A Literary Tour Gone Wrong: Discovering “Fateful Words”

Teaser Tuesday

Before you jump into the teaser, explore the delicious intrigue of Cinn-Full Secrets! Erin Price must solve a murder in her bakery before the timer runs out. Grab your copy now!

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme. Read the rules and more teasers at The Purple Booker. Anyone can play along.

Fateful Words marks the eighth installment in Paige Shelton’s delightful Scottish Bookshop Mysteries series, which currently boasts ten books. In addition to this series, Shelton is also known for her other cozy mystery series, including the Farmers’ Market Mysteries and the Country Cooking School Mysteries. I’m not sure whether I’ve read any books in the other series, but I have read at least one other in the Scottish Bookshop Mysteries, possibly two.

In this installment, bookshop employee Delaney Nichols finds herself unexpectedly leading a literary tour group in Edinburgh after her boss falls victim to a theft — though the specifics remain murky at this point. The plot thickens with a potential suicide, an assault, and an imposter among the group. Strange occurrences seem to be unfolding both within the tour group and at their hotel.

The Scottish Bookshop Mysteries has something for everyone — plenty of literary references, men in kilts, a cuddly dog (the cutest miniature Yorkie in all the world), and just a hint of the paranormal.

I looked at Rosie, the panic I’d seen coming from her now making its way through my system.

Paige Shelton, Fateful Words

SUMMARY

When Edwin, Delaney’s boss at the Cracked Spine bookstore, leaves town on secret business, Delaney is called upon to guide his yearly literary tour around Edinburgh. But on the first night of the tour, at the inn where the tour group is staying, the inn manager falls — or is pushed — off the roof of the inn, and killed. Then, one of the tour members disappears, leaving a trail of puzzles in her wake.

In a race against the clock, Delaney sets out on the expedition of her life, following clues around Edinburgh to get to the bottom of this mystery. Exploring sights from Greyfriars Bobby to the Royal Mile to the Sir Walter Scott Monument, she’ll have to put the pieces together quickly, or the bookstore’s survival could be on the line…as well as her own.