The Burning Pages: A Scottish Bookshop Mystery

Delaney Nichols is invited to attend a Burns Night dinner at a local Robert Burns Society to celebrate the poet’s birthday. Delaney is not sure why she was invited, but she is intrigued. She invited co-worker, Hamlet to attend with her. Edwin, Delaney’s boss, learns of the invite and warns Delaney that one of the members could be trying to get to him through her. During the dinner, it soon becomes apparent that Edwin’s suspicions were correct. One of the members had accused Edwin of burning down his bookshop twenty years ago. After giving the members a piece of her mind, Delaney and Hamlet depart. Later that evening, the building where the dinner was held is ablaze. When the fire is put out, they find a body inside. It turns out to be one of the Robert Burns Society members. Hamlet finds himself at the top of the suspect list. Delaney with help from her bookish voices sets out to find the evildoer. Along the way, she might also find answers to help her solve another mystery she stumbled upon the warehouse while going through the files. Delaney will need to keep her wits about her because it is obvious the wrongdoer likes playing with fire. The Burning Pages by Paige Shelton is the seventh A Scottish Bookshop Mystery. I believe it is best if you start at the beginning of the series rather than at the end. I thought The Burning Pages was well-written with developed characters. We have gotten to know Delaney Nichols and her Scottish family. Delaney’s brother, Wyatt shows up for an unexpected visit to Delaney’s delight. I love the authors descriptions of Edinburgh. She really brings the city alive with her word imagery. I love that she includes statutes, museums, shops, and monuments. We also get historical details which adds color and realism. The whodunit was a fun one to follow and solve. Delaney dons her sleuthing cap once again to help a friend. She gets assistance from her friends, family, and her bookish voices. There is action, intrigue, and drama. I enjoyed the reveal. It was interesting learning more about Roberts Burns, his works, and the societies created in his name. The Burning Pages is a tale that will keep you on your toes. The Burning Pages is a captivating cozy with an intriguing invitation, a burning building, a murdered society member, a compatriot who is a suspect, an unforeseen find, Tam O’Shanter chapeaus, a valuable voice, and pages of poetry.

The Burning Pages by Paige Shelton, book seven in her Scottish Bookshop Mystery series, is a cozy mystery set in Scotland, involving an arsonist and a murder. Delaney Nichols and her co-worker Hamlet, booksellers at the Cracked Spine bookshop, were invited to a Burns night dinner, celebrating the famed poet Robert Burns. It is an exclusive group and Delaney can't figure out why she was invited. At the dinner it becomes clear that she was tricked into coming to alleviate a long-term beach of friendship between her boss, Edwin, and one of the invitees who think Edwin burned down his bookshop twenty years ago after a disagreement. These two had once been best friends. Delaney and Hamlet leave, and later find that the Burns House, where the dinner was held, burned down after they left and a body was found there. Hamlet is accused of the crime and Delaney is determined to prove his innocence. Ms Shelton kept me on my toes guessing with there being several mysteries within this story, making it fun trying to solve them. There were lots of twists and turns along with a number of red herrings and surprise revelations, all leading up to the final reveal. I highly recommend The Burning Pages to other readers. I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book.

bookseller, Scotland, arson, amateur-sleuth, expats, cosy-mystery, murder, murder-investigation, mysteries, family, family-dynamics, friendship, law-enforcement, lawyers, Robert Burns If you are new to the series, you will read that Delaney (she's not in Kansas anymore) is a bookseller and that her new husband, Tom, is a barkeeper and that they have a lot of interesting friends and relatives. This is a nice cosy with engaging characters, plot twists, red herrings, and SCOTLAND. This time there is a mysterious birth certificate, arson (twice), murder, and more. Keeping this short to avoid any spoilers, but I loved it! I requested and received a free ebook copy from St. Martin's Press/Minotaur Books via NetGalley. Thank you!