The Poison Pen is Book 9 in the Scottish Bookshop mystery series by Paige Shelton, set in a specialty bookstore in Edinburgh called The Cracked Spine and continues to be one of my favourite cozy mystery series.
Title: The Poison Pen
Author: Paige Shelton
Series: The Scottish Bookshop mysteries #9
First Published: April 9, 2024
Publisher: Minotaur Books
Genres: Mystery
Acquired: from the publisher
*** Thank you to the publisher, Minotaur Books, for providing me with an advanced copy of this book for review purposes. ***
Edinburgh is mourning recent the death of Queen Elizabeth II when bookseller Delaney Nichols boss Edwin comes to her with a most unusual assignment. Edwin’s old friend Jolie, who lives in an estate in the village of Roslin, has found what could be a priceless relic on her property, and Delaney is tasked with investigating. Could Jolie possibly have an item of Scottish historical significance in her possession? But when Delaney arrives at Jolie’s estate, she’s greeted by several people with their own interest in the property. Jolie manages to remove the interlopers, but as Delaney is examining the priceless item, they hear a scream, and meet a much less welcome site – a body.
As Delaney digs deeper, she discovers Jolie’s own fascinating history. Jolie’s mother had long claimed that her daughter was the rightful heir to the throne, not Elizabeth II, because of an affair she claimed to have with King Edward VIII. The only evidence, however, is in the form of a purported journal that one of Edward’s secretaries kept. The puzzles become more confusing when a connection is uncovered between this far-fetched story and the murdered man. Delaney will have to read between the lines to put together the pieces…or become history herself.
Another engaging adventure with Delaney
The Scottish Bookshop mysteries is one of my favourite series because of the setting (an old bookshop in Edinburgh with a hidden warehouse full of artefacts) and the characters, who are all charming in their own way. This time, most of the story takes place away from the bookshop but it’s still fascinating it so many ways.
There’s a (possibly) priceless relic, shady characters, a claiment to the throne, (alleged) royal affairs, and the ethics of who owns treasures of historical significance. Add on a cast of familiar old characters and some new faces and this cozy mystery has it all.
There’s so much going on and the addition of some new faces keeps this story moving along at a wonderfully fast pace. I was so excited to see find out if the relic was what they thought it might be and then the journey that the relic takes is just a roller-coaster of ups-and-downs. That, along with the murder mystery and finding out if Jolie is really royalty, definitely held my interest for the entire book.
Things are not always black and white
One of the things that this book touches on a lot is how things aren’t always black and white. Life is a lot of grey areas, and several of the characters in the book demonstrate that in a variety of ways. A huge part of this story is who “owns” a treasure that is found and has historical significance. The family that has owned it for generations? The person who found it on their land? The country? The local museum? Whoever can afford to purchase it? All of these come into play often throughout this series, but especially in this one and it was interesting to see how each character – from Edwin, to Delaney, to Joshua – felt about these issues.
Delaney makes a wonderful main character/amateur sleuth. She’s smart, logical and not reckless (most of the time). and she is always considering different points of view. She doesn’t take too many risks and is always quick to keep her police enforcement friends in the loop. I love how well she has settled into life in Scotland and her and Tom make a lovely married couple.
All in all, this was another wonderful addition to the series and I hope there’s more to come!
Quote from The Poison Pen
