Reviewed by Stephanie on
It always seems to take me a bit to get into a Scottish Bookshop Mystery. Once I do I really enjoy them. Lost Books and Old Bones by Paige Shelton was no different. I think it may be all of the Scottish accents written into the books.
Two of my biggest complaints about the first book in the series are no longer issues. As Lost Books and Old Bones is the third book in the series, Delaney is just Delaney throughout the book instead of Delaney from Kansas in America. I feel like that was how she was introduced every time in the first book and since she was brand new to Scotland it was said a lot. Delaney has also seemed to adjust to life in Scotland. In the first book her mind was forever blown by driving on the opposite side of the road. Now the characters just drive places.
The mystery in Lost Books and Old Bones was pretty good. There was a lot to take into consideration as to how everything may or may not have played out. I think I fell right into Shelton's scheme by suspecting someone else entirely of the crime. I loved that I didn't even suspect the culprit. I had more than one theory and none of them were right.
The thing about cozy mysteries is that they aren't ever really scary. Even during the high tension plot points I was never fearful. Its kind of like a romance you know that you're going to read a happily ever after and that's part of what you're banking on. I love cozies because they don't require much from me emotionally but can still trip me up intelligently.
The characters are the familiar cast with a few new ones introduced. Shelton also explores a little bit of Burke and Hare history, two of Scotland's most notorious serial killers. I really did enjoy the story and characters in this continuation of the Scottish Bookshop Mystery series. I have the next book pre-ordered and won't have much of a wait as it is being released in April. Yay for short waits!
Reading updates
- Started reading
- 1 February, 2019: Finished reading
- 1 February, 2019: Reviewed