A Double Death on the Black Isle

Joanne Ross #2

by A.D. Scott

Nothing is ever quite at peace on Scotland's Black Isle- the Traveling people are forever at odds with the locals, the fishermen have nothing in common with the farmers, and the villagers have no connection with the town. But when two deaths occur on the same day, involving the same families from the same estate- the Black Isle seems as forbidding as its name.

Joanne Ross, typist at the Highland Gazette, is torn whether to take on the plum task of reporting on these murders- after all, the woman at the center of both crimes is one of her closest friends. Joanne knows the story could be her big break, and for a woman in the mid-1950's- a single mother, no less- good work is hard to come by.

But the investigation by the staff on the Gazette reveals secrets that will forever change this quiet, remote part of the Highlands. The ancient feudal order is crumbling, loyalties are tested, friendships torn apart, and the sublime beauty of the landscape will never seem peaceful again.

Genres: Mystery, Scotland, Historical Fiction, Fiction, Historical Mystery, Historical, Mystery Thriller

359 pages, Paperback

First published August 2, 2011

About the author

Pen name of Ann Deborah Nolan.

A. D. Scott was born in the Highlands of Scotland and educated at Inverness Royal Academy and the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama. She has worked in theatre, in magazines, and as a knitwear designer and currently lives in Vietnam and north of Sydney, Australia.

Reviews

[Connie G · Rating 4 out of 5]

The reporters on a weekly newspaper in 1950s northern Scotland were investigating two deaths on the Black Isle. One of the dead had been recently on a fishing boat that was destroyed by a suspicious fire. The book had a good sense of place and the various groups of people living on the Black Isle--the upper class, the farmers, the fishermen, and the Travelers (or tinkers who were similar to gypsies.) Prejudices existed so that people mostly socialized only with their own group.

The main character is Joanne, a mother with two children who left an abusive marriage, who is working a new job as a reporter for the Highland Gazette. The interactions between the people on the newspaper staff seemed very realistic--humorous banter, wanting the big scoop, and the pressure of deadlines. The author worked as an advertising agent on a newspaper so she was able to use her experiences in creating the atmosphere. 3.5 stars.

[Kris (My Novelesque Life) · Rating 3 out of 5]

A DOUBLE DEATH ON THE BLACK ISLE (THE HIGHLAND GAZETTE: #2)
Written by A.D. Scott
2011; Atria (359 Pages)
Genre: mystery, fiction, historical, series, Scotland

Rating: ★★★1/2

Patricia, an old school friend of Joanne Ross calls her to her estate for her secret wedding to a fisherman. Unfortunately, that is not the only drama for Black Isle. On the same day two men from the same estate are found dead. Accident or murder? Either way the Highland Gazette is on the case.

I see it now! This second book is a mystery, period. While we still move with the characters and hear what they are think they is more “action” and suspense in this novel. I enjoyed the hesitant banter between Joanne and MacAllister. Don is just a great character that provides heart. I applaud the realism of some of the shadier players in the book. The novel moved at a quicker pace in that I was absorbed in the beginning and found it hard to not read more. I read this one within a day or so. I will read book three but if the series gets like book one again I think I will stop with the series.

My Novelesque Life

[Charlene · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved the setting (Inverness and the surrounding area of Black Isle) in the 1950s, as the Highlands are adjusting to life after WWII and the changing work world. Mystery solvers are the Inverness reporters, with story centered on Joanne, mother of two young daughters, who is trying to make it as on her own, separated from a long time abusive husband.

I read a later book in the series (there are 6 in all, last one published 2015 so I assume the series is finished for whatever reason) years ago and enjoyed it; not sure why it took me so long to pick up another one.

There's all sorts of things and people in this novel . . . aristocrats, Tinkerers/Travelers, farm workers, fishermen, boats on fire, lawyers, court trials and of course, the printing of the paper, the front page headlines, racing the press deadline that is such fun and brings back good memories of when newspapers were so important to communities, large and small, and when investigative reporting was alive and well.

Enjoyed the characters and especially the landscape (I wished for a map!) . . . author, a native of Inverness, does a good job, too, of describing the changing times and attitudes in the Highlands towards women, work, traditions and the aristocracy.

[Lynn · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Double Death on the Black Isle is the 2nd book in the Highland Gazette Mystery Series. Even though I liked the first book, this book really hooked me in and I now want to continue even more with the series to keep up with the characters. The location is the Scotland highlands and the time is the 1950s. The story centers around Joanne Ross who is a mother of two and recently separated from her husband. She works at the Higland Gazette where the editor is changing the format into a more relevant and news worthy newspaper. The story has two deaths that are tied to the same farm.

The characters and the inner workings of the newspaper are so well fleshed out that I found myself caring about the different personalities. I could see the offices and people working to put out the paper. The time period of the 1950s show how restrictive life could be for a woman. Joanna is going against what a 1950 woman is suppose to act like. She does second guess herself as she lacks self confidence at times.

This book is so well written with the character development, the description of the area, and the society rules of the time. Joanna is trying to find self fulfillment and independence to raise her two daughters. The mystery was very good and had several twists. The ending was not tied up in a neat bow. The story lingers with me. It was a book that I savored. It moved at a leisurely pace but kept my attention as I was invested with the characters and storyline. I enjoyed this book very much and am looking forward to reading the next book.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the second book in a series set in the Highlands of Scotland. I love the sense of place and enjoy the fact that I know the little towns it talks about. I spent a week in the Highlands and enjoyed it tremendously. The book is set in the mid 1950's which is a lovely time to explore. The idea of a woman having a job outside the home is still a new concept and domestic violence against women is certainly handled differently than it is now.

This mystery concerns two separate deaths on the same estate on the same day. One is the newly married husband of the daughter of the owner of the estate. The second one is the son of the farm manager. Are they connected or just a coincident? The local newspaper is on the story and Joanne Ross, a recent reporter hire, is on the story even though she has ties to the crime. The staff at the paper is made up with interesting characters who made me laugh. I majored in journalism so I loved the story of the working newspaper.

This book captivated me from beginning to end. I love mysteries set in other places that make me feel welcome. I could really immerse myself in the local culture and the story ends on one very surprising twist. This is a series I can enjoy.

[John · Rating 2 out of 5]

My paternal ancestors came from the Black Isle (the peninsula squeezed between the two big wedges of Scotland's northeast), and so I very much wanted to like this book. The one time the family went up for a few days' holiday from home in Aberdeen to see what traces we could find of those ancestors, we came away virtually empty-handed; although that wasn't quite the case with this novel, I had something of the same feeling of expectations being dashed.

It's the 1950s and Joanne Ross, separated from her abusive husband, is doing her best to rear her two wee daughters while holding down a job as typist for the Highland Gazette. Almost immediately, of course, she displays reporterly skills that are seized upon by the paper's editor and . . . well, no prizes for guessing where the rest of that wish-fulfillment element of the plot goes.

Soon after Joanne's oldest but not necessarily best friend Patricia Ord Mackenzie makes a pregnancy-spurred marriage to the skipper of a recently firebombed herring trawler, there are two sudden deaths on a single day -- one of the deceased being Patricia's recent husband Sandy, the other being the ne'er-do-well son of her family estate's manager. The former death is apparently an accident, the latter more obviously violence-related; the cops are keen to pin the latter on a couple of the local tinkers, the Travelers against whom prejudice runs high. (I can remember that prevalent prejudice from my own childhood.)

And so the text rambles along rather wearisomely for 350+ pages as we discover that those responsible for the various crimes were who we thought they were more or less from the outset. The characterization is pretty shallow; time and again I had to pause, staring at a name, to remind myself who that was. The text is liberally larded with Scotticisms, sometimes quite gratuitously, and also with poor punctuation, typos and even spelling errors; someone at Atria really ought to learn the difference between "discrete" and "discreet," for example, since the former is used erroneously for the latter throughout. Another gem was "intensions."

There also seem to me to be various failures of visualization on the part of the author, although it's possible they're a product of a manuscript that's been overworked. Take this, when someone (Don) has joked that a a freshly introduced character (Hec) looks like the popular Scottish cartoon figure Oor Wullie:

[Hec's] red, sticking-up hair and his turnip lantern grin gave Don the Oor Wullie joke, but, so far as anyone knew, the cartoon character didn't have the orange freckles with matching sodium light hair.

Joanne's guess at garden gnome came from the lime green knitted woolen tourie [hat] -- far too big for Hector's head and weighted down to one side by an enormous bobble.

Leaving aside the odd convention that it's okay for everyone to insult Hec in all directions because he's small, we have a few problems. It's fair enough to describe Hec's hair as both red and orange, because "red" hair very often is orange (and Oor Wullie's was a particularly lurid shade of it), but then as "sodium light"? Sodium emission is characteristically yellow. And then there's the bit about the "sticking-up hair"; how can we tell he has "sticking-up hair" if he's got this big wooly hat on?

As I say, I had high hopes for this novel, and it may well be for that reason that I found it so disappointing; certainly other Goodreads folk have enjoyed it far better than I did. As a window into that particular region of Scotland at that particular era of Scotland's history, the novel has some strengths, but it didn't actually take me there.

[Kathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I actually thought this second book in the series was better than the first one. Some problems with dialogue, confusion of who said what, seem to have been addressed. The character of Joanne Ross, the freshly independent reporter/typist for the Highland Gazette seems to be evolving very nicely indeed. Her separation from her abusive husband is opening up a whole new world to her, which with the setting in the 1950's is a new world to many. Her relationship to her boss, McAllister, is unfolding in a manner respective of the times. In A Double Death on the Black Isle, Joanne is right in the thick of the murders that occur, as her chum from school, Patricia Ord Mackenzie is the wife of one of the deceased and the neighbor of the other. Joanne's friendship with Patricia is a strained one due to Patricia's superior attitude as a member of the local gentry, but Joanne is developing some real skills at handling difficult people. The colorful Travelers are again a part of the story, with two of Jenny McPhee's sons accused of murder. There is a dual interest in this series, that of the murder mystery and also Joanne's struggles as a single mother in the changing times of the 50's. I'm looking forward to the next addition from A.D. Scott.

[Stuart · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ideally, I'd give this book 2.5 stars. There is a good story in there trying to get out, but the annoyances keep distracting from it. The story involves the titular double death on the same day in the Black Isle area, just north of Inverness in Scotland. Are they connected? As in the previous book, local prejudices come in to play in deciding who to charge and who not to charge in connection with the death(s). The actual denouement is good. But the book remains too light, and needs to be tightened up significantly.

It really needs a good editing. The spelling errors – dairy instead of “diary”; discrete instead of discreet; ordinance instead of ordnance - are very annoying. There are too many unnecessary adjectives and adverbs. The credits at the end even have a repeated sentence! I also felt that, like the author's first book, this one is still trying too hard to be Scottish and 1950’s – the attitudes towards women are obvious, they don’t have to be pointed out time after time. I won’t be looking for the author's next work.

[Lydia Hale · Rating 4 out of 5]

A well written and engaging book with interesting characters. I felt the book really captured the mood and prejudices of the area and time (how Joanne was viewed as being a single parent etc).
You are transported to the Highlands and become totally involved in the characters and their lives. A very good mystery story.

[Spuddie · Rating 5 out of 5]

No sophomore slump going on here--I liked this book even more than the first, as the main character, Joanne Ross, begins to come into her own more fully and she gets promoted from typist to fledgling reporter at the Highland Gazette--a woman reporter in the 1950's was almost unheard of, but in rural Scotland would be extremely unlikely. Even more unlikely would be the deaths of two young men in separate incidents in such a small area. Coincidence? Or were the deaths of Sandy Skinner and Fraser Munro somehow related?

Joanne and her friends and co-workers at the Gazette are determined to get the paper's new format and look off the ground and the burning of a local man's fishing boat provides the special story needed to get things off to a roaring start. When, a short time later, the boat's owner, Sandy Skinner ends up dead, the story kicks up a notch or two. Joanne is somewhat torn, as Sandy was the new husband of her old school friend Patricia Ord Mackenzie. Where does her role as reporter end and her role as supportive friend begin?

[Helen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the second of MS Scott's books set on the north coast of Scotland at the end of the Great Glen. The story is set in 1957 but you have to be reminded often because it's easy to forget it's not current. The local community is stunned when a fishboat is firebombed in the middle of the day and sinks in the canal and more so when shortly thereafter two men from the same estate die in separate accidents. The people are still recovering from WWII, one of the women is a war widow and one of the young men has been serving overseas, so that there are very clear memories that surface with little prompting. The suspects include Travelers, local workers and the daughter of the Big House. The chief character is a woman who has recently separated from her jealous and abusive husband so she has to find a job that will support her and her two young daughters. She started as a typist at the regional newspaper but is promoted to reporter when the editor decides to remake the layout and increase the number of pages. The fire bombing of the boat happens right on time to make the first edition and the deaths are close to the second deadline so the staff are ready to do anything to get details. Because they are mostly local people they have friendships among the people involved and the police investigating. Needless to say....
MS Scott allows daily life and the investigations to share space about fifty-fifty so you have real connections with everyone and really wonder who of all these people could have done these things and are they connected. It is an interesting plot once you adjust to a slightly different approach to mysteries. I could really wish that it had been proofed a little more closely since there are a number of words that appear to have been chosen by a spell check.
I will certainly look for her first, A Small Death in the Great Glen.

[Christine · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book held my interest for a variety of reasons. Well thought out characterizations, good solid writing, multiple plot threads all woven together, the stories focusing on how it was in small communities in Scotland in the 50's for different types of people, like Travelers or women, especially battered women. It also gave a good depiction of how a newspaper was put out in the old days, as I can testify to from my own experience. In short, the author did a great job on her research! I also really appreciated how she showed multiple view points on the same issue from the characters. One character just thinks the battered woman should call in the police, but being male, doesn't realize the consequences that will befall the main character if she does involve the authorities. Complexities are not solved, but are explored. Like life, nothing is simple or one dimensional.
The mystery itself had multiple layers, several red herrings, and was believable in the end. I didn't realize when I borrowed this book that it was the second of a trilogy dealing with the same characters in different times. The first takes place at the end of WWII, this one during the 1950's, and the final one I think is set amid the changing social attitudes of the 1960's. I am definitely going to be reading the other two. I recommend this book for anyone who has an interest in the 50's, Scotland, journalism, women's rights, and of course, just a good mystery. This would also be a great book for a book club to read. In fact, the edition I read had a reader's guide in it with club discussion suggestions and an interview with the author, A.D. Scott.

[Marni · Rating 1 out of 5]

I can't quite decide whether I like A.D. Scott. This is the second in the series I have read and I can't help thinking there's something about the dialogue or maybe it's the character's internal thoughts after their interactions with others (Joanne in particular) that doesn't quite ring true for me.

Also, I got frustrated by the lack of investigation into obvious lines of inquiry in both deaths...these people are supposed to be news reporters aren't they? The milk truck with at least 2 additional witnesses got mentioned about 3/4s through and yet none of these crack reporters thought it might be important to seek those people out (or mention it to the police)? And good ol' Patricia ... hmmm....sociopath anyone? On reflection the lack of sensitivity of more than one character during different events in the book made them all seem a bit narcissistic.

Then there's the lack of consistency. Bill beats up Joanne after Rob's been over babysitting. Rob thinks better of not stopping in for tea after that but then later in the book stops in and leaves by the back door etc.., this is a small town and comings and going, back door or not, would be noticed. Again, just not believeable. And Granny Ross must have had a stroke or something because her character in this book is completely different than the first book.

[Tasula · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the second book centering on a small Scottish town and the journalists of the local newspaper. One news staffer is a battered wife who has left her husband and tries to be independent in a time (1950s) when the law courts are rarely on a wife's side in a bad marriage. This part of the book was painful to me, why did she stay with the abuser for 10 years?, but in those days with 2 small kids and no support from family, I guess she was stuck. The two deaths created an interesting mystery. One was the drowning death of a recently married man, and the other was a bludgeoning of the good for nothing young son of people working for the local laird. Well written.

[Deb · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was like the little girl of nursery rhyme fame. 'When good, she was very good; but when bad, she was horrid.'
I enjoyed Scott's, "at times", clever writing. But the tangled web of secondary plots resulted in a diluted hodgepodge of mini-tales.

[Lindsey · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love these books! LOVE THEM! I hope the third comes out soon.

[Addy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was hoping for another Ann Cleeves or Ian Rankin. Sadly, I am having trouble making my through this book. The pace is uneven, and many of the characters are incompletely drawn.

[Chris · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted to like it but can't waste any more time. I'm abandoning it @60%. It just flounders around and doesn't seem to get anywhere.

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Nothing is ever quite at peace on Scotland's Black Isle -- the Traveling people are forever at odds with the locals, the fishermen have nothing in common with the farmers, and the villagers have no connection with the town. But when two deaths occur on the same day, involving the same families from the same estate -- the Black Isle seems as forbidding as its name.

"Joanne Ross, typist at the Highland Gazette, is torn whether to take on the plum task of reporting on these murders -- after all, the woman at the center of both crimes is one of her closest friends. Joanne knows the story could be her big break, and for a woman in the mid-1950s -- a single mother, no less -- good work is hard to come by.

"But the investigation by the staff on the Gazette reveals secrets that will forever change this quiet, remote part of the Highlands. The ancient feudal order is crumbling, loyalties are tested, friendships torn apart, and the sublime beauty of the landscape will never seem peaceful again."
~~back cover

A very complicated book, both in the mystery of the two deaths, and in the status of Joanne's life -- it's definitely not easy being separated from one's husband and a single mum and working outside the home in the 1950s Scotland! A very detailed, revealing treatment of life in the '50s, and not just in Scotland I think.

The mysteries take some untangling, and it's only due to the inquisitive Gazette staff that they are finally unraveled, and the true culprit identified. Along the way, there are excellent descriptions of the stunning landscape on the Black Isle, which isn't an island at all but a peninsula.

One of the delights of this book, and this series, is the use of Scots Gaelic words embedded in the general English text. Perhaps most readers wouldn't notice, or if they did would be puzzled, but since I've got this Scottish background, they're familiar as old friends to me and bring a smile to my face every time.

[_Readwithroses · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars
A Double Death on the Black Isle was an enjoyable mystery set in 1950's Scotland where the setting and writing were better than the conclusion of the actual mystery.
Let me explain.
The buildup was amazing but in the end led to an unsatisfying answer. It was a real letdown at first but then I came to a realization.
I don't think that is the strength of this book though.
The strength of this book is the atmosphere. The setting of this book was vivid and immersive, research apparent especially when it came to the class system. The characters and dialogue sprung to life instantly and made for a pleasurable read. It had a slow start, but I was on the edge of my seat before long. The Tinkers especially stood out to me as fascinating people to follow considering the prejudice against them and how they persevered through it all.
This wasn't a totally bad thing though because I still was able to enjoy it.
Overall, I liked the book for the settings and people, not the conclusion.

[Deb · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm really enjoying this series set in the Scottish Highlands. The books are centered around the staff of The Highland Gazette, a newspaper being brought up to date by its editor-in-chief, McAllister, and his editor Don MacLean. The new edition receives a brilliant launch when a fisherman's boat is firebombed as it passes through a local canal lock.
In this outing, new reporter Joanne finds herself uncomfortably close to a big story when not one but two murders occur connected to her old school friend Patricia Ord-MacKenzie. The Ord-MacKenzies and the victims--Patricia's brand new husband Sandy, owner of the firbombed boat, and the estate foreman's son Fraser Munro--all dwell on the Black Isle, a peninsula that gives new meaning to the word "insular." Sandy seems to have died by accident, but Fraser was found battered and left to die in a ditch the morning after an altercation with two of Jenny McPhee's sons. The McPhees ate Travelers, and people are all too willing to believe they killed Fraser, even though Fraser himself was widely disliked and had a tendency to make enemies.
Meanwhile, Joanne is coping with the moral self-righteousness of the Highlands, as she tries to start a new life separated from her abusive husband, even as rumors have begun about her and McAllister. It doesn't help that Joanne's mother-in-law, Mrs. Ross, is closely related to Mrs. Munro, Fraser's mother and Patricia's de facto wetnurse.
The theme of mothers and their children winds throughout this tale, with multiple mums on display, from the terrible and terrifying to the determinedly absent.
I look forward to more tales of the Highland Gazette and their community.

[Pam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love the setting-the Highlands of Scotland. The author's descriptions of the land, the small villages, the firths and lochs really places the reader in a richly detailed world. The main characters continue to evolve ( from the first book). It's set in the 1950s, and victims of domestic violence are stuck between staying and being abused and the shame of being a divorced woman (if she is able to extricate herself from the abusive situation at all). I'm really hoping the main character, Joanne, finds a way out of her terrible marriage before I have to read too many more vivid accounts of her abuse. There are two deaths that occur in this book. One is a murder that is eventually solved. The other is also probably a murder--the biggest hint revealed in the last couple of pages in the book. Hoping it's resolved in the next book!

[Michelle Hartman · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sorry to say, this book hit one of my major life triggers. The protagonist, a young mother of two, Joanne Ross, is a throw rug in her own life. Everybody walks on her, causing much heaving and sighing on her part. I tried some years back to read the first book in this series, but never got much traction on it. This book was on a dollar cart and sounded like fun. Now, you can have a train wreck of a protagonist as long as there is some hope for or sign of improvement. Yet, here in the second book she is still being drug along by the various asses in her life, and doing nothing about it. Worse yet, she is teaching her daughters that a lack of self-respect is okay. It's sad because the surrounding characters were fun, and the town seems lovely. A decent protagonist would have saved this series.

[Liz McMahon · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm hooked! Superb mystery series set in the Highlands of Scotland. Once again, the staff at the Highland Gazette begin investigating a boat burning for a feature in the newspaper and become involved in investigating two murders on the Black Isle. Are they connected? As each of the newspaper staff attack the story from their own perspective, their individual stories and histories rise to the surface. In Joanne's case an an old friend returns, causing her to wonder why and how the friendship ever started and what it means now. Family secrets, strict religious community, power and wealth: wading through all of it to the truth can be tricky for this newspaper staff trying to find the truth. Excellent, intricate mystery magnificently written!

[Rosemary · Rating 4 out of 5]

A well crafted group of memorable characters work in the office of “The Highland Gazette,” and the newest, Hector, bears a remarkable resemblance to a garden troll. At center is the long-suffering Joanne, a victim of spousal abuse with two children to care for along with the economic necessity of working as a typist and later, as a reporter. In this episode, there are two deaths that occur nearly simultaneously. The potential for guilty friends or family members creates the tension in the story, and there is quite an intriguing final chapter that leaves one murder (or accident) with an unclear solution. Well written!

[Suz McDowell · Rating 2 out of 5]

DNF. I gave this series a second try, after having misgivings about the first book. The issue continued into the second book, unfortunately, and life is too short to read bad books. The writing is good, as are the mysteries, but what is wrong with the (at least) first two books is the descriptions of the wife beating, and the descriptions of the injuries afterwards, which continue to be described for days to come. If I want to read about a woman getting beaten regularly by her husband, and then suffering physically because of the beatings, I can just turn on the news.

[Susan K. Martin · Rating 4 out of 5]

The second book in the series and i liked it better than the first. It takes place on the Black Isle in Scotland near Loch Ness and follows the employees at a small newspaper office. Everyone in the town knows everyone else and when two people are killed on May Day everyone is shocked and curious. A great cast of characters that you will fall in love with along with the landscape of the countryside. A Double Death on the Black Isle by A.D. Scott. 4 stars

[Sandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the second book in this series I've read. I find the descriptions of village life in the Highlands of Scotland during the 1950s charming, and the characters real and likeable (even the bad guys). I'm kind of hooked by the scenery, the people, and descriptions of everyday life. Find myself wanting more, and wondering how things will turn out for Joane in her new life as a divorced mother.

[Massanutten Regional Library · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ana, Central patron, July 2020, 3 stars:

Exciting 50s mystery about a newspaper typist-gone-investigator, who has to deal with class bias, male condescension, and friendship betrayal to uncover the truth of two deaths. The rich characters and picturesque village life make this another Scott treasure I'd read again.

[Mary Ellen Barringer · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the second in a series and I enjoyed this one more than the first. The characters are more developed and the crimes were interesting. Having worked on my college newspaper, I remember the challenge to get the paper out weekly. This series is only 6 books long, so not a hugh commitment to read.