A Cold Highland Wind (Lady Emily Mysteries, 17)
Book seventeen in the series starts with Lady Emily and her husband Colin Hargreaves enjoying a vacation with their three young sons at Cairnfarn Castle. They travelled there during the summer of 1905 to visit their friend, the Duke of Bainbridge. The vacation turns grim when the gamekeeper is found murdered after a local festival. As Emily and Colin investigate, they find that even in small villages it is possible for secrets to run deep.
More than 200 years earlier, in the village of Cairnfarn, Lady MacAllister is removed from the castle by her stepson and given a small cottage to share with her companion, Tansy, a young woman who was stolen from her home in North Africa years before. The two women navigate their new position in the village with the help of some of the local women. But not all are as friendly as they seem. The two women will be caught up in the furor over witchcraft and forced to make difficult choices.
The novel is filled with delightfully quirky characters, including the three young boys and two great aunts who provide comedic relief at just the right time. The sense of place is strong in this book and plays a role in shaping the story. In fact, I was unable to detect a link between the two storylines other than they occurred in the same location, which left me feeling as though the promise of the story was not quite fulfilled. Despite that, it makes for an enjoyable read for those who want to be immersed in the Scottish countryside.
