Delaney Nichols is not sure what to do. She was hired by Edwin MacAlister to organize his eccentric collections and help out in his bookshop. Although she’s a transplant to Edinburgh, she’s settled in and has made Scotland her home. She is slowly going through Edwin’s warehouse, cataloging and getting appraisals for, say, his collection of eyeglasses and monocles. And while Delaney is doing that, Edwin has to leave town suddenly.
Normally, it would be fine if Edwin needed to travel, but this is his tour. Four people are coming to town especially to go on Edwin’s tour. He chose only four people every year, based on emails and letters. He is the only one who has ever led the tour. And now, Delaney has to take it over. She has a day to familiarize herself with Edwin’s materials and tour notes and to learn what she can about the four members of the tour.
Kevin is a older woman who owns a bookshop in London. Gunter is from Berlin and deals in old manuscripts. Meera is a university student from Dublin. And Luka is an Australian who challenged Edwin to make him a reader. He said that if Edwin could get him interested in reading, then he would make a large donation to Edwin’s favorite charity. Of course, he could not resist that. But now, it’s up to Delaney to try to win him over.
Before the tour can even get going, they all meet for dinner and Delaney offers them the chance to come back for another tour with Edwin himself, but they all agree they want to go ahead with the tour now. With Delaney. But they can’t even get past drinks the first night before things go badly at the inn. A woman is attacked out front, and a man jumps from the roof.
The police take over the investigation, and Darcy’s group decides to go ahead with the tour. So between walks on the Royal Mile and places that may have inspired locations in the Harry Potter books, Delaney tries to figure out what happened at the inn. A trip to the roof shows her how difficult it would be to jump from the roof, so she starts to think that he must have been helped off the roof. Then one of the tour group disappears. And another woman with ties to the inn is attacked.
Delaney thinks that these must be related somehow, but she can’t figure out how to piece it all together. She keeps going with the tour, showing some of her favorite places in her new town, Delaney also keeps her eyes and ears open, asking questions when she can and keeping her inspector friend updated with everything she finds. But will she be able to put together the pieces and figure out what’s going on, or will someone get away with murder?
Fateful Words is the eighth book in Paige Shelton’s charming Scottish Bookshop Mystery series. It’s an intriguing crime story woven with a lot of stories and facts about Edinburgh, complete with St. Giles’ Cathedral, Deacon Brodie’s Tavern, and the school that inspired Hogwarts. There are geographical ties to Sir Walter Scott, Robert Louis Stevenson, and The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie. But there are also great characters and a little bit of magic along with a smart mystery and true friendship.
I loved Fateful Words. The mystery was difficult to piece together, and the writing was deliciously easy to read. I love Scotland, so I adore the setting, especially with the tour of historical places and the ties to famous books and authors. I haven’t read all the books in this series, so now I know that I have to go back and read more. This works well as a murder mystery, but it’s also good for planning a trip to Edinburgh, or even just staying home and dreaming about going on Edwin’s tour for yourself.
Egalleys for Fateful Words were provided by Minotaur Books through NetGalley, with many thanks.
