eARC Review of The Scottish Ladies Detective Agency

 

I was given this book by Netgalley and the Publisher for a fair and honest review.

When Maud McIntyre sets up her own private detective agency, she never imagines her first case will involve murder… A mystery in the Highlands? The Scottish Ladies’ Detective Agency is on the case!

Edinburgh, 1911: When Maud McIntyre and her lady’s maid, Daisy, form a detective agency, they never dream their first case will take place at a glamorous house in the Scottish Highlands. But when the Duchess of Duddingston, concerned that a notorious jewellery thief will target her lavish weekend party, employs Maud to go undercover as a guest to find the culprit, the agency has its first case to solve…

Undercover with Daisy as her maid, Maud follows a trail of clues across the Duddingston House estate. And as she meets the weekend guests, she hopes one of them will reveal themselves as the jewellery thief. But when one of the house guests is discovered dead, Maud and Daisy realise they’re not only hunting precious gems, but a murderer…

As Maud and Daisy investigate, they realise that a connection in Edinburgh might hold a vital clue that will help them solve the case. Travelling back to the city, Maud hopes that what she and Daisy uncover will help them piece together the murder mystery at Duddingston House…

But when Maud receives a telephone call from the Duchess requesting urgent assistance, she realises that the murderer didn’t have just one victim in mind. Speeding down the drive to Duddingston House, Maud and Daisy hear gunshots ring out across the estate. Will they reach the Duchess in time to save her? And will they catch the murderer in the act?

So in this start to a new series Maud and her former maid decide they are going to be private detectives. They solved a case earlier and think that makes them qualified to do the work and have opened a place, but their first would be client thought they were men and didn't want to hire them, then they get lucky when a Duchess walks in also looking for a man, but thinks it's interesting that it's two females and decides to hire them.

There has been a lot of recent jewelry thefts and the Dutchess in throwing a party and doesn't want anything to happen to any of her guess things, so Maud and Daisy go undercover to see if they can figure out who might  be the person stealing things before it happens and if not catch the person whodonit, but they get a murder as well as a theft. 

Everyone's a suspect so it's a hard case for thier first official case and everything is riding on getting things right. The guest are all wealthy or at least have the appearance of wealth so why would they need to steal jewelry? 

This is just one of the cases the ladies have as they are also hired to find a dog, a missing person and some scadalous letters. 

I thought this was a decent start to a series even though it took longer than I would like for the murder to happen when I am reading a cozy mystery. I also thought it had a lot of things happening with all the different cases they were working on at the same time.

It's set during the time when Scotland was having their sufferage movement and at times I thought there was a little to much additude with the two main characters. I get the time period but for me it was a bit much, others will like it more than me. It's my only real gripe and it's my opinion. 

I like how it wrapped up and how certain things came together and was satified with who the killer was and how it was solved. It was a decent mystery.

I will be looking forward to the next one in this series.

4 Stars