Carole's Monday: Plaid and Plagiarism

Author: Molly MacRae

Title: Plaid and Plagiarism

(Highland Bookshop Mystery #1)

Genre: Mystery, Thriller, Fiction

Format: paper/hardcover

Pages: 279

Published:  December 6th 2016 

Where I Got It: My shelf (Used book store)

Set in the weeks before the annual Inversgail Literature Festival in Scotland, Plaid and Plagiarism begins on a morning shortly after the four women take possession of their bookshop in the Highlands. Unfortunately, the move to Inversgail hasn’t gone as smoothly as they’d planned.

First, Janet Marsh is told she’ll have to wait before moving into her new home. Then she finds out the house has been vandalized. Again. The chief suspect? Una Graham, an advice columnist for the local paper—who’s trying to make a name for herself as an investigative reporter. When Janet and her business partners go looking for clues at the house, they find a body—it’s Una, in the garden shed, with a sickle in her neck. Janet never did like that garden shed.

Who wanted Una dead? After discovering a cache of nasty letters, Janet and her friends are beginning to wonder who didn’t, including Janet’s ex-husband. Surrounded by a cast of characters with whom readers will fall in love, the new owners of Yon Bonnie Books set out to solve Una’s murder so they can get back to business.

This was a random find at the little book store in town from a couple of years ago. It's set in Scotland, there is a book store, and there was is a murder to be solved! What is there not to like? 

The story follows Janet and her friends who open their own store in a small town in Scotland. However, the move has not been going as smoothly as they'd planned. Janet finds her new home was vandalized and they find a dead body in the garden shed. Who wanted this woman dead and why? 

This was a fun book overall. A comfy mystery in Scotland. However, it did take me a hot minute to really get into the story. I had a hard time connecting with the characters. They were fun, don't get me wrong, but I just didn't really connect with anyone. 

The story took off right away and I was intrigued by the mystery and the townspeople. The main characters...not so much. They were funny though! I did get a kick out of their antics. 

OooOOOoooo that was a good ending. I had guessed right...but I thought it was a long shot and I wasn't really sure about the motivation though. Very good, very good. It was a good mystery!  

Overall, this was a quick, fun read. I had some issues connecting with our four main characters, but they were still fun to follow. I honestly think the townspeople and the mystery were the main things for me that kept me going. I'll give this 3 stars overall.