Genre: Mystery
Hardcover; Digital Book
ISBN #: 9781496712592
Kensington Publishing
$17.19; $11.99 Amazon
304 Pages
November 28, 2017
✮✮✮✮
The old Chadwick Mansion on the edge of Moosetookalook, Maine, has been shrouded in mystery for generations - until Scottish Emporium owner Liss MacCrimmon uncovers a forgotten family secret. But she never imagined that a little curiosity would lead her into such deadly territory...
While perusing auction items from the Chadwick estate, Liss purchases a painting of a bagpiper to add to her collection. Her interest shifts from art to sleuthing upon a strange discovery - what appears to be a treasure map tucked behind the canvas. She's even more intrigued when she links the scroll to an early Chadwick who smuggled goods across the Canadian border.
So during a business trip to Canada, Liss arranges a meeting with an archivist in hopes of pinning down the truth about the map and the Chadwick bloodline. Before her quest moves forward, however, she finds the archivist's murdered body at a local genealogical society. One thing is certain - Liss isn't alone on this treasure hunt...
Liss returns to Moosetookalook, terrified that the killer may have followed her home. With her life in real peril and the map at risk of being stolen, she launches into full-scale investigation mode. But as she deciphers clues and inches toward the dangerous culprit, Liss quickly realizes she's only a step away from ending up like the Chadwick clan -- permanently wiped out.
✽✽✽✽✽✽✽✽
When Liss Ruskin attends an estate auction, she doesn't expect the picture she bought to be so much trouble...Liss was taken by a painting of the Piper to the Laird of Grant, and successfully bid against two others. But when she accidentally dropped it, the frame broke and revealed what appeared to be a treasure map underneath. The problem was that it had no distinctive markings, so she didn't know where or what it was actually for.
All she could surmise was that it had something to do with the Chadwick family, and that there must be some sort of treasure on the estate grounds. It was her Aunt Margaret who suggested they make a trip to Canada to see if they could discover anything about the family that would lead them to find the truth. And that was her first mistake...
Upon arriving at her destination, the Chadwick Historical and Genealogical Society in Canada, Liss and Margaret entered the building and called out for Orson Bailey, the man they were supposed to meet. And meet him they did, but not in the way they expected, for Orson was dead, underneath a table. It didn't help when she discovered their hotel room had been ransacked, yet the only two items stolen were an iPad and brooch.
So when Liss eventually returned to her home in Moosetookalook, Maine, she was more curious than ever about the map, and Orson's murder. She wondered if they were connected, especially since other things were occurring - things she knew were connected to the map. And if there was a treasure involved, how many people were interested in it, and which one was interested enough to kill someone to get it?
This, as always, is another enjoyable book in the Liss MacCrimmon mystery series. The author does a commendable job of keeping the plot moving along nicely, and the characters are well-drawn and vivid. It says much for a book when you want to punch a character for being smug and self-satisfied. It was an entertaining read, and the mystery itself was threaded nicely throughout, giving subtle clues along the way.
Although I pretty much had the murderer figured out early (I read a lot of these), it was still quite nice to see how everything was connected, and how Liss began to put it all together. I did feel that this book probably wasn't actually suited to be read as a stand-alone since there are references to other books, it was still easy enough to read, and it will be interesting to see how the return of Liss's parents affect her life in Mooosetookalook. Recommended.
https://www.amazon.com/Marks-Scot-Liss-MacCrimmon-Mystery/dp/1496712595/
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2244758281
More on Kaitlyn Dunnett's Books: https://www.fantasticfiction.com/d/kaitlyn-dunnett/
No comments:
Post a Comment