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Loading... The Turning Tideby Catriona McPherson
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Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. No current Talk conversations about this book. '"Good," I said. "Someone's lying, Alec. And when someone's lying, there's a truth to be uncovered. We're on the scent at last."' 1936, and Dandy Gilver and her amateur detective side-kick Alec Osborne receive a series of letters requesting their help in dealing with a case in Cramond, on the outskirts of Edinburgh. Once Dandy's daughter has managed to successfully give birth to twins, she is able to get away and investigate. A young man has been killed (someone she used to know) and the local ferrywoman is, it seems, blaming herself and slowly going mad. Invited by the local minister, the pair start to poke around and uncover a whole host of secrets and lies. This is a great series, and although I haven't read all of them it is easy enough to drop in and pick it up as a stand alone book. Dandy and Alec are confronted by a suitably eccentric group of villagers, a local constabulary that is equally pompous and foolish, and red-herrings aplenty as they go on the trail of mysterious Roman artefacts, illicit alcohol and a potato trial on nearby Cramond Island. It's all a heap of fun, but with the occasional nod to the period and the looming shadow of impending world war troubling a generation still reeling from the Great War. This is perfect escapist reading, and a decent challenge for eagle-eyed readers to spot the clues and work out what is going on. It is what it is, and is a great addition to the series. It also helps, for me, that this is set in my old stomping ground, so it was fun to see Cramond and Edinburgh (especially the old James Thin bookshop) in a period setting. 4 stars. no reviews | add a review
Belongs to SeriesDandy Gilver (14)
"It's the breezy Scottish summer of 1936 and aristocratic sleuth Dandy Gilver, along with trusted colleague Alec Osborne, has been called to solve the strange case of the Cramond Ferrywoman, on the Firth of Forth. From their cheerless digs in a local stately home, Dandy and Alec track Vesper Kemp, the ferrywoman, to a tiny tidal island. She seems to have lost her mind, roaming the beaches in rags, ranting about snakes and mercury. What is even more troubling, is that Vesper claims she murdered Peter Haslett, a young man who fell into the river, trying to row past one of its four water mills, and drowned. A group of worried Cramond residents - the minister, the innkeeper and the lady of the big house - are determined that Vesper is innocent. But with the four local millers themselves remaining oddly tight-lipped and with all the suspicious strangers who lurk about the village, Dandy and Alec have their work cut out for them. And they closer they get to the answers they seek, the stronger the sense that great danger lies beneath the surface of these murky waters."--Publisher description. No library descriptions found. |
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I have thoroughly enjoyed this series since day one and the latest installment is as witty and entertaining as all the rest. This story is based on solid historical research which is worked into a spectacularly spun tale. If creatively conceived, well written historical mysteries are your cup of tea, then this could well be a series for you. ( )