Another fun installment in the Scottish Bookshop Mystery series. I love reading about Tom and Delaney near the beginning of their relationship. It is nice to see how they have grown, together, as the books progress. ( )

Book 3 of the series, A Scottish Book Mystery, has Delaney Nichols searching for the killer of a medical student.
Delaney Nichols works at The Cracked Spine, a book store that has rare books. Some medical students brought some antique medical books to sell. Another mystery to solve for Delaney after a medical student is murdered.The Cracked Spine is a book shop in Edinburgh where Delaney works with Edwin, the owner and Rosie and Hamlet. Rosie has a Scottish terrier, Hector, who loves to be scratched behind his ears.
I am enjoying these books based in Scotland. Paige Shelton has written some books that give a lot of history, mystery and a love interest as well as special friends.
I gave this book a 4 star rating I found these audio books on You Tube for no cost. The series can be read as a stand alone, but I suggest they be read in order. I plan to order some hard copies of the books. ( )

Eh. Not great, but not bad. The MC, Delaney was pushy - I'd have gotten really shirty with her had I been one of the other characters. Very woman-with-a-mission; even though it wasn't of the 'I can do the police's job better' variety, it was still overbearing and unrealistic.

I did like the Burke and Hare theme though, and I thought they mystery itself was well plotted and a little diabolical, even if part of it didn't work.

The murder suspect is accused of killing three patients on the table - the first one is called a botched appendectomy. So if he isn't the murderer, how did the real murderer kill three of his patents in surgery while making it look like his fault? If they happened post op, it was never specified.
(hide spoiler)

I usually like these for the ambiance (Edinburgh), this history sprinkled throughout and the setting of a bookshop with an attached room of treasures, collected over time by the owner. I'll keep reading them, unless Delaney continues to be pushy and overbearing. ( )

4 stars
This is my favorite of the first three books in the series. Delaney’s friends and co-workers weren’t hiding things from each other and the mystery itself was top notch taking in real life historical events of Burke and Hare and a related fictional 10 years old mystery at the medical school, along with a new murder outside the Cracked Spine.
Along with an excellent mystery some new characters were introduced my favorite among them being Bridget, an old girlfriend of Toms, a reporter that writes a very unflattering article about Delaney. Later they team up and I think she’d make a great addition to future books as a Delaney ally. Now that Tom has popped the question to Delaney, I’ll have to read the next book soon to see where that goes. I’m hoping she’ll agree because I want her to stay in Scotland and have many more adventures.



Cozies Reading Challenge ( )

Lost Books and Old Bones is the third book in Paige Shelton's Scottish Bookshop cozy mystery series. When this book showed up in my galley list for review, I didn't remember requesting it. But I do have this series on my cozy TBR list....so I was excited to get to read it, whether I remembered asking for it specifically or not. It was a happy surprise! This is the first book in the series that I have read, but I was easily able to jump in mid-stream and follow the story line. It does mention some past events, but the story stands on its own well enough to read without reading the prior two books. I'm definitely going to back-track now and read the other books in this series. This was a fun, entertaining cozy! I like the background theme of a rare manuscript and bookshop, The Cracked Spine, in Scotland. :)

The basics: Delaney Nicols has befriended two local medical students, Sophie and Rena, after they came into the shop to sell some rare medical books from the early 1900s. Her boss, Edwin MacAlister, was very excited to get the old tomes. At the pub with her new friends, she meets one of their professors, Dr Eban, and another student, Mallory. Dr. Eban makes Delaney uncomfortable....he's creepy and just...strange, plus he's having an affair with Sophie. Later that night, Delaney meets up with her boyfriend Tom at the bookshop, and they investigate a bit in her boss' warehouse, looking for a famous set of scalpels used by an infamous local doctor back in the days of body snatching. Thinking it's best to leave the scalpels locked up for the night, they leave them in a desk drawer in the shop and go home for the night. The next day in the alleyway outside the shop, a body is discovered. Mallory -- the student Delaney met the previous night -- has been murdered and the shop door is open. A skull was left by the body making the scene appear staged. At the pub the night before, Dr Eban had been asking about the rumored collection of antiquities owned by Delaney's boss, even mentioning the scalpels specifically. Is that a coincidence? Or is Mallory's death linked to the scalpels somehow? Is Dr Eban not just lecherous and creepy, but also a murderer? Or was the scene staged to make it appear that way?

I loved this book! I like the background theme of a rare bookshop, and its mysterious hidden warehouse of antiquities and interesting objects. It lends a cool creepy factor to the story! Delaney is a fun, intelligent main character, and all the quirky side characters (and her hunky boyfriend Tom) all add charm to the story. The mystery progresses at a nice pace with plenty of twists and suspects. It kept my attention from beginning to end. And although I could totally follow the story and characters without reading from the beginning of the series, I definitely am back-tracking and reading this entire series! Entertaining, fun, with splashes of humor and creepiness -- lovely cozy mystery!

Paige Shelton is the author of several cozy mystery series including the Farmer's Market Mysteries.

**I voluntarily read an advanced readers copy of this book from St. Martin's Press via NetGalley. All opinions expressed are entirely my own.**











( )