Murder in the Scottish Highlands by Dee MacDonald
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
**3.5-stars rounded up **
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Murder in the Scottish Highlands is the 1st-book in the all-new Ally McKinley Mystery series.
This series is set in the, you guessed it, Scottish Highlands, and follows recently retired, Ally McKinley, who fell in love with the small village of Locharran while on holiday. Shortly thereafter, she purchased the dilapidated old malthouse to transform it into a B&B.
After an extensive renovation, the B&B has now opened and Ally is slowly adjusting to life in Locharran. It’s quite a change of pace for her in comparison to bustling-Edinburgh.
Her new life is up-ended though when her first paying customer, an American tourist, Wilbur Carrington, is found dead with a dagger in his back in the Malthouse courtyard.
Murder is not good for business. Ally needs to get this mystery cleared up and quickly if she has any hope of actually making the Malthouse B&B a success.
The local police seem baffled, so Ally decides to take matters into her own hands. As a retired television researcher, Ally is used to digging deep to get answers. She doesn’t plan to stop until she figures out the truth behind Carrington’s murder.
This was so cute. IMO, a great start to a new Cozy Mystery series. I loved how quickly MacDonald kicked it off, delivering us a body in the 1st-Chapter, which was great as it left so much time for solving the mystery.
I also really enjoyed Ally as a main character. She’s smart and resourceful. Additionally, I found her reasons for being there and her motivations behind the B&B understandable.
The setting, as well, was really fun. I felt like MacDonald succeeded in bringing all the small village vibes. Even the landscapes were described beautifully. I had no issues picturing where we were and I was loving every minute of it.
It was occasionally wonky in places, but overall, it kept me smiling and engaged throughout.
I feel like, as with many Cozy Mystery series, I will enjoy each consecutive book more and more as I become attached to this quirky cast of characters. There’s a lot of room for this series to grow. I’m looking forward to it!
Thank you to the publisher, Bookouture, for providing me with a copy to read and review. I love getting in on a Cozy Mystery series early, and I def plan to stick with this one!