which she is currently developing as a series for TV. Her crime thriller, Hole in the Woods, is currently optioned for screen. She is a contributor to mystery anthologies, Hotel California and Thriller. She has also penned two true crime books.
As a screenwriter Jennifer wrote the theatrically released film and novel, God Bless the Broken Road (2018), adapted a popular YA novel to script, and sold a children’s show. She is currently developing TV drama series and feature films with various productions companies. As a forensic consultant, she is frequently asked to consult with TV writers on shows such as: Bull, Conviction, Hawaii Five-O, Leverage, Suits, and Rectify. She teaches screenwriting and mentors aspiring writers.
Jennifer is a member of the Writers’ Guild of America, Sisters in Crime, Mystery Writers of America, International Thriller Writers, Crime Writers Association, & the FBI Citizen’s Academy Alumni.
London based lawyer Kyra Gibson returns to Martha’s Vineyard and the beach house she inherited for an extended summer holiday. Still reeling from her father’s brutal murder and the role she and the handsome detective, Tarek Collins played in uncovering it, Kyra is hopeful for some peace and quiet. But when a summer squall reveals the wreckage of the pirate ship, Keres, rich with rumored treasure, all hopes of peace are dashed. Conservationists and treasure hunters descend on the exclusive island to lay claim to the ship. When two of the salvagers are killed, Kyra and Tarek’s friend, pub owner and amateur historian, Gully Gould is arrested for murder.
Determined to prove Gully’s innocence, Kyra, Tarek, and reformed playboy Chase Hawthorn team up to clear their friend’s name. But someone wants the treasure for themselves. And with someone willing to kill for it, there is more than just danger lurking along the island’s caves and coves. There is death.
THE WRAITH’S RETURN (Martha’s Vineyard Murders Book #2) by Raemi A. Ray is the second book in the Martha’s Vineyard Murders series with Kyra returning to Martha’s Vineyard for an extended summer holiday and finds herself and her island friends helping one of their own accused of murder. This story can be read as a standalone, but I feel the books are best read in order as the main characters continually evolved in their relationships from book one.
This book has murder, conservationists vs. fisherman, islanders vs. vacationers, and a historical pirate story, and treasure hunters all combined in this mystery read. I am not sure if it is because there is so much going on, which should have made for many red herrings, but when I reached the end, I felt the killer was just there with no build up of tension or foreboding until very close to the end. All the information and side characters were interesting, but at times slowed the plot pace. I love Kyra, Tarek, and Chase and find them all to be interesting characters. I look forward to following them in future books, but I have to say that I liked the mystery plot in book one, A Chain of Pearls, better. The characters pulled me through this story more than the mystery plot.
Overall, a little bit of a let down after such a great debut.
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Author Bio
Raemi A. Ray’s travels to Martha’s Vineyard and around the world inspire her stories. She lives outside Boston. When not writing or traveling she earns her keep as the personal assistant to the resident house demons, Otto and Dolph Lundgren.
Today I am sharing my Feature Post and Book Review for A SCANDAL IN MAYFAIR (A Lily Adler Mystery Book #5) by Katharine Schellman on this Partners In Crime Virtual Book Tour.
Below you will find a book description, my book review, an excerpt from the book, the author’s bio and social media links, and a Kingsumo giveaway. Enjoy!
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Book Description
Sometimes danger lurks in plain sight, and in the cutthroat London Season socialite Lily Adler must race against time to catch a killer.
London, 1817. The London Season is beginning once more, and Lily Adler’s return to her home on Half Moon Street feels different this year. No longer a recent widow, she has a life and friends waiting for her. Lily also has new responsibilities in the form of her protégée Amelia, the sister of her longtime friend Jack Hartley, who is escaping her own brush with scandal and murder.
It doesn’t take long for Lily’s growing reputation as a lady of quality who can discreetly find what is missing or solve what is puzzling to bring a desperate young woman to her doorstep. But helping her means unraveling a tangled web of family secrets. Soon, a missing will, a dead body and the threat of blackmail leave Lily facing danger every way she turns.
The glittering society of Mayfair conceals many secrets, and the back alleys of London hide even more. Lily Adler will need to find the connection between them quickly if she wants to stop a killer before it’s too late.
Genre: Historical Cozy Mystery Published by: Crooked Lane Books Publication Date: August 20, 2024 Number of Pages: 320 ISBN: 9781639108411 (ISBN10: 1639108416) Series: A Lily Adler Mystery, Book #5 | Each is a Stand Alone
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My Book Review
RATING: 5 out of 5 Stars
A SCANDAL IN MAYFAIR (A Lily Adler Mystery Book #3) by Katharine Schellman is another intricately plotted and engaging amateur sleuth historical mystery featuring Lily Adler, a lady of quality who discretely solves mysteries with the help of a few friends among polite society. These books can be read as mystery standalones, but Lily and her friend’s personal and social lives continually evolve in each story.
The 1817 London Season is about to begin, and Lily Adler has returned to her home on Half Moon Street. This year Lily is returning to London with an established life and friends waiting besides the added responsibilities of mentoring Amelia, the sister of her longtime friend, Jack Hartley.
Lily receives a letter asking for her services from a young lady seeking help discovering the truth of her deceased father’s will. When Lily meets with the lady, she is shocked when the lady and her fiancé wish her to steal the will from her uncle. With the threat of blackmail, Lily, with the help of her friends, seeks out the will, only to discover a dead body. With a tangled web of lies and dead bodies, Lily faces danger once again as she seeks the truth.
I love Lily and this entire series! She is an intelligent, strong and independent protagonist. She is a widow conforming to society’s norms while also carrying on in her pursuit of delicate inquiries. Her personal life is certainly more exciting now with the return of Jack and the clearing of misunderstandings and emotional fears. All the secondary characters are as entertaining, intriguing, and fully developed as Lily. The mystery plot in this book starts out a little slow, but there is a lot to set up for all the different threads to be able to come together in the end. I always enjoy these Lily Adler books and look forward to the next.
I highly recommend this amateur sleuth historical mystery as well as the entire series!
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Excerpt
“You are Mrs. Adler? You do not look anything like I expected,” the young woman said bluntly. “I thought that someone who offers such investigations would be . . . more dramatic, I suppose. But you are very nearly plain. Well, not plain,” she added apologetically, looking Lily over once more. “Your gown is beautifully made, I must say, and you are very elegant—a tall figure helps with that, I suppose.” She sighed, glancing down at her own figure, which was of average height and rather waiflike. “But I thought you
would be more glamorous. Is it not a glamorous occupation that you have?”
“Hardly an occupation,” Lily said firmly. Miss Forrest was not wrong; with unremarkable coloring and looks only just on the pretty side of average, elegant was the best descriptor Lily could hope for from an impartial observer. But it still rankled to be sized up so bluntly. “And not a genteel one, if it were. Besides, I think what you have heard of are discreet inquiries for those who need them. A dramatic or imposing appearance would hardly serve that purpose.”
“Oh, indeed. That does make sense.” The girl’s eyes were wide as she nodded along. “That is what Mrs. Mannering said—that you were the soul of discretion. I am so hoping it is true, believe me. My predicament is dreadful, and it would become even worse were it to be
widely known and discussed.”
“That is often the case, especially in town,” Lily said, but her eyes narrowed as she spoke. The Mannerings’ daughter had disappeared one night, leaving no trace of where she might have gone, and they had been beside themselves when Lily arrived for tea with a mutual
friend. She knew Mrs. Mannering to be a loose-tongued woman, so rather than offering to help directly, she had presented them with one of her cards and suggested that her “acquaintance” might track down their daughter.
The daughter had been located—she had become so fed up with her parents’ matrimonial ambitions that she had run away to the home of her aunt—and the Mannerings had never known that it was Lily herself who had found her.
“So it was Mrs. Mannering who suggested you contact the lady of quality?” On the one hand, Mrs. Mannering loved to gossip. On the other hand, sharing such a story about her own daughter would hardly reflect well on her, even if that daughter was now well married. And Lily had no interest in assisting someone who began with lying to her.
“Yes,” the young woman said, nodding.
Lily waited silently, her brows rising just a hair.
“No . . .” Miss Forrest stretched the word out hesitantly, biting her lip as she looked away. “That is to say, not exactly. Mrs. Mannering mentioned that someone had assisted them with a sort of inquiry—she made it sound dreadfully dramatic, which is why I thought—well, and she showed my cousin, who is my companion, and me the lady of quality’s card over tea. And I was already so worried, and in need of help, that I—I took it.” The final words came out in a rush, and the girl looked suddenly both deflated and relieved. “I stole it, I suppose. And then I wrote because I so desperately needed someone to help me. Can you?” She raised her eyes hopefully to Lily’s.
“Perhaps,” Lily said. “Though beginning with a falsehood does not bode well.” Miss Forrest’s face fell, and she looked like nothing so much as a scolded puppy. Lily sighed. “Tell me what it is you need assistance with.” She glanced at Clive and added coldly, “And how you come into it, sir. Then I shall make up my mind.”
Miss Sarah Forrest sat up very straight. “I need your assistance to escape my uncle. I fear he has stolen all the money my father intended for me to inherit.” Her mouth and hands both trembled, and she clasped her fingers together tightly to keep them still. “He says it is for my own good that he controls my inheritance. But I do not believe my father would do such a thing. And now, because he has kept my independence from me, my uncle is preventing me from marrying in order to keep me dependent on him, perhaps forever.”
Lily sat back against the bench. She glanced at Clive. “And that is where you come into it, I suppose?”
He, still standing, bowed. “I have asked Miss Forrest to marry me, yes. We met during the winter and were instantly in sympathy with each other.”
“Mr. Clive’s family is from Suffolk, and his property is there too, of course.” Miss Forrest said, holding out her hand to her suitor. “But he felt so dreadfully isolated that he came to London last winter.”
“I had not recalled that your family was from Suffolk,” Lily said, her eyes fixed on Clive. Her hands were clenched into fists by her sides; she took a deep breath, trying to relax them. “How forgetful of me.”
“No matter,” Miss Forrest went on, not noticing Lily’s tone. Clive’s sideways glance, however, said he had not missed it. “Such a handsome, charming young man is much better suited to life in town, do you not think?”
“My dear Sarah is too kind to me,” Clive said gallantly, taking the hand she held out to him, giving her a warm smile as he pressed it between his. “And I am fortunate indeed that she is. She is the love of my life.”
“So Miss Forrest said in her letter,” Lily said a little more cynically than she intended. But it was impossible to keep a completely straight face as she watched their romantic interlude, or as she remembered the melodramatic turns of phrase the young woman had employed.
“Yes.” Miss Forrest smiled at her sweetheart, showing no hesitation or embarrassment over her elevated prose. “He is a most dashing, wonderful young man. Though I hardly need tell you that,” she added earnestly, turning back to Lily, “as you are already acquainted.”
They were acquainted. And when Lily had met him in her aunt’s small Hampshire village, he was a cardsharp and a bookmaker, accepted into more elevated circles than the ones into which he had been born because nearly every young man with pretensions to dissipation owed him money. No one had trusted him, but no one could risk offending him either. He knew it, and he despised those around him even as he needed them in turn.
Once or twice, Lily had thought she saw a hint of the more admirable man he might have become had he chosen a different path. But if there was, he had not bothered to cultivate it. And he had made no secret of his plan, during that brief week of their acquaintance, to use his ill-gotten income to one day place himself in the role of a gentleman and improve his lot in life.
It seemed he had succeeded. Or would have, if Miss Forrest’s inheritance had not disappeared.
“But it seems this dashing, wonderful young man will not marry you without your inheritance?” Lily asked.
That prompted a scowl from Miss Forrest. “I know what you are thinking, ma’am. But you are wrong. My dear Mr. Clive has some money of his own. The problem we face is that my uncle will not give his consent.”
“How old are you, Miss Forrest?” Lily asked, glancing sideways at Clive.
“I am not yet two-and-twenty,” Miss Forrest said sitting up very straight, as though to look as mature and worldly as possible.
“Then you are legally able to marry, even without your uncle’s consent,” Lily said pragmatically. “If it is not a question of needing your inheritance, why not simply do so?”
Clive sighed. “Because—”
But Miss Forrest broke in. “Just because he is not marrying me for my money does not mean we’ve no need of something to live on,” she said, the irritation plain in her voice. She gave Lily a look up and down. “You will forgive me for saying, ma’am, but you look like you are no stranger to comfort. Is it so wrong that we might wish for the same in our own lives?”
Lily wanted to argue the point, but it was a reasonable one. Or it would have been, were it not for what she knew of the gentleman in question. “Very well,” she said, inclining her head. “I merely wish to know all the facts of the situation.”
“And if I had come to you for marriage advice, your interference might be warranted,” Miss Forrest snapped, her cheeks going splotchy with irritation. “But I did not.”
“Sarah,” Clive said before Lily could reply. When she glanced at him, his smile was firmly in place, but there was a cynical edge to it. “It is a mark of her good character that she asks such questions. Mrs. Adler does not know me as you do.”
Miss Forrest took a deep breath, reining in her emotions once more. “I suppose. But my uncle’s refusing his consent only proves my concern is warranted.” She clasped her book tightly against her midsection, as though it were a shield she could hide behind. “Even if my father did change his will, whatever inheritance my uncle is currently steward of would pass from Uncle Forrest’s control to that of my husband if I marry. What other reason could he have for refusing his consent if not to keep control of those funds?”
“Skepticism of your suitor, perhaps?” Lily murmured.
“But we have never met,” Clive put in. “He has refused to do so.”
“Which is also suspicious!” Miss Forrest declared.
Lily glanced around. Miss Forrest’s emphatic tones had drawn curious stares from the couples strolling nearby. One of the women glanced at them several times, though she had not stopped talking to the man with her. A feeling of unease settled in Lily’s stomach. She
thought she recognized the woman, though she could not put a name to the face.
She needed to leave this conversation as soon as possible.
“Well,” she said, tapping the tips of her fingers together, “you tell an interesting story.”
Miss Forrest met Lily’s eyes; her own, for the first time, were wide and sober. “I know it sounds like something out of a novel. But it is the truth. All I want is to reclaim the independence that should be mine.”
“Then you would be best served by speaking to your father’s solicitor,” Lily said briskly. “He would be able to assist you in understanding how your father left things, I’ve no doubt.”
The young lady scowled, her cheeks flushing red. “I do not know who his solicitor was. And for obvious reasons, I cannot ask my uncle for the name.”
“Then what is it you are hoping I will do?” Lily said. “I am one woman, Miss Forrest. I cannot retrieve your money for you.”
“I know that. But my uncle will have a copy of my father’s will in his house, and I think I know where it would be.” The girl leaned forward, her breath coming quickly and her hands trembling once more. “I want to hire you to steal it for me so I can prove what he has done.”
***
Author Bio
Katharine Schellman is a former actor and one-time political consultant. These days, she writes the Regency-set Lily Adler Mysteries and Jazz Age Nightingale Mysteries. Her books have been praised in outlets from Library Journal to The New York Times, with reviewers calling them “worthy of Agatha Christie or Rex Stout” (Library Journal). Katharine writes in the mountains of Virginia, where she lives with her husband, children, and the many houseplants she keeps accidentally murdering.
Today I am sharing my Feature Post and Book Review for MURDER IN THE SCOTTISH HIGHLANDS ((An Ally McKinley Mystery Book #1) by Dee MacDonald.
Below you will find a book description, my book review, and the author’s bio and social media links. Enjoy!
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Book Description
Majestic mountain views, whisky by the fire and… a murder to solve? Join Ally McKinley at her cozy little guesthouse in the Scottish Highlands as she tackles her first puzzling case!
For recently retired Ally McKinley, the tiny village of Locharran is the perfect place to open the guesthouse of her dreams in a lovingly restored old Scottish malthouse. Before long she is making friends with the locals, including Hamish Sinclair, the earl who owns the nearby castle. But things take an unexpected turn when her first paying guest, American tourist Wilbur Carrington, is found sprawled across her cobblestoned courtyard with a dagger in his back…
With the police baffled, Ally’s instincts get the better of her, and she can’t resist launching her own investigation. In no time at all she and her Labrador puppy Flora are on the case, making enquiries over tea and excellent shortbread. She finds that Wilbur, a keen amateur genealogist, was convinced that he was the rightful Earl of Locharran… Even worse, he had plans that would put many people out of their jobs and even their homes.
But which of the locals resorted to murder? The hotel owner furiously trying to save his business? Locharran Castle’s fiercely loyal housekeeper who’d do anything for the earl? Or the earl himself, whose entire way of life was threatened by what Wilbur knew?
Looking for clues, Ally finds a faded photograph in a hidden drawer in Wilbur’s room. Could this be the key to solving the mystery? But when one of her suspects dies in a suspicious accident, Ally realizes that things are getting a wee bit too close for comfort…
Can she uncover the truth or will a killer get off scot-free?
MURDER IN THE SCOTTISH HIGHLANDS (An Ally McKinley Mystery Book #1) by Dee MacDonald is an entertaining guesthouse cozy mystery set in the Scottish Highlands. This is the first in this new series featuring a retired TV researcher, Ally McKinley, who is widowed and starting over in an old malthouse converted to a guesthouse.
Ally McKinley believes she is in the perfect place for her next phase of life. The old Highland malthouse has been beautifully converted to a guesthouse with three rooms to let besides her own living quarters and a room for family or friends. When she hears her cleaning lady scream, Ally finds she has discovered her first paying guest, an American, stabbed with a dagger in his back outside the back door.
Ally feels the local police are getting nowhere, so her inquisitive nature takes over and as she meets all her new neighbors, she begins to take their measure and piece together the mystery. The small village Highlanders do not like outsiders, especially when they threaten to destroy their livelihoods and take away their homes. No one is sad the American is dead, but when one of their own is murdered, Ally becomes determined to uncover the killer.
This story was a mixed bag for me. I loved the author’s descriptions of the highlands which were vivid. Ally and the cast of village characters were entertaining with dialogue that made me laugh at times, especially the gossip mill that was faster than the wind. I also enjoyed Ally trying to pretend there is no ghost in her one guest bathroom. I loved meeting everyone, and would enjoy reading about them again, but it also took too much of the story away from the murder mystery plot. I do not mind that it was easy to solve, but there were times I felt you had to believe the police were incompetent and Ally was only simi-involved in solving the crime until the last few chapters.
I enjoyed Ally and the villagers, but I hope now that they are introduced the next book in the series has more cozy mystery plot intertwined throughout and Ally as a researcher is more involved than just the last few chapters.
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Author Bio
Aged 18, Dee arrived in London from Scotland and typed her way round the West End for a couple of years before joining BOAC (forerunner of British Airways) in Passenger Services for 2 years and then as a stewardess for 8 years.
She has worked in Market Research, Sales and at the Thames TV Studios when they had the franchise.
Dee has since relocated to Cornwall, where she spent 10 years running B&Bs, and only began writing when she was over 70!
