Dr. Emilia McRoy has moved from Seattle to a snowy Scottish Isle in this mystery series. She discovered that as well as being the local doctor, she has to become the coroner. Sea Isle has been welcoming and Emilia is naturally invited to a large wedding in a castle. This sets us up for a tale of DEATH AT A SCOTTISH WEDDING.
Morrigan's Castle is owned by the local Constable, Ewan Campbell, who previously worked on a case with Emilia. As winter travel can be hazardous, the guests are invited to be prepared to stay for the weekend. A snowstorm doesn’t surprise anyone and there’s plenty of food and a power generator. But when a man who wasn’t invited is discovered dead, it means everyone may be trapped here with a murderer.
One theme is whether the wedding of Angie, who runs a boutique, to well-off Damien Carthage is going to proceed. The people on one side don’t respect the people on the other side, particularly the groom’s parents don’t like Angie. Snarky remarks, arguments, and envy, plus memories of who stole whose boyfriend in the past, create a toxic atmosphere. Then someone is harmed by what might be a poison. With all the bad omens, the celebration is looking shaky.
I hadn’t met these folks before and they did start to blur, all being either very nice or very gritty, let’s say. On the friendly side are Mara, Abigail, and her brother Tommy. Abigail is the efficient sidekick when the doctor decides to carry out an autopsy, pretty much the minute she stumbles over a newly-dead body, and moves it to the cellar of the castle. To me, the haste is extraordinary; I can believe taking some blood samples but there has been no effort to find relatives to identify this man. Nobody even considers asking if there’s a defibrillator in the castle in case he can be saved. A doctor’s instinct should make her try resuscitation at once. And nobody asks for a priest or minister, which in Scotland would be socially obligatory.
The activities of the weekend are fun and engaging, so if we didn’t have the country house murder aspect this could be a nice romance. A castle is so atmospheric that it’s a natural location for suspense, especially minus mains electricity, so cue snooping around, creaks, cold draughts, and footsteps. I can’t understand how Emilia keeps walking around alone even after being told more than once that everyone needs to be in pairs. Author Lucy Connelly has a fine time with her adventure in DEATH AT A SCOTTISH WEDDING, which kept me reading and puzzling.
Dr. Emilia McRoy is back on the case in the second book in the Scottish Isle mystery series, perfect for fans of Sheila Connolly and Charlene O’Connor.
Something old, something new, something borrowed and someone’s blue…
Finally feeling like Sea Isle, Scotland is becoming her new home, American doctor Emilia McRoy is delighted when she is invited to a wedding at Morrigan's Castle. Her friends have warned her that it's a three-day party and it's bound to get wild, not to mention the impending snowstorm. Constable Ewan Campbell, owner of the castle, ensures their safety with the blizzard. What he didn’t ensure, is that all of his guests would survive the night alive. When Emilia explores the impressive castle, she finds a dead man in one of the turrets.
The snowstorm hits and the local police can’t reach the castle until it lets up. With no one able to leave, the family insists they carry on with the wedding, which makes Emilia's job as the coroner a bit easier—the suspects are in one place––and complicated because the killer has Emilia in his sights. The fact no one claims to know the victim isn't helping. Why would someone no one knows be murdered at a castle in the middle of nowhere?
It’s up to Emilia to uncover the mystery who the victim is, so the killer doesn’t get away Scot free.
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