Author: Lucy Connelly
Genre: Mystery
Hardcover; Digital Book
ISBN #: 9781639109302
Crooked Lane Books
274 pages
$29.99; $17.99 Amazon
October 15, 2024
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Sea Isle, Scotland, is magical during the holiday season, and Dr. Emilia McRoy can't wait to enjoy everything her village has to offer. Butt when the lead singer of a famous band is murdered in the village, just as they were about to launch a world tour, her holiday instantly comes to a halt.
As the band's future hangs in the balance, Emilia discovers that the victim was working on new music that has since disappeared. Were these new lyrics worth killing for? And if so, who is the culprit? It seems more than one person wanted his music star dead. Shockingly, beloved Constable Ewan Campbell becomes the prime suspect in the investigation, putting a damper on the town's festivities.
With an ever growing list of suspects, Emilia will need all the help she can get to figure out who is framing poor Ewan. Between a secret Santa that wants her dead, stalkers, and killer holiday celebrations, Emilia must see the devil in the details and discover the truth before it's too late.
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Dr. Emilia McRoy emigrated to Scotland after tragic events in Seattle. She's not only their doctor, she's also their coroner. But she's taken a month off to enjoy the holiday festivities and all of Sea Isle's decorations. One of those events is watching a local band that made it big, and they've returned to their roots for a concert before a final tour.
After the band is stranded, the lead singer, Bram Stoker (not that Bram Stoker, obviously!) takes a liking to the doctor and asks her for a dance that night. The town constable, and chief landowner, Ewan Campbell, dislikes Bram but doesn't tell Em why. Still, she enjoys her evening and is surprised when she's called to the beach about a dead person. Finding Bram's body, she doesn't think it was a natural one, and is conducting tests to see if she's right.
But when it's discovered that it truly was murder, Ewan, who has a past with the man, becomes the main suspect and a London officer is sent down to conduct the investigation. After a rocky start, the two women begin to get along, although the officer has her own issues with the investigation as well.
When there's a vicious attack on someone Em cares for, things become even messier, and she knows she has to find out who had the best motive to kill the man. But it won't be easy, and between Christmas festivities and doing her job, someone is out to kill again...
This is the third book in the series and I quite enjoyed it as much as the last one. It's Christmas time in Sea Isle, and the town has gone all out in decorations and festivities. While Em is charmed by this, she's not charmed by the bitter cold and all the snow. Still, she's promised to be a part of it, so a part of it she will be. She also didn't sign up to find another dead body, nor that it's someone well-known and well-loved by others.
But was he, really? In doing her job, she questions the other band members what they know about his past, and she finds that they like fighting with each other more than anything...at least that's what they do. It makes her suspicious of each and every one of them, but could one of his band mates truly kill? Or was it a stalker? Or a crazed fan?
She's also dealing with people who are stuck in Sea Isle due to the snow, trying to decorate her own home, reporters trying to get an inside story, and someone else who is injured while trying to help. Em just might be in over her head this time...
I don't want to say any more about the book in order not to ruin it for others, but I will say the story is riveting and had me reading it in one sitting. There's a lot going on here, along with too many secrets and lies, and also quite a few suspects. It's a fun read for the Christmas holiday (or even before); when the killer is revealed it comes as a complete surprise, which is the best part. Highly recommended.
I received an advance copy of this book from the publisher and NetGalley but this in no way influenced my review.
More on Lucy Connelly's Books: https://www.fantasticfiction.com/c/lucy-connelly/
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