Mik lives in Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, but travels the length and breadth of the UK as a Project Manager. He's a long-time crime fiction fan, with bookshelves groaning under the weight of signed copies from some of the greats of the genre. He's also a reviewer, and an aspiring crime writer, with hopes of joining his literary heroes on a shelf near you in the not too distant future.
Fair
is foul and foul is fair when Catriona McPherson’s aristocratic private
detective returns in the 12th book of this historical crime series.
Set in
Scotland 1934, Dandy Gilver receives a letter from an old friend Minnie
Bewer. The Bewer’s castle is in need of major work, and the family are
struggling financially. So to bring in some revenue they decide to turn their
ailing castle into a theatre and put on a production of Macbeth. An influx of
actors, staff and guests mean the Bewer’s need extra help with security, and
Dandy, along with her trusted friend and colleague Alec Osbourne, step up to
the task.
When
they arrive they soon discover that there are more sinister goings on behind
the scenes and security isn’t all the Bewer’s wanted. Dandy is asked to look
for the Cut Throat – a cursed ruby necklace that has been missing for thirty
years. The necklace has a dark history and the more Dandy uncovers the more she
discovers about her friends and their darkest secrets.
I
usually like my fiction a little darker, but this is an easy read for those who
like crime on the cosy side. It’s an easy read, that took a while to get going
but with a good blend of humour and mystery it keeps you interested until the
pace picks up. I did find the amount of characters difficult to keep up with at
times, and the outlandish theories that were thrown around were a bit of a
stretch, but strangely it all worked rather well. Catriona is a versatile
writer, delivering another entertaining and uplifting story. If you’re a fan of
historical dramas then you can’t fail to enjoy the latest in the Dandy Gilver
series.
