I’d like to tell you about a book I just read by Fran Stewart called A Wee Murder in my Shop. For the past few years there has been a constant slate of hard-hitting news stories and sometimes it’s necessary to escape into a different type of drama, one that is far removed from current world events, and A Wee Murder in My Shop is just the ticket. Watch the video below or at https://youtu.be/FRDyIhvZo9o or skip below the video to read the review.
I knew I had to read this book when the author told me that she was inspired to write it by R. A. Dick’s classic, The Ghost and Mrs. Muir. That is one of my all-time favorites, but I always wished that Lucy Muir and Captain Gregg had been able to remain together and form a deeper relationship. This book reminds me a lot of that but it also brings us up to date with a more modern and independent protagonist, Peggy Winn.
Instead of inheriting a ghost with a house as
Lucy Muir did, Peggy gets the ghost when she purchases a Scottish shawl that
turns out to be roughly 700 years old. And while the ghost is also that age,
he’s frozen in time as a virile 30-something who is still deeply in love with
the woman who first owned the shawl. Now that the shawl has somehow been
resurrected after all those centuries, the ghost Peggy nicknames Dirk remains
with it as if tethered to it, following Peggy across the Atlantic to Vermont
where she owns a gift shop called The ScotShop.
Soon Peggy and Dirk are pulled into a murder
mystery. The victim is none other than Peggy’s ex-boyfriend and the crime scene
is smack dab in the middle of Peggy’s stop. We are introduced to a cast of
memorable characters, some of whom seem to have secrets, and we’re left
guessing who killed Mason, why, and above all, why he was killed in her shop in
the dead of night. The investigator is a modern day love throb, Harper, and I
found myself caught between wishing for a magical relationship with Dirk or a
more realistic love affair with Harper.
The author reeled me in and I could visualize
the quaint Vermont village with its Scottish theme, rows of gift shops and cozy
restaurants and steady stream of tourists—so much so, that I wish I knew if
there was truly a village the place was based on so I could visit. There are
ample clues and red herrings throughout the book, including some twists that
take us into the distant past, all woven together so expertly that I really
didn’t know how the story was going to end.
The book is truly entertaining and a fun read and escape. We don’t learn exactly why Dirk is tethered to the shawl, which turns out to be fine because this is only the first in the ScotShop Mystery Series. I was very happy to discover that Peggy, her ghost and her new love interest have all been set up nicely for the sequel. It’s rather like wrapping up some details in a television series but leaving us with a cliffhanger so we’re eagerly looking forward to the next installment, and in fact, I can definitely see this series made into a television series complete with the strong, independent woman, the sexy detective and the very sexy Scottish ghost. I highly recommend A Wee Murder in my Shop by Fran Stewart.
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