The Scottish Shire Mysteries #8
Traci Hall
Book 8 of the Scottish Shire Mystery series is the first one to be set during the Samhain season, and main character Paisley Shaw is ready to celebrate Halloween even though it will not include activities with her son Brody as he is not so little anymore. This series is set in the coastal town of Nairn, which is a real place in Scotland and is on my cozy mystery location bucket list. Paisley is a small business owner who specializes in yarn and all things knitting related. She even sells items that she has artfully crafted such as an adorable witch hat. Her cozy store has enabled her to take care of herself, her son Brody, and her Grandpa, and her great employees have enabled her to be able to step away from the store to sleuth when needed. Paisley never goes looking for murder or mystery, but she cannot stand by and do nothing when it involves her friends or family. This time is no different as Paisley dons a mama bear attitude to protect her son when a soccer hazing leads to a wrong place at the wrong time. Some things to know about this series is that Paisley is a kindhearted and fiercely loyal character who would do anything for her son Brody. She has been on an amazing journey of character development since the series started but you do not have to be a current reader of the series to know what is going on or what has transpired. Ms. Hall does a great job of knitting bits of Paisley’s past history throughout the story without giving away solutions to past mysteries. In addition to the fictional aspects of the story, Ms. Hall also includes current events, real situations, and real locations such as Rait Castle, home of the story’s Rait Wraith. The victim was giving a very realistic portrayal of the wraith at her brother’s bidding, but what happened and why. Paisley doesn’t start out looking into the untimely and unfortunate death, she starts out trying to protect her teenage son who is struggling with finding the dead girl and feelings of guilt and shame. What is a mother to do when she sees her child hurting? Well in Paisley’s case, she uses her sharp mind and friendly demeanor to follow the clues. It also helps that local Detective Inspector Mack Zeffer is rather fond of her and respects her ability to figure things out and is happy to share information. Theirs has been a relationship that resembled a roller coaster, highs and lows and all together worth it. This story has a plot, a subplot, various suspects, laughter and tears, not to mention a thriller of a reveal. There are a few red herrings and all things cozy including an adorable dog named Wallace who gets to wear bat wings as his Halloween costume. The story was easy to follow and hard to put down, plus there is mention a Dundee fruitcake, which sounded so tasty that I just had to try one. Mine did not have the height of a traditional Dundee fruitcake, but it was the perfect afternoon tea accompaniment. As good as the cake was, the ending of the story is amazing, and I can’t wait to see what comes next.
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