Blog Tour - The Scottish Ladies’ Detective Agency
Review - 4 stars:
Lydia Travers is a new author for me, however I love my historical cosy crime (especially when the detective is female), so I took a risk. It definitely paid off!
Initially, The Scottish Ladies’ Detective Agency was a little slow to get going. For the first third of the book, Maud seemed slightly inept. However, as this is her first proper case (I’m not including the previous one referenced, as the answer to that came so easily to her), that seems realistic to me. I really enjoyed watching Maud improve her detective skills over the course of the book.
I really like both the main characters in this book. Maud is determined, and willing to make mistakes and learn from them. She’s not rich and gregarious as some of the other historical detectives I like to read, but she’s a very admirable character. I really like her calm determination. Daisy is also a great character. She’s cheeky and funny, and very lovable. I’m looking forward to getting to know them both better in future books.
The plot was very enjoyable too. It took a little while to pick up pace (not surprising in the first book of a series), but it involved an excellent combination of mysteries (or is it all the same mystery?), which I really enjoyed getting my teeth into.
Overall, this was an excellent cosy crime, with engaging main characters. I can’t wait to read the next in the series.
I was given a copy of this book, my opinions are my own.
Book Description:
When Maud McIntyre sets up her own private detective agency, she never imagines her first case will involve murder… A mystery in the Highlands? The Scottish Ladies’ Detective Agency is on the case!
Edinburgh, 1911: When Maud McIntyre and her lady’s maid, Daisy, form a detective agency, they never dream their first case will take place at a glamorous house in the Scottish Highlands. But when the Duchess of Duddingston, concerned that a notorious jewellery thief will target her lavish weekend party, employs Maud to go undercover as a guest to find the culprit, the agency has its first case to solve…
Undercover with Daisy as her maid, Maud follows a trail of clues across the Duddingston House estate. And as she meets the weekend guests, she hopes one of them will reveal themselves as the jewellery thief. But when one of the house guests is discovered dead, Maud and Daisy realise they’re not only hunting precious gems, but a murderer…
As Maud and Daisy investigate, they realise that a connection in Edinburgh might hold a vital clue that will help them solve the case. Travelling back to the city, Maud hopes that what she and Daisy uncover will help them piece together the mystery.
But when Maud receives a telephone call from the Duchess requesting urgent assistance, she realises that the murderer didn’t have just one victim in mind. Speeding down the drive to Duddingston House, Maud and Daisy hear gunshots ring out across the estate. Will they reach the Duchess in time to save her? And might they catch the murderer in the act?
A warm page-turning historical whodunnit, perfect for fans of the mysteries of Helena Dixon, Verity Bright, T.E. Kinsey and Catherine Coles.
Author Bio:
Lydia Travers was born in London. She moved progressively north until settling with her husband in a village on the edge of the Scottish Highlands. She has raised children, bred dogs and kept chickens; and for as long as she can remember has written for pleasure. A former legal academic and practitioner with a PhD in criminology, she now runs self-catering holiday accommodation, sings in a local choir and is walked daily by the family dog.
Lydia also writes as Linda Tyler and her first novel under that name, Revenge of the Spanish Princess, won a 2018 Romance Writers of America competition for the beginning of an historical romance. Her second novel The Laird's Secret was Commended in the 2021 Scottish Association of Writers' Pitlochry Quaich competition for the beginning of a romantic novel. Mischief in Midlothian won the 2022 Scottish Association of Writers' Constable Silver Stag trophy. She has had a number of short stories published in magazines, journals and anthologies in the UK, the USA and Australia.
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