Blog Tour ~ Death at the Highland Loch

I was given this book in exchange for my honest review.

Move over, Inspector! Lady Poppy Proudfoot is here to solve her very first case.

Scotland, 1924:
 When Lady Poppy Proudfoot travels to the Highlands for a midsummer party, the last thing she and her fellow guests expect is for a body to wash up beside the loch.

Despite protests that it could have been an accident, Poppy is convinced it’s murder and decides to dust off her law degree and hunt for clues. But when the police arrive, the grumpy Inspector MacKenzie dismisses her evidence, insisting a crime scene is no place for a Lady. The nerve!

With the help of her trusted Labrador, Major, Poppy begins to unpick the case. But she soon has two mysteries to solve, as her host Lady Constance Balfour claims a diamond and emerald bracelet has been stolen. Could the two cases be linked? Was it Freddy the footman, a favourite of her ladyship? Or American actress Miss Cornett, with a keen eye for jewels? Or with such a dazzling guestlist, was someone from the local village tempted into the grounds by the party?

When a woman bearing an uncanny resemblance to Poppy is attacked, she realizes that someone wants her off the case. Someone connected to Balfour House is a murderer and a thief, but who? And can Poppy solve the mystery before she, too, washes up beside the loch?

My thoughts:

I enjoy the authors other series so I thought I would try her new one and for a first book in a series I thought it was okay. 

Poppy (Lady Proudfoot) is a widow who has a law degree but when she got the degree women were not allowed to be lawyers. Then she got married and never used her degree. She was invited to a midsummer party at her new friend Lady Constance house. There are some American film makers and stars their as well.

While they were having dinner one of the footmen came in and said that he found a dead man by the Loch. In comes Inspector MacKenzie a handsome but somewhat grumpy man who clashes with Poppy quite a bit during the course of the investigation. Poppy seems to think she can figure things out more than the Inspector since she has that law degree. 

Not only is Poppy trying to figure out what happened with the dead man but Constance wants her to look into a missing bracelet. It seems her late husband had bought it and it wasn't paid for and Constance is having to take care of the bill but she can't find the necklace. 

There are a lot of suspects since it's a house party and there are not only Poppy and Constance but her brother and his wife, the American's and the servants. 

This story was decent but I found Poppy to be annoying at times. She seemed to think she was smarter than the detective as if he couldn't do his job and then just did some stupid things.

The mystery was decent and I had a hard time figuring out whodoneit. Overall it was an okay start to a series. 

3 stars

Author Bio:

Lydia Travers was born in London.  She moved progressively north until settling with her husband in a village on the edge of the Scottish Highlands. She has raised children, bred dogs and kept chickens; and for as long as she can remember has written for pleasure. A former legal academic and practitioner with a PhD in criminology, she now runs self-catering holiday accommodation, sings in a local choir and is walked daily by the family dog.

Lydia also writes as Linda Tyler and her first novel under that name, Revenge of the Spanish Princess, won a 2018 Romance Writers of America competition for the beginning of an historical romance. Her second novel The Laird's Secret was Commended in the 2021 Scottish Association of Writers' Pitlochry Quaich competition for the beginning of a romantic novel. Mischief in Midlothian won the 2022 Scottish Association of Writers' Constable Silver Stag trophy. She has had a number of short stories published in magazines, journals and anthologies in the UK, the USA and Australia.

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Two Bloggers One Series ~ Lair (Rats #2)

Last year we read Rats, I thought it was just a standalone till we started it and found out it was a trilogy. So we are back with book two! After you check out what I thought go on over to Booker T's Farm to see what Barb thought. 

The mutant white rat had grown and mated, creating offspring in its own image. They dominated the others, the dark-furred ones, who foraged for food and brought it back to the lair. Now the dark rats were restless, and the white slug-like thing that ruled them remembered the taste of human flesh.

So it's been five years since the first attach of rats that were altered. The rats that have escaped have been laying low and growing into something far more terrifying than before.

The leader of these rats is a white one with two heads! These rats have grown resistant to poisons and are stronger, smarter and more cunning than ever and they are ready to attack. 

This story is set in a small town and Luke who works for Ratkill is called in to make sure all the rats are dead, but he finds out they are not and that something worse is in the place of the old rats. Here he meets Jenny who has seen something and knows there are rats but nobody wants to believe her. Together Luke and her try and make things safe for everyone, but not until a lot of people being come rat food..I mean victims. 

Not a lot of plot but still a fun rat invested creature feature and I thought it was fun. If you like creature books you might find it's fun but just remember it doesn't have a lot in the way of plot...lol.

4 stars