Feelings were tense in the small village. A public
relations event that Maggie Lauder, a local island
archaeologist, had organized and invited her American
friend, Jean Fairbairn, a journalist connected with Great
Scot now living in Edinburgh to attend, so Jean could write
up the story. Hopefully, it was to be about finding the
burial place of Genevieve, King Arthur's Queen, but things
had to be quickly cancelled when the body of a man was
found in the grave instead. Then things went when horribly
wrong when another murder occurs.
When the investigating detective arrives, Jean is shocked
by Grinsell's manner and his overbearing and loutish
attitudes. After all, she is used to how professional
police would behave as she is married to Scottish born
Alasdair Cameron, who himself is a former Detective Chief
Inspector and now Head of Protect and Survive, Edinburgh.
Turns out, Cameron had dealt with Grinsell in the past and
attempts to stop Jean from getting involved. But, as that
would be like not breathing to her, she can't help but try
to make sense of the clues she knows about. The mystery
man had been killed by a chanter, a thin woodwind
instrument whose function is adjunct to the Highland
bagpipe. Was a musician involved? That has possibilities,
but when it goes missing; folks have even more worries
about who may be killed next.
In addition to her sleuthing abilities, Jean is a very
intelligent woman with a keen intuitive ability and the
occasional experiences with the paranormal and with ghosts.
What messages are they trying to give her? Is she being
too sure that her friend Maggie is innocent? As they fog
rolls in, everything is murky and no one can leave as the
ferry has been cancelled. Was the murder a crime of
passion or not? As circumstances continue to point to one
person, Jean is relentless in pursuing the truth, but can
she find out more before the murderer kills again or even
turns on her? Meanwhile, she suspects some of her
informants are not entirely truthful. What will happen next?
Lillian Stewart Carl has crafted a very intriguing multi-
layered tale that lies in the present, yet with deep roots
reaching deep back into medieval history as well as to the
almost forgotten shards of memories of a brilliant woman
now suffering with dementia. Filled with suspense and
intrigue that captures the broody mood of the foggy and
close knit community on Small Farnaby Island, close to the
holy isle of Lindisfarme, off the coast of Northumberland.
The novel reads well both as an intriguing mystery on its
own or as a further adventure with these two main
protagonists as this is the seventh book in Carl's Jean
Fairbairn/ Alasdair Mystery series highly regarded by
her
fans. I found her characters, both main and secondary, to
be quite diverse, yet well-drawn and believable in their
actions and roles. There is also an appearance of Jean's
friends, Michael and Rebecca Campbell-Reid, who come to
help Jean, so fans of the series will be happy to get their
updates. THE AVALON CHANTER is a treat for any historical
mystery lover! Enjoy the sleuthing and the drama!
Archaeologist Maggie Lauder has personal reasons for proving Farnaby Island is the Avalon of Arthurian legend. But when she opens a tomb in a medieval chantry chapel, her plans go awry. The story Jean Fairbairn planned to write is shadowed by a contemporary investigation. Her husband, ex-cop Alasdair Cameron, has a history with the investigating detective, if not as long a history as Maggie does. They are stranded on Farnaby, caught in the conflicting loyalties of its inhabitants, trusting only each other--until they find themselves on opposite sides of a cold case turned scorching hot. Northumbria, between England and Scotland, the uncertain shore where this world fades into the next, bagpipers play laments on their chanters, and ghostly plainchant echoes in the fog. It's April in Avalon.
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