A Long Time Dead by J.M. Dalgliesh

 

First Line: Were it not for the cool breeze drifting in off Loch Dunvegan, she could have been dancing on a beach in the Mediterranean, the crushed white coral beneath her feet giving off an iridescent sheen in the moonlight.

 

Detective Inspector Duncan McAdam is persona non grata in Glasgow, and he finds himself sent to the Isle of Skye to work on the investigation into the death of Isla Matheson, a young woman who disappeared twenty years ago. McAdam isn't happy to return to the place where he grew up, so he wants to bring the investigation to its conclusion as quickly as possible.

The officer in charge doesn't want him there either, so McAdam is relegated to working on interviewing the people who knew Isla. While the main part of the task force concentrates on finding a stranger who killed Isla while traveling through the area, McAdam and the men he's working with believe that the killer is a local-- even though no one in the community is saying much.

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The major reason why I picked up A Long Time Dead was due to its setting: the Isle of Skye in Scotland. I've spent a few weeks there and wanted a return visit even though it would only be through the pages of a book. As far as the setting goes, this book is a gold mine. I could follow McAdam all around the island, recognizing all sorts of landmarks (even a grocery store that I shopped in in Portree). 

The main character, D.I. Duncan McAdam, is on suspension from the Glasgow Police. He's been thrown out by his girlfriend, and as far as the police force goes, he's being passed around like a bad smell. Even his sister, who lives on Skye, isn't all that happy with him. Fortunately, he works well with the Portree police officers he's assigned to work with, and he gradually feels more comfortable in the area he left so many years ago.

While the setting and characterization were strong points for me, the mystery was not. Everything fell into place for me when one small item was revealed about one of the characters. Although that was disappointing, I will be reading more in the series because I know I want to return to Skye.

A Long Time Dead by J.M. Dalgliesh

ASIN: B0CJRR38LP

Hamilton Press © 2023

eBook, 356 pages

 

Police Procedural, #1 Misty Isle mystery

Rating: B+

Source: Purchased from Amazon.  

The Story Keeper by Anna Mazzola

First Line: Shrieking split the leaden sky and Audrey looked up to see a host of birds, their wings ink-black against the grey.

It is 1857, and the Highland Clearances have left the Isle of Skye devastated, its remaining people mired in poverty. It is here that young Audrey Hart has come to help collect the folk and fairy tales of the people and communities.

When Audrey discovers the body of a young girl washed up on the beach, the crofters tell her that it's only a few weeks since another girl disappeared. The locals believe that the girls are victims of restless dead spirits that take the form of birds.

But Audrey becomes convinced that the girls' disappearances have nothing to do with the supernatural, and as she sets out to prove her theory, she finds her own life in danger.

The Isle of Skye, reeling from the Clearances, is the perfect atmospheric setting for Anna Mazzola's Gothic suspense novel, The Story Keeper. Newly arrived from London, young Audrey Hart is eager to begin collecting folk and fairy tales. But the locals are distrustful. To them, Audrey represents the people who burned so many of them out of their homes, the people who stole friends and family and sold them as slaves in America, the people who have forbidden them to speak their own language and share their own stories. It doesn't even really help if Audrey tells them that her mother was a Scot who often visited Skye to collect stories. Too much pain, so many losses, have colored the way these people feel-- and who can blame them?

The Story Keeper comes close to being the typical Gothic suspense novel (creepy house, strange behavior from the locals, bad weather, etc.), but Mazzola weaves so much of the life of the people into her story that it rises above the genre. And Audrey isn't the typical naïve heroine. She has an a-ha moment that should make all readers stop and think when she's "...wondering how many crimes had been concealed by claims of the mystical." Once she has that thought, The Story Keeper transforms from a typical Gothic novel to a murder mystery.

I really enjoyed The Story Keeper for the descriptions of the Isle of Skye, for the weaving of social history into the narrative, for the folk and fairy tales, and for its murder mystery (even though it wasn't very difficult to deduce the villains). I'll definitely be on the lookout for more of Mazzola's writing.

The Story Keeper by Anna Mazzola

ISBN: 9781472234780

Tinder Press © 2018

Hardcover, 352 pages

Gothic Suspense, Standalone

Rating: A

Source: Purchased from Amazon UK.


 

Human Face by Aline Templeton

First Line: It was the moon that woke her, shining through the uncurtained casement window and flooding the attic bedroom with cold, pure light.

Detective Inspector Kelso Strang is back to work from bereavement leave. Instead of staying in Edinburgh, his superior sends him off to the Isle of Skye as part of the new Serious Rural Crime Squad initiative. It's supposed to be a routine check on a missing persons report, but when Strang arrives and starts investigating, he knows there's a lot more going on... and that the woman is probably dead, not just missing.

The missing woman happens to be the latest in the endless short-term merry-go-round of "housekeepers" employed by Adam Carnegie, the head of a charity called Human Face. Beatrice Lacey, co-founder of the charity, is the one person who may be able to shed light on Carnegie, but she is devoted to him and completely unwilling to give up her dreams of a happily ever after.

One thing is certain: the missing woman tipped the first of a row of dominoes, and as each one falls, the danger mounts. Strang has his work cut out for him.

Aline Templeton is the author of one of my favorite crime fiction series, the DI Marjory Fleming mysteries set in southwestern Scotland. When I happened to stumble across the second book in this new Kelso Strang series and found out that the first book was set on the Isle of Skye (a place I love), I was all over Human Face like a rash.

Kelso Strang is a very interesting main character. A sniper in Afghanistan then a member of an Armed Response Team on the Edinburgh police force, he was seriously injured in the automobile accident in which his beloved wife was killed. The only thing that has the power to keep him going is his job, but his team feels his mood is bringing them down, so his superior officer (who truly has his best interests at heart) settles on the missing persons report on Skye to keep him busy and his team in Edinburgh sweet. I really liked watching how this man approaches cases and the way he interviews suspects and witnesses because not everyone is what they appear to be, and the villagers are extremely reluctant to open up to outsiders (with the exception of the hotel owner who's responsible for most of the gossip).

Strang is teamed up with local constable Livvy Murray, who is first seen as acerbic and lackadaisical, not really worthy of the uniform. One of the best things about Human Face is watching how Livvy transforms. She's not Wonder Woman by book's end, which would be totally unrealistic, but readers can now see her real potential. And it looks as though she may become Strang's partner in the series, which is another plus. In fact, this Serious Rural Crimes Squad is an excellent idea for a series because it will be able to take readers throughout Scotland to little-known places. Since I'm an armchair sleuth who absolutely loves Scotland, I can't wait! And in case you're wondering how well Templeton does settings, her brooding, atmospheric descriptions of the Black Cuillin towering over the village made the location a real character in the book.

As much as there is to enjoy in Human Face, I didn't find it to be a total success even though the revelation of whodunnit was a complete surprise. There was a bit too much emphasis on the delusional Beatrice Lacey and the despicable Adam Carnegie-- to the point where I found myself thinking more than once "get back to Strang and Murray!"-- and in general, the book needed more editing and tightening. But as it stands, Human Face definitely makes me want to read more of Templeton's new series, and since the next book in the series, Carrion Comfort, will be released shortly, I know what I'll be buying.

Human Face by Aline Templeton

eISBN: 9780749022686

Allison & Busby © 2018

eBook, 480 pages

Police Procedural, #1 DI Kelso Strang mystery

Rating: B+

Source: Purchased from Amazon.