The Cracked Spine
Book One- A Scottish Bookshop Mystery
Delaney Nichols is taking a big risk. After being laid off from her museum job, she answers an ad for a rare bookshop in Edinburgh, Scotland called The Cracked Spine. Her new boss is Edwin McAlister. Her two co-workers are Rosie and college student Hamlet. Not too long after she is there, Edwin’s sister, Jenny, is murdered in her apartment. Jenny supposedly had an original Shakespeare Folio in her possession; she was helping Edwin out with procuring it for the shop. But the Folio is now missing. Where did it go? Was the Folio responsible for her death? Or was her reliance on drugs involved? Jenny had been suffering from drug abuse and additiction for a long time.
Delaney is thrust into an odd situation for her. Her co-workers are now considered suspects, but yet, she feels protective of them (they are starting to be like family to her) and she is relunctant to see them as murderers. She finds herself investigating on her own. I actually thought it was a decent mystery. And as is the case with all mysteries I read, I conducted the test I always do. Did I correctly theorize who the muderer was? No, I did not, so it was a decent mystery.
Also, Delaney starts a romance with the owner of the pub across the street from the bookstore. His name is Tom Shannon. I thought they had excellent chemistry and I look forward to seeing their romance blossom throught the course of the series. Tom is charming and seems to really care about Delaney.
I thoroughly enjoyed this novel and will definitely be reading the rest of the series.
Rating: 5/5
Next Novel In Series: Of Books and Bagpipes (hopefully, I will review in April)
Next Novel to Review: Caught Dead Handed (Witch City Mystery #1)