Scots on the Rocks (Bed-and-Breakfast Series #23) » (Reprint)

Mary Richardson Daheim is a Seattle native with a degree in communications from the University of Washington. Realizing at an early age that getting published in books with real covers might elude her for years, she worked on daily newspapers and in public relations to help avoid her creditors. She lives in her hometown in a century­-old house not unlike Hillside Manor, except for the body count. Daheim is also the author of the Alpine mystery series and the mother of three daughters.

Hoping to dispel the late-winter gloom, innkeeper Judith McMonigle Flynn flies off for a much-needed vacation to Scotland. But soon she and prickly Cousin Renie find themselves marooned in an ancient castle perched high above the North Sea while their husbands go off on a fishing trip with the local police inspector. But when an explosion rocks Grimlock Castle, leaving a dead body in its fiery wake, an ever-curious Judith is once again up to her neck in a murder investigation. And the situation grows even murkier when the husbands and their Scotland Yard buddy go missing . . .

The hunt is on for a killer through the bonnie braes and sea-green glens of Scotland. And if Judith and Renie aren't careful, this could turn out to be their most dangerous—and last—Highland fling.

Publishers Weekly

Daheim's enjoyable 23rd B&B mystery (after 2006's Saks and Violins) takes Judith McMonigle Flynn, her cousin Serena "Renie" Jones and their husbands to a remote town in Scotland. The idea is to get away from the stresses of running an inn, and from Judith's pesky habit of stumbling over corpses and solving murders, but when a new Scottish acquaintance mysteriously dies, Judith can't help poking around. Why would anyone kill Harry Gibbs? Perhaps his wife, now twice widowed, had developed a romantic relationship with someone else, or perhaps a complex business deal lies behind Harry's demise. The tight-knit locals aren't always willing to open up to Judith, and soon more people die. The many eccentric Scottish characters aren't especially well developed, but the local color-fine wool, romantic castles, freely flowing whiskey and tea-is charming. This cozy makes a good vacation read, whether or not your destination is Scotland. (Aug.)