Plaid and Plagiarism, published in 2016, is the first book in the Highland Bookshop Mystery series. Currently, there are five books in the series.
American Janet Marsh recently relocated to Inversgail, Scotland. She bought Inversgail’s Yon Bonnie Books from locals Kenneth and Pamela Lawrie, who wish to retire and move somewhere warm. Janet partnered with her adult daughter Tallie Marsh, Tallie’s longtime friend Summer Jacobs, and Janet’s friend Christine Robertson, who grew up in Inversgail but lived in America for forty years before returning to care for her aging parents.
Not long after taking over the bookshop, the Yon Bonnies, as I like to think of them, discover a murder victim on Janet’s residential property. While none of them are suspects, the local police won’t allow Janet to live in her house until the murderer is caught. So the four of them decide to try to solve the crime themselves. The Yon Bonnies share their individual findings on a cloud document they all are able to access, which I thought was very clever.
As with many cozy mysteries, the setting is charming, and the supporting characters are quirky. Inversgail, a resort town in the Western Highlands, is tourist friendly but does have its locals-only establishments. For example, Nev’s is the town’s locals-only pub and has absolutely no curb appeal. It is sandwiched between a funeral home and the local newspaper’s office, and it had to give up live music because it brought the tourists. Instead, locals come for a pint, local gossip, and a game of darts.
The story takes place during the lead up to Inversgail’s local literary festival, and librarian Sharon Davis is running the associated writing contest. When Sharon asks Janet to be a judge, Tallie offers to assist Janet in reading the voluminous contest entries. Although Sharon appears to be ok with this, she passive-aggressively expresses her displeasure by calling Tallie by any name other than her actual name – first it’s Tillie, then it’s Sally, and finally it’s Jill.
Constable Norman Hobbs has been a police officer in Inversgail for twenty-three years when he gets the call about the victim in Janet’s shed. Upon arriving at the crime scene, he tells the Yon Bonnies, with clear excitement in his voice, that this is his first murder investigation. When he leaves them to investigate, Janet asks the others, “Is there a spring in his step?”
There’s also local handyman Rab MacGregor, who brings his Irish Terrier Ranger with him everywhere. Rab reads tea leaves and likes to make quick exits. He’s an expert in the Irish Goodbye.
In addition to the charm and quirk of Inversgail and its residents, the flow of Plaid and Plagiarism makes it an easy read. Not in the sense that the mystery was easy to solve, but in the sense that the flow was flawless, making for a very smooth read. Even the red herrings meshed well with the overall story without distracting from the main mystery. Plaid and Plagiarism is a cozy mystery worth anyone’s time.
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