Murder at a Scottish Social

by Traci Hall

Overview

USA Today bestselling author Traci Hall returns to the charming seaside town of Nairn, Scotland, where busy mom, sweater shop owner, and knitting enthusiast Paislee Saw must untangle a murder by Scottish shortbread cookie!

When a tainted Scottish shortbread cookie kills the Queen Bee of a competitive mom clique, Paislee Shaw, owner of Cashmere Crush sweater shop and knitting sleuth, must unravel the clues in the third installment of Traci Hall’s Scottish Shire Mystery series.

Opening her shop Cashmere Crush and making a new home for herself, her son Brody, Gramps, and their black Scottish terrier Wallace in the beautiful Scottish village of Nairn is a dream come true. So Paislee is happy to give back by donating a luxurious cashmere sweater for an auction to raise money for the Nairn Food Bank. She’s less happy to make the acquaintance of a clique of competitive moms at the charity event, who treat a baking contest like it’s life or death. It turns out to be the latter for Queen Bee Kristen Buchanan when a peanut-laced shortbread cookie triggers her fatal nut allergy.

Who would poison Kristen? How about half the town? But when Paislee’s pal Blaise is suspected, the sweater-selling sleuth leaps into action to unravel the mystery. Along with gruff but handsome DI Mack Zeffer, she has to sort through a batch of suspects without becoming this cookie-cutter killer’s next target…

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781496726032
Publisher:	Kensington
Publication date:	01/25/2022
Series:	A Scottish Shire Mystery , #3
Pages:	288
Sales rank:	124,619
Product dimensions:	5.51(w) x 8.26(h) x 0.75(d)

About the Author

Traci Hall is the USA Today bestselling author of over fifty books across an array of genres, from cozy mysteries to contemporary seaside romances, YA, and nonfiction. She is also the co-author of the Salem B&B Mystery series as Traci Wilton. A member of Mystery Writers of America, RWA and former President of the Florida Romance Writers Association, Hall co-runs CommunityAuthors.com and provides editing services for many accomplished novelists. She lives in South Florida and can be found online at TraciHall.com.

Editorial Reviews

12/20/2021

Hall’s enjoyable third Scottish Shire mystery (after 2021’s Murder in a Scottish Garden) finds Paislee Shaw, the owner of Cashmere Crush, a sweater and yarn shop in Nairn, Scotland, participating in the Nairn Food Bank fund-raiser. The animosity of some insufferable folks involved in the charitable event spills over into the baking contest. The search for best cookie gets a bit too competitive when arrogant, socially prominent Kirsten Buchanan keels over after eating a shortbread cookie that may have contained peanuts, which she is allergic to. When no one can locate Kirsten’s EpiPen, Paislee tries CPR in a vain effort to save her life. The obvious suspect in what turns into a murder investigation is Kirsten’s personal chef, but plenty of others had reason to want Kirsten dead, and Paislee determines to suss out the culprit. Meanwhile, she must patiently deal with the mysterious disappearance of her uncle. Witty characters match the well-crafted plot, though the Scottish dialect can be a bit much at times (“Kirsten is oot for bluid. My bluid”). Cozy fans will want to see a lot more of the compassionate Paislee. Agent: Evan Marshall, Evan Marshall Agency. (Feb.)

Publishers Weekly

2021-10-27
A clique of rich women make life so miserable for someone that it leads to murder.

Paislee Shaw, owner of Cashmere Crush in Nairn, Scotland, is all for a peaceful life raising her son and knitting, but an invitation to a fundraiser for the local food bank involves her in yet another murder. Paislee packs her wares and goes to join several friends sharing a table at the recently renovated Social Club and Art Centre, including her newest friend, Blaise O’Connor, who's well off and devoted to her husband, Shep, the pro at the local golf course. Blaise is verbally attacked by the nasty alpha mom Kirsten Buchanan, whose husband helped Shep get his job and knows a lot of secrets she isn’t afraid to spill. The day features a lot of backbiting between Kirsten and her sycophants, Mari, who's bulimic, and Christina, who drinks. Sales go well until the ill-fated baking contest: When Kirsten tastes her own shortbread before presenting it to the judges, she goes into anaphylactic shock—and her EpiPens are missing. Despite Paislee’s best efforts at CPR, Kirsten dies. Kirsten had a severe peanut allergy well known to all her friends, but the personal chef she'd just fired is the prime suspect. Paislee thinks he's innocent and hopes to convince her attractive nemesis, DI Mack Zeffer, of that fact, when she isn't busy dealing with her son being bullied and her grandfather’s hidden secrets.

Our heroine solves her mysteries with aplomb against a delightful Scottish background replete with good friends and a loyal dog.

Kirkus Reviews

Beverley Crick's lilting Scottish accent takes listeners straight to the seaside town of Nairn, where Paislee runs a knitting shop, cares for her son and grandfather, hangs with some nasty women, and solves murders on the side.

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