Beneath the Abbey Wall (Joanne Ross)
*Starred Review* Scott’s first mystery, A Small Death in the Great Glen (2010), introduced readers to the embattled staff of the Highland Gazette, the 1950s weekly that covers all the rugby matches, dances, sheep sales, and occasional homicides that the tiny village and its environs offer. The very high standard Scott established in her first mystery was met in her second, A Double Death on the Black Isle (2011), and may have been surpassed in this third in the series. The series star, Joanne Ross, is a wonderful mix of fear, diffidence, and iron determination. Ross is a single, working mother, a disdained combination in 1957, and the survivor of spousal abuse. The fact that she has become a reporter on the Gazette gives her great pride and also great fire in pursuing stories. The other hero is editor McAllister, who pushes all the staff to produce quality journalism and who is the chief force behind the investigations. In Scott’s latest, the woman who held the paper’s operations together, the business manager, is found murdered next to the graveyard of an old abbey. Police charge the deputy editor with her murder, leaving Ross and McAllister with a debt of honor to investigate on their own. The subplot, detailing Ross’ infatuation with a handsome, perhaps dangerous stranger, adds an extra frisson to the action. A plot that’s ingenious, characters that are both believable and surprising, and evocative Highlands atmosphere make this another must-read. --Connie Fletcher