Dr. Emilia McRoy, who moved her practice to an island off Scotland, has been finding her feet as the sole American present. She’s enjoying learning all the local customs and folk tales. This time Emilia encounters DEATH ON A SCOTTISH TRAIN.

The cheerful Scottish Isle Mystery series has presented weddings, seasonal festivals and more, with just one doctor and one police officer available to aid the day-to-day running of Sea Isle. Even doctors get time off, so with her best friend, Mara, who runs a local business, Emilia boards a train ride complete with storytellers. This renovated Storyteller’s Train is a great idea to breathe new life into the old tales and pay some wages to actors and historians. One of the costumed presenters doesn’t appear. After the trip, Emilia finds out why not.

With her trusty assistant Abigail, friendly constable Ewan McGregor and others in town, Emilia is soon investigating why someone disliked Donald Jacks sufficiently to murder him by means currently unknown, and leave his body in a broom cupboard at the station. Being the sole doctor makes Emilia the medical examiner, too, which provides access to any cases of suspicious death. While she doesn’t talk to others, the town gossip runs pretty fast, and all kinds of issues are exposed. Really, telling tall tales was the least of Donald Jacks’s pursuits.

I enjoyed this tale and can see it appealing to those who like amateur sleuth stories, which work well with the police. Quite often, the sleuth is told to stay out of the investigation, but this doctor is an integral part of crime-solving on Sea Isle. We pick up some useful tips, like making passwords harder to guess, and spotting where items have been secretly stashed. Emilia also makes time to enjoy more of the festival fun with the locals, becoming a real part of the community.

DEATH ON A SCOTTISH TRAIN by Lucy Connelly is the fourth book in the series and I am sure there is plenty of scope to continue.