A Cozy Christmas at Brooke Blogs is a celebration of wonderful cozy mystery authors and their books. Stop by daily from 12/11/16 through 12/25/16 for special posts and be sure to enter the grand prize giveaway. Curl up and get cozy this holiday season!
Plaid and Plagiarism by Molly MacRae
Highland Bookshop Mystery #1
A murder in a garden turns the four new owners of Yon Bonnie Books into amateur detectives, in a captivating new cozy mystery novel from Molly MacRae.
Set in the weeks before the annual Inversgail Literature Festival in Scotland, Plaid and Plagiarism begins on a morning shortly after the four women take possession of their bookshop in the Highlands. Unfortunately, the move to Inversgail hasn’t gone as smoothly as they’d planned.
First, Janet Marsh is told she’ll have to wait before moving into her new home. Then she finds out the house has been vandalized. Again. The chief suspect? Una Graham, an advice columnist for the local paper—who’s trying to make a name for herself as an investigative reporter. When Janet and her business partners go looking for clues at the house, they find a body—it’s Una, in the garden shed, with a sickle in her neck. Janet never did like that garden shed.
Who wanted Una dead? After discovering a cache of nasty letters, Janet and her friends are beginning to wonder who didn’t, including Janet’s ex-husband. Surrounded by a cast of characters with whom readers will fall in love, the new owners of Yon Bonnie Books set out to solve Una’s murder so they can get back to business.
A delightful and deadly new novel about recognizing one’s strengths and weakness—while also trying to open a new book shop—Plaid and Plagiarism is the start of an entertaining new Scottish mystery series.
Plaid and Plagiarism, Highland Bookshop Mystery #1, introduces four women (three Americans and a Scot who lived in the U.S. for several decades) who come up with a retirement plan/career change. They pool their money and buy a bookshop in a thriving tourist town on the west coast of Scotland. What could go wrong with a great idea like that? It’s a book about learning to recognize one’s strengths and avoiding sheep and high places. And, of course, murder.
From what they could see, the kitchen was covered in garbage. The window looked in over the sink—the sink that was hidden under a mound of papers and food wrappers. Everywhere else there were cans, wads of used paper towels, juice bottles, beer bottles, crusts, rinds, coffee grounds, cores and peelings, and things they couldn’t or wouldn’t want to identify.
“Is that a boot on the stove?” Christine asked. “And shouldn’t I be able to see the floor? Where did it all come from?”
“They couldn’t have been living this way,” Janet said. “I don’t understand. I don’t understand.”
“It’s a dump.”
“It’s a disaster.”
“I’m so sorry, Janet.”
They stood side by side, hands cupped to the window, silent and staring. Until Janet saw movement.
“Holy—” She grabbed Christine’s arm. Someone was in the kitchen. She was sure of it. Below the counter.
Tossing more garbage into the middle of the room. “Did you see that?” she whispered. “What should we do?”
“Get away from here and call the police,” Christine said through gritted teeth while trying to pry Janet’s fingers from her arm. Before she could get the fingers loose, Janet curled her other hand into a fist and rapped on the window.
Someone screamed.
Christine grabbed Janet’s rapping hand and dragged her below the window. “Are you crazy?”
“I’m crazy? You’re crazy! You scared the heliotrope out of me, screaming like that.”
“I didn’t scream,” Christine said. “I never scream. Have you ever heard me scream?”
They stared at each other, then turned to look up toward the window, and then looked back at each other. Christine pulled her cell phone from her purse.
“Wait,” Janet whispered, putting a hand over the phone. “Why now?”
“Because when there’s a screaming lunatic trashing your house it’s the perfect time to call the police.”
“No—”
Christine yanked the phone away.
“I mean why scream now?” Janet asked “We didn’t hear screams when we rang the bell and knocked.”
“Still the perfect time. Dialing nine-nine-nine. Now.” Christine turned away so Janet couldn’t stop her. That also meant she didn’t see Janet rise to peek in the window again, so she wasn’t expecting or prepared for Janet’s scream. “Wha—” Christine’s phone flew from her ear and smacked the rock wall of the house.
About Molly MacRae
The Boston Globe says Molly MacRae writes “murder with a dose of drollery.” In addition to writing the Highland Bookshop Mysteries, Molly is the author of the award-winning Haunted Yarn Shop Mysteries from NAL/Penguin and the stand-alone mystery novels Lawn Order and Wilder Rumors. Molly’s short stories have appeared in Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine since 1990 and she’s a winner of the Sherwood Anderson Award for Short Fiction. Molly and her family live in Champaign, Illinois, where she connects children and books at the public library.
A Cozy Christmas Facebook Event
Stop by the Facebook Event for even more fun! Surprise flash giveaways and more ways to earn entries into the grand prize giveaway. Be sure to RSVP by clicking ‘Going’ and follow along on Facebook. 🙂
What’s A Cozy Christmas without a giveaway? Enter the widget below to be entered in the grand prize giveaway! Every awesome cozy mystery author participating (+ your lovely hostess) has donated prizes to the grand prize giveaway. Each day, new author entries will be added, so be sure to stop back every day! Molly MacRae is generously donating a copy of Plaid and Plagiarism to the giveaway. Thank you, Molly!
Several winners will be randomly selected at the conclusion of the giveaway from all eligible entries. Winners will be contacted via email at the conclusion of the promotion and must respond within 48 hours or a new winner will be selected. Void where prohibited. Giveaway is open to US residents only. Mandatory blog comment entry must be completed each day or entries will not count. If you have any questions, please feel free to e-mail me (brooke [at] brookeblogs.com). Please use the contact form on my contact page or e-mail me if you are interested in participating in my next author promotion.
Who wanted Una dead? Well, I’ll just have to read the book to find out!! Sharon, catwoman-1@comcast.net
LOL! Thanks for stopping by the blog today, Sharon.
Love the cover. How did it come about?
Don’t you love that blue? The cover is thanks to a talented artist working with Pegasus Books.
I love the plot of this book! A group of women in Scotland running a bookstore and solving a murder sounds fabulous. Can’t wait to read it!
Thanks, Amanda! I’m having a LOT of fun writing the books.
Would love to read about four women and a bookshop in Scotland. Sounds like a great start to a new series.
Thank you, Dianne!
so excited to read
Thanks, Kory!
I love cozies that are set in book stores!
I do, too! Thanks for stopping by the blog today, Jana.
I think that this sounds like a wonderful book. I can’t wait to read it.
I want to read this book. Thanks for the giveaway.
I haven’t read this yet it sounds really good.