Lament for a Lady Laird

Penny Spring and Sir Toby Glendower #6

by Margot Arnold

Either the Scottish castle she has inherited is haunted, or someone is determined to scare the wits out of Heather Mcdonell. For Soruba House echoes nightly with eerie sounds that may or may not have a human source. However, with the arrival of her old friend Penny Spring, she is able to put her mind at ease. At least until the first murder occurs.

Once the body of Amy McClintock, laird of nearby Sheena Castle, is found drowned, the isolated seacoat seems aswarm with suspects. And Sir Toby, summoned to the scene, appears to be singularly unhelpful. Especially when Penny ends up helplessly adrift at sea, headed toward the dreaded whirlpool called the Corrievreckan.

Genres: Mystery, Cozy, Scotland

228 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1982

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name.

*Marguerite Marie Dominique Monro Arnold (1879-1969), British novelist.
aka
Margot Arnold.

*Petronelle Marguerite Mary Crouch Cook (1925-2016), British-American novelist, author of Penny Spring and Sir Toby Glendower Series
aka
Petronelle Cook and Margot Arnold.

Reviews

[Bev · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lament for a Lady Laird (1982) by Margot Arnold is part of the continuing adventures of PennySpring, anthropologist, and Sir Toby Glendower, archaeologist. Penny has received a letter from her old friend Heather Mcdonnell inviting her to visit her at the Scottish castle she has recently inherited. It's somewhat fortuitous because Penny has been trying to figure out what she will do with her summer vacation time--but she also wonders what she might be getting herself into as she picks up a strange sense of urgency from Heather when she calls to discuss the visit.

Upon arrival at Soruba House, she discovers that either Heather's new home is well and truly haunted or someone is determined to scare the new Lady Laird away. It's hard to figure out why, though. The castle had lain empty for some time while the attorneys tracked down the "lost" heir to the Mcdonnell seat, so surely if there was anything in the castle worth getting it would have been strategic for the "ghost" to get it before the new Laird's arrival.

Things get even more mysterious when the Laird of the neighboring land, Amy McClintock, is found dead from an apparent drowning after she fails to arrive at a dinner meant to introduce Penny to the locals. Penny feels a bit lost without her partner in detection and asks Heather to invite Sir Toby to stay as well. Now Penny, Sir Toby, and Heather's niece (recently arrived as well) must search for clues to see if the McClintock was the true target or if she discovered something dangerous about Heather's "ghost." There's little archaeology going on in this one--but there are ties to the past that will explain the crimes of the present.

Another solid ★★★ entry in this series. It's not an intricate puzzle, but a nice cozy little mystery with good characterization and an interesting detective duo with a fun relationship--full of banter, almost like an old married couple. The only draw-back on the mystery side is that while the reader might suspect who's behind the murder and the "haunting" and have a vague idea about the motive there really aren't enough clues to determine the actual, real live reason. I certainly wouldn't have guessed (and didn't) that plutonium that went down in the water with a crashed plane was the final objective of the culprit. There weren't exactly any clues pointing to that.

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[Kate · Rating 2 out of 5]

"Either the Scottish castle she has inherited is haunted, or someone is determined to scare the wits out of Heather Macdonell. For Soruba House echoes nightly with eerie sounds that may or may not have a human source. However, with the arrival of he old fiend Penny Spring, she is able to put her mind at ease. At least until the first murder occurs.

"Once the body of Amy McClintock, laird of nearby Sheena Castle, is found drowned, the isolated seacost seems aswarm with suspects. And Sir Toby , summoned to the scene, appears to be singularly unhelpful. Especially when Penny ends up helplessly adrift at sea, headed towad the dreaded whirlpool called the Corrievrekan."
~~ back cover

A bit more "normal" plot than Dirge for a Dorset Druid, but still not my cup of tea. Once the murder(s) are identified though, it's easy enough to see how the plot unfolded.

[Eugene · Rating 3 out of 5]

Re-reading this series; this is another good solid entry. Penny Spring and Sir Toby Glendower are a very atteactive pair of sleuths, and their respective fields of endeavor (anthropology and archeology respectively) mean they often pursue their cases in exotic foreign locales, and author Margot Arnold always gives lot of educational/elucidative tidbits about these various places - it’s truly a most pleasant way of “armchair travelling”…
Here it’s not a professional outing, but one of friendship, as Penny has been asked to visit an old friend now living in Scotland; this suits well, as Toby has been gallivanting around France on one of his “wine buying” junkets. Penny drives up to Scotland from Oxford, but finds strange happenings and circumstances upon arrival, and it isn’t long before she sends an SOS to Toby to come help her get to the bottom of things…let the games begin.
Really enjoying reading these, look forward to the next.

[Laura Edwards · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very fast-paced. Penny didn't seem to sit still for a minute. Not as much of Toby in this entry which is okay with me since I think Penny is the more enjoyable half of the partnership. I did make the correct guess as to the culprit after Cranston pushed Heather into taking a boat ride out to the whirlpool on a specific day. His intentions were clear to me, if not to her.

[M · Rating 2 out of 5]

Just okay.

[Cindy · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book opens with Penny wondering what to do over her summer vacation. Just as she's making up her mind, she gets a phone call from an old college friend inviting her to stay with her in a Scottish castle. Penny is happy enough to go, but it turns out that the friend is counting on her to investigate the mysterious sounds and events around the castle. She thinks it must be supernatural in origin, but Penny is convinced it's a more tangible force at work. And when a neighboring landowner is murdered, Penny is sure she's right. She enlists Sir Toby's help and the action is underway.

I like this one as a change from their usual adventure. Plenty of suspects. Not their very best, but still a good read.

CMB

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Penny Spring's old friend Heather inherits a Scottish estate, and asks Penny to visit her. Mysterious things have been happening in the large, isolated house, and calm, businesslike Heather is afraid that her imagination has taken over. But Penny hears the noises too. She sends out a call for her archaeologist friend Toby Glendower and the two, along with Heather's visiting American niece, are soon investigating a murder case.

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Penny Spring's old friend Heather has inherited a Scottish estate, but she thinks the house is haunted. Penny and Heather's American niece Allison help investigate, but when there's a murder, Penny sends for Toby Glendower.

[Cynthia Hale · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this. It was clean, exciting, and kept me guessing.