THE CRACKED SPINE - Paige Shelton

Kansas girl, Delaney Nichols, decides it's time for a change and accepts a long-distance job in a bookshop in Edinburgh, Scotland by way of a phone interview. All she knows is that it's time for a personal change and that the work ... whatever it is ... sounds exciting.

The book shop, The Cracked Spine, is run by Edwin MacAlister. He's a bit mysterious and he apparently has his hands in a variety of book collecting and book dealing. In fact, he has an entire space kept under lock and key for some of his most precious items. His mysteriousness around his actions has Delany wondering if some of his work might be less than proper or legal.

When Edwin's sister, who has had a troubled life, is murdered, Delany takes it on herself to investigate and help he new boss get some closure. But investigating a murder can be dangerous.

I'm typically not a fan of cozy mysteries.  In 'cozies,' things tend to happen by convenience ... a lot.  And this book is no exception, starting with the very idea of packing up and moving to Scotland essentially on a whim, to deciding to investigate a murder in a foreign country with absolutely no background or experience in in it prior.

But despite generally not being a fan of cozies, I quite enjoyed this book.  Of course the location helped (what avid reader wouldn't want to read a mystery set in an old book store?), but the characters are what makes this a delightful read.

Delaney is a bit of a Pollyanna/Mary Tyler Moore character.  Wide-eyed and eager. In some ways she's the most boring of all the characters, but she is the 'straight' character to all the wonderful, almost Dickensian, Scots.

The writing is quick and smooth, giving the characters a chance to shine.  The mystery is pretty classic for a cozy - although a murder (even an off the page murder) is pretty hard for a cozy.

While I enjoyed the book, and I would gladly read any other books in the series, I am not actively going out and looking for another Scottish Bookshop Mystery.

Looking for a good book? The Cracked Spine by Paige Shelton is a fun, fast cozy mystery. If you like cozies, I'd recommend this first book in a series. If you aren't sure, or if you don't like cozy mysteries, this won't change your mind.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

2-1/2 stars

* * * * * *

The Cracked Spine

author: Paige Shelton

series: Scottish Bookshop Mystery #1

publisher: Minotaur Books

ISBN: 1250057485

hardcover, 304 pages

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

MURDLE VOLUME 1 - G. T. Karber

Image
 I enjoy puzzles of many different varieties. I had not heard of 'Murdle' before this but essentially this is a combination of the game of Clue and a Sherlock Holmes micro story. With suspects, possible murder weapons, potential locations, and/or motives plus some very brief hints, readers are meant to combine the logic of what's know with deductive reasoning to identify the killer (or killers?) in 100 different mystery word puzzles. I will admit right off the bat that I did not do all 100.  I didn't even do half of these, but I did so some random sampling through all the categories (Elementary, Occult Medium, Hard Boiled, and Impossible). I did not get any correct in the Impossible category (of course not ... they were impossible!) and only one correct in the Hard Boiled (of five). The Elementary puzzles were, as expected, pretty easy and the Hard Boiled only a little bit more difficult. Each mini mystery comes with a grid printed in the book to help the reader-detecti
Read more

VINYL RESTING PLACE - Olivia Blacke

Image
 Juni Jessup and her two sister, Tansy and Maggie, have gone into business together in their hometown of Cedar River, Texas, opening a combination record store and coffee shop. Vinyl LPs are making a comeback after all, despite critics thinking the medium was dead.  But speaking of 'dead' ... finding a dead body in the supply closet just as they are looking to have a grand opening is not part of the plan.  Juni's life gets more complicated when their uncle, Calvin, already a suspect in the murder, disappears. And the police officer leading the investigation is Juni's EX-boyfriend (who passive-aggressively keeps putting himself back into her life). Convinced that her uncle would never murder anyone, Juni sets out to prove his innocence - which isn't easy since he's making himself look guilty - because Calvin is family and family is EVERYthing to Juni. As readers of my blog know, I'm not a big fan of most cozy mysteries, but the setting caught my eye and my in
Read more

THE RAVEN THIEF - Gigi Pandian

Image
 With Tempest Raj now a member of the company, Secret Staircase Construction (a company who, as their title suggests, builds mystery-themed, secret rooms inside homes) has finished their first job. Their client now wants to celebrate to kick off her new beginning - new home and new life now that she's divorced from her cheating ex-husband, famous mystery author Corbin Colt. First up, a mock séance to remove any trace of Corbin from the property, led by Tempest's friend, Sanjay.   But during that séance, while all those gathered sat in a dark room holding hands, Corbin's dead body crashes the party, falling across the table in front of everyone. There were eight people in the room, and they were all holding hands, but all the evidence points to one of them being the murderer.  Suspicions point to Ash, Tempest's grandfather, because he was the only one with Corbin's blood on him. Of course, as a doctor, he was also the only one who checked on the body - wherein he acq
Read more