Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.42 AVERAGE
3.42 AVERAGE
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
adventurous
emotional
funny
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Kat, Emma, and Cassie are writers posing as friends staying at a Scottish manor for a writing retreat. The owner of the manner, Brett Presley, is killed by being stabbed, and the women are suspects. They investigate in order to prove their innocence. The manor caretaker, Morag, stabbed Brett because she felt he was disrespectful towards the history of the place (previous lord of the manor raped local women including Morag’s grandmother) so she stabbed him but he was actually already dead from using poisonous plants to attempt to treat his ED.
Book was far too long. I enjoyed it in the beginning, but as it went on and on it became a slog. The “investigation” phase of the book mostly became focused on the women becoming romantically involved with local men. In the end, everyone (including secondary characters) is happily married with kids. A better mystery would have helped, but the “obviously they will, we’re just taking our time getting there” aspect of the romance just felt drawn out for an extra 150 pages.
The first part, though long and tough to get through was completely needed to make sense of the second part.
The ending was jaw dropping, however.
The ending was jaw dropping, however.
adventurous
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Three American women on a book retreat find themselves in the middle of a murder investigation at a Scotland castle while they are trying to write a book about the mysterious castle and its legendary owner Edward Kinloch, aka Naughty Ned.
Cassie is a murder writer, Kat is the romantasy writer and Emma writes historical books. All three women met at a convention and with the suggestion of their shared editor, Rachelle, they decided to write a book together. They arrive at Kinloch Castle, now leased out by Mr. Brett Presley, aka BSP, who is a widely known author and notorious jerk. Right away, BSP is killed and we learn that each of these women all have some past connection to him. While pretending to be best friends, these women all have their own agenda and we follow along with them as they try and clear themselves of this murder. As the reader, we slowly uncover what these women's motivations really are and why they decided to take this trip to this castle.
I really should have liked this book— it was right up my alley but I struggled to get through this book. Something was off. I didn’t connect with the characters and it was hard to get invested in the story with all three of them fighting for page time.
I guess I expected a Saved By The Bell murder mystery that was tongue and cheek and I got more of an Murder She Wrote mystery that was trying to be funny and clever. The characters decide the only way to clear their name is to solve the murder on their own but it was hard for me to follow along with the clues because the story was a bit disjointed and didn't keep me invested.
Overall it was a satire on murder mysteries with a classic whodunit component but it fell a bit short for me.
Cassie is a murder writer, Kat is the romantasy writer and Emma writes historical books. All three women met at a convention and with the suggestion of their shared editor, Rachelle, they decided to write a book together. They arrive at Kinloch Castle, now leased out by Mr. Brett Presley, aka BSP, who is a widely known author and notorious jerk. Right away, BSP is killed and we learn that each of these women all have some past connection to him. While pretending to be best friends, these women all have their own agenda and we follow along with them as they try and clear themselves of this murder. As the reader, we slowly uncover what these women's motivations really are and why they decided to take this trip to this castle.
I really should have liked this book— it was right up my alley but I struggled to get through this book. Something was off. I didn’t connect with the characters and it was hard to get invested in the story with all three of them fighting for page time.
I guess I expected a Saved By The Bell murder mystery that was tongue and cheek and I got more of an Murder She Wrote mystery that was trying to be funny and clever. The characters decide the only way to clear their name is to solve the murder on their own but it was hard for me to follow along with the clues because the story was a bit disjointed and didn't keep me invested.
Overall it was a satire on murder mysteries with a classic whodunit component but it fell a bit short for me.
adventurous
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
adventurous
emotional
informative
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes