SPL Shelf Life [adult]

Scotched by Kaitlyn Dunnett
@SPL: FIC Dunne

Although Kaitlyn Dunnett’s heroine Amaryllis “Liss” MacCrimmon is Scottish and owns a Scottish themed shop, this series actually takes place in the completely fictional and peculiarly-named Moosetookalook, Maine.

In this third of the series, Liss, her fianc? Dan and their friend Officer Sherri Campbell, find themselves up to their bagpipes in trouble when a nosy crime blogger and book reviewer threatens to put the cozy town on the map for all the wrong reasons during the first annual Cozy Mystery Writer's Conference.

Anxious to make sure there is a second annual Cozy-Con in Moosetookalook, the concerned members of Chamber of Commerce meet at Liss’s to discuss strategy – and it seems that there is more than one person who bears a grudge against the rude reporter. This proves sticky when she ends up dead at the base of Lover’s Leap; Sherri determines it was not suicide, throwing half the town under the shadow of suspicion.

Now Liss and Dan must stay on the good side of the State Police (and Liss’s old flame, Detective Gordon Tandy) while uncovering some long-buried hatchets that relate to the case, and sort out which of the illustrious authors at Cozy-Con also had reason to see the end of the cruel critic.  

This novel has all the hallmarks of the “cozy” mystery – a charming setting, a nosy and feisty heroine (who has two cats), a memorable cast of characters, and a great balance of tension, humour and romance.

And what could be cozier than a cozy mystery that takes place at a cozy mystery writer’s conference? 

This review appeared in The Stratford Gazette on February 16, 2012. Written by Robyn Godfrey, Librarian.