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The Scottish Ladies Detective Agency #1
The Scottish Ladies' Detective Agency
When Maud McIntyre sets up her own private detective agency, she never imagines her first case will involve murder… A mystery in the Highlands? The Scottish Ladies’ Detective Agency is on the case!
Edinburgh, 1911: When Maud McIntyre and her lady’s maid, Daisy, form a detective agency, they never dream their first case will take place at a glamorous house in the Scottish Highlands. But when the Duchess of Duddingston, concerned that a notorious jewellery thief will target her lavish weekend party, employs Maud to go undercover as a guest to find the culprit, the agency has its first case to solve…
Undercover with Daisy as her maid, Maud follows a trail of clues across the Duddingston House estate. And as she meets the weekend guests, she hopes one of them will reveal themselves as the jewellery thief. But when one of the house guests is discovered dead, Maud and Daisy realise they’re not only hunting precious gems, but a murderer…
As Maud and Daisy investigate, they realise that a connection in Edinburgh might hold a vital clue that will help them solve the case. Travelling back to the city, Maud hopes that what she and Daisy uncover will help them piece together the murder mystery at Duddingston House…
But when Maud receives a telephone call from the Duchess requesting urgent assistance, she realises that the murderer didn’t have just one victim in mind. Speeding down the drive to Duddingston House, Maud and Daisy hear gunshots ring out across the estate. Will they reach the Duchess in time to save her? And will they catch the murderer in the act?
Edinburgh, 1911: When Maud McIntyre and her lady’s maid, Daisy, form a detective agency, they never dream their first case will take place at a glamorous house in the Scottish Highlands. But when the Duchess of Duddingston, concerned that a notorious jewellery thief will target her lavish weekend party, employs Maud to go undercover as a guest to find the culprit, the agency has its first case to solve…
Undercover with Daisy as her maid, Maud follows a trail of clues across the Duddingston House estate. And as she meets the weekend guests, she hopes one of them will reveal themselves as the jewellery thief. But when one of the house guests is discovered dead, Maud and Daisy realise they’re not only hunting precious gems, but a murderer…
As Maud and Daisy investigate, they realise that a connection in Edinburgh might hold a vital clue that will help them solve the case. Travelling back to the city, Maud hopes that what she and Daisy uncover will help them piece together the murder mystery at Duddingston House…
But when Maud receives a telephone call from the Duchess requesting urgent assistance, she realises that the murderer didn’t have just one victim in mind. Speeding down the drive to Duddingston House, Maud and Daisy hear gunshots ring out across the estate. Will they reach the Duchess in time to save her? And will they catch the murderer in the act?
10 pages, Audible Audio
First published April 27, 2023
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June 26, 2023
3.5 stars rounded up because this was quite adorable.
A new cozy mystery series set in 1911 Scotland, features two plucky lady detectives solving crimes and causing shenanigans. This was such a cute and delightful novel and I loved the setting and all the historical elements.
This wasn’t a perfect book and the mystery (ies) definitely needed tightening up but overall I had a good time and snickered my way through it.
The main character Maud, has always loved detective novels and loves to fight injustice as a suffragette and supporter of the many social issues of the day. She’s a young woman of means who chooses to open a detective agency with an inheritance from her mother. Her spirited former ladies maid, Daisy, joins her as her assistant in the endeavour and the two are so funny together. They use disguises, subterfuge, breaking and entering and some regular detective work to get the job done and prove that ladies can, in fact, excel at a ‘man’s job’.
There is a *slight* love interest in this with Lord Uraquart, but in this first book their relationship is more adversarial than loving; she thinks he’s good looking, but also can’t stand him, he’s interested in her but also doubts her abilities because of her gender.
So my two critiques of this book and why it doesn’t get full stars are as follows: first, the historical elements here were often times a bit ham-fisted in their insertion into the story, as if the author had all this knowledge and felt she had to use every bit of it. The information overload and somewhat unsubtle way of adding it into the dialogue often impeded the flow of the story.
And second, the villain was extremely obvious to me, I pin pointed them at the 20% mark and never wavered from my guess. I’m not going to explain how I knew as I think that might be spoilery, but needless to say, I just kept waiting for the leads to catch up and figure it out! Also there were four separate cases that the ladies were working on, I get it, they run an agency so would have several clients, but the middle of the book dragged as we were investigating stolen love letters, missing dogs and kidnapped young women. Some of those cases did tie together but it was a lot and I think it could have been edited out or down significantly.
But this was a great opener to the series and I’m excited to go read the next one, which I also have the arc for!
Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture Publishing for the advanced copy of this book. The opinions expressed are my own.
A new cozy mystery series set in 1911 Scotland, features two plucky lady detectives solving crimes and causing shenanigans. This was such a cute and delightful novel and I loved the setting and all the historical elements.
This wasn’t a perfect book and the mystery (ies) definitely needed tightening up but overall I had a good time and snickered my way through it.
The main character Maud, has always loved detective novels and loves to fight injustice as a suffragette and supporter of the many social issues of the day. She’s a young woman of means who chooses to open a detective agency with an inheritance from her mother. Her spirited former ladies maid, Daisy, joins her as her assistant in the endeavour and the two are so funny together. They use disguises, subterfuge, breaking and entering and some regular detective work to get the job done and prove that ladies can, in fact, excel at a ‘man’s job’.
There is a *slight* love interest in this with Lord Uraquart, but in this first book their relationship is more adversarial than loving; she thinks he’s good looking, but also can’t stand him, he’s interested in her but also doubts her abilities because of her gender.
So my two critiques of this book and why it doesn’t get full stars are as follows: first, the historical elements here were often times a bit ham-fisted in their insertion into the story, as if the author had all this knowledge and felt she had to use every bit of it. The information overload and somewhat unsubtle way of adding it into the dialogue often impeded the flow of the story.
And second, the villain was extremely obvious to me, I pin pointed them at the 20% mark and never wavered from my guess. I’m not going to explain how I knew as I think that might be spoilery, but needless to say, I just kept waiting for the leads to catch up and figure it out! Also there were four separate cases that the ladies were working on, I get it, they run an agency so would have several clients, but the middle of the book dragged as we were investigating stolen love letters, missing dogs and kidnapped young women. Some of those cases did tie together but it was a lot and I think it could have been edited out or down significantly.
But this was a great opener to the series and I’m excited to go read the next one, which I also have the arc for!
Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture Publishing for the advanced copy of this book. The opinions expressed are my own.
April 6, 2023
This was a very promising start to a new series.
Set in Edinburgh in 1911, the story revolves around Maud McIntyre and ex lady's maid, now business partner, Daisy Cameron. Together they have set up the Scottish Ladies Detective Agency and at the start of the book they are anxiously waiting for customers.
Their first client sees them attending a weekend house party, where Daisy has to be her lady's maid again for a while. They are looking out for a jewel thief, but things become more serious when murder occurs. The Agency also gets busier with several more cases to solve.
The book is nicely written and it was very pleasing that the two main characters are both smart and sensible. The author was good at introducing occasional Scottish dialect into Daisy's speech so that it set the scene without being overdone. It was also often humorous.
An enjoyable read and I will certainly look out for the next book. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this book.
Set in Edinburgh in 1911, the story revolves around Maud McIntyre and ex lady's maid, now business partner, Daisy Cameron. Together they have set up the Scottish Ladies Detective Agency and at the start of the book they are anxiously waiting for customers.
Their first client sees them attending a weekend house party, where Daisy has to be her lady's maid again for a while. They are looking out for a jewel thief, but things become more serious when murder occurs. The Agency also gets busier with several more cases to solve.
The book is nicely written and it was very pleasing that the two main characters are both smart and sensible. The author was good at introducing occasional Scottish dialect into Daisy's speech so that it set the scene without being overdone. It was also often humorous.
An enjoyable read and I will certainly look out for the next book. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this book.
April 22, 2023
This is an entertaining start to a delightful new series! Maud McIntyre and her former lady’s maid Daisy Cameron have opened a fledgling detective agency in Edinburgh in 1911. At first they get off to a slow start, particularly with clients seeking a Mr McIntyre and certain women aren’t capable of being private investigators. However, soon they have almost more cases than they can cope with including a jewellery thief, a missing bride to be, a missing dog and some missing love letters.
The jewellery thief is their biggest case and their most dangerous when an elderly woman is killed at a private house party attended by Maud and Daisy (posing as her Lady’s maid once again). However, Maud and Daisy are both smart and know how to look after themselves and watch out for each other. Told with a touch of humour, Maud and Daisy are wonderful characters and I love Maud’s wardrobe full of ingenious disguises that she’s put together to help in their work as a Scottish Holmes and Watson. I can't wait to see what adventures Maud and Daisy have next!
With thanks to Bookouture via Netgalley for a copy to read
The jewellery thief is their biggest case and their most dangerous when an elderly woman is killed at a private house party attended by Maud and Daisy (posing as her Lady’s maid once again). However, Maud and Daisy are both smart and know how to look after themselves and watch out for each other. Told with a touch of humour, Maud and Daisy are wonderful characters and I love Maud’s wardrobe full of ingenious disguises that she’s put together to help in their work as a Scottish Holmes and Watson. I can't wait to see what adventures Maud and Daisy have next!
With thanks to Bookouture via Netgalley for a copy to read
April 19, 2023
It was 1911 in Edinburgh and Miss Maud McIntyre had just opened her own detective agency, in partnership with former lady's maid, Daisy Cameron. They were yet to have any clients when the Duchess of Duddingston hired them as she was holding a Saturday-to-Monday weekend party and her knowledge of jewel thieves at previous parties had her concerned about her own. So Maud and Daisy were to go to the Duddingston House estate as the Duchess' guests, along with the others who would be there. But would it be a long and boring waste of time for the two fledgling detectives?
When a scream was heard in the middle of the night, all the guests rushed from their rooms in their night attire, and when one of the guests was discovered deceased, as well as jewellry missing, Maud and Daisy knew they had a case on their hands - but they hadn't expected murder to be included! Would they discover the culprit before the end of the weekend?
What a delightful start to a new series! I thoroughly enjoyed The Scottish Ladies Detective Agency by debut author Lydia Travers and am very much looking forward to book 2, Murder in the Scottish Hills. Both Maud and Daisy are great characters, and their disguises are lots of fun. With a dry wit and plenty of laugh out loud moments, I have no hesitation in recommending this historical cosy mystery to fans of the genre.
With thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my digital ARC to read in exchange for an honest review.
When a scream was heard in the middle of the night, all the guests rushed from their rooms in their night attire, and when one of the guests was discovered deceased, as well as jewellry missing, Maud and Daisy knew they had a case on their hands - but they hadn't expected murder to be included! Would they discover the culprit before the end of the weekend?
What a delightful start to a new series! I thoroughly enjoyed The Scottish Ladies Detective Agency by debut author Lydia Travers and am very much looking forward to book 2, Murder in the Scottish Hills. Both Maud and Daisy are great characters, and their disguises are lots of fun. With a dry wit and plenty of laugh out loud moments, I have no hesitation in recommending this historical cosy mystery to fans of the genre.
With thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my digital ARC to read in exchange for an honest review.
April 18, 2023
Story7.5/10
Audio9/10
The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency meets Dear Mr. Holmes and Dr. Watson in Edinburgh in 1911!
I may add Enola Holmes too, whatever, this is exactly what the new cozy series start.
Maud McIntyre and her business partner, Daisy Cameron (her ex-lady's maid) organize the first Scottish Ladies Detective Agency and wait for their prime customers.
As you may guess, the customers will come, but all asking for Mr. McIntyre, after all, we are talking about more than a century ago, even the presence of two ladies and work in an agency is some sort of miracle from where I'm looking...
If my mother and I want to try...
Ok, I am distracted...
Yes, the story...
Their first case is about a jewelry thief who robbing parties in the Scottish Highlands, and the Duchess of Duddingston employs Maud to go undercover as a guest at her weekend party to prevent notoriety...
Jewellery thief
Dog kidnapper
Missing girl
and MURDER
Oh, we can say Maud has a very busy time, right?!
This was a good story with likable characters, I definitely want to try the next audiobook, with that excellent accent and great different characters' performance.
Thanks to Bookouture Audio via NetGalley for giving me the chance of listening to The Scottish Ladies' Detective Agency by Lydia Travers and Narrated by Helen McAlpine. I have given my honest review.
Audio9/10
The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency meets Dear Mr. Holmes and Dr. Watson in Edinburgh in 1911!
I may add Enola Holmes too, whatever, this is exactly what the new cozy series start.
Maud McIntyre and her business partner, Daisy Cameron (her ex-lady's maid) organize the first Scottish Ladies Detective Agency and wait for their prime customers.
As you may guess, the customers will come, but all asking for Mr. McIntyre, after all, we are talking about more than a century ago, even the presence of two ladies and work in an agency is some sort of miracle from where I'm looking...
If my mother and I want to try...
Ok, I am distracted...
Yes, the story...
Their first case is about a jewelry thief who robbing parties in the Scottish Highlands, and the Duchess of Duddingston employs Maud to go undercover as a guest at her weekend party to prevent notoriety...
Jewellery thief
Dog kidnapper
Missing girl
and MURDER
Oh, we can say Maud has a very busy time, right?!
This was a good story with likable characters, I definitely want to try the next audiobook, with that excellent accent and great different characters' performance.
Thanks to Bookouture Audio via NetGalley for giving me the chance of listening to The Scottish Ladies' Detective Agency by Lydia Travers and Narrated by Helen McAlpine. I have given my honest review.
May 3, 2023
A who-done-it historical cozy mystery series set just after the turn of the century, the 20th century that is. I haven't read many historical cozy mysteries and was intrigued by how Lydia Travers portrayed the time period. Her main character was a woman of upper-class birth, yet she feels strongly that a woman should make her own way in the world and not rely on her father or a husband to secure her future. The author also includes social issues linked to the period, including the Scottish government’s response to the Women’s Suffrage Movement. The heroine gets herself in several situations that just made me smile. I am reviewing the audiobook and the narrator, Helen McAlpine, was fantastic. Her Scottish accent was wonderful, and she brought Maud and Daisy vividly to life. I was also impressed with her voicing of the book's other characters and found her comic timing spot-on. She was a definitely value add to this experience.
Maud McIntyre has decided she wants a career of her own, so she has set up a Detective Agency. Her lady's maid, Daisy, acts as her assistant in this endeavor. In 1911 Edinburgh, Scotland Maud envisioned helping ladies of quality find missing things. When a mysterious gentleman enters her office, he is not impressed to find a woman in charge and declines to do business with her. Her first case does indeed come from a lady of quality, the Dutchess of Duddington, and the case is to protect her house party from being robbed. Maud and Daisy go undercover and foil the robbery, but one of the guests is murdered and the identity of the perpetrator is in question.
Back in Edinburgh, Maud receives more cases to solve, and the mysterious gentleman relents and hires her too, but he wants to "help" her solve the case. As Maud digs into her new cases, the trail leads back to Duddington House and the jewel thief and murderer.
My thanks to the Publisher and the Author for providing a complimentary audio Advanced Reader Copy (ARC) of this novel via NetGalley. This is my fair, honest and personal review. All opinions are mine alone and were not biased in any way.
Maud McIntyre has decided she wants a career of her own, so she has set up a Detective Agency. Her lady's maid, Daisy, acts as her assistant in this endeavor. In 1911 Edinburgh, Scotland Maud envisioned helping ladies of quality find missing things. When a mysterious gentleman enters her office, he is not impressed to find a woman in charge and declines to do business with her. Her first case does indeed come from a lady of quality, the Dutchess of Duddington, and the case is to protect her house party from being robbed. Maud and Daisy go undercover and foil the robbery, but one of the guests is murdered and the identity of the perpetrator is in question.
Back in Edinburgh, Maud receives more cases to solve, and the mysterious gentleman relents and hires her too, but he wants to "help" her solve the case. As Maud digs into her new cases, the trail leads back to Duddington House and the jewel thief and murderer.
My thanks to the Publisher and the Author for providing a complimentary audio Advanced Reader Copy (ARC) of this novel via NetGalley. This is my fair, honest and personal review. All opinions are mine alone and were not biased in any way.
May 8, 2023
Narrated by Helen McAlpine ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Story by Lydia Travers ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Really enjoyed this cosy whodoneit mystery. I actually would really love to see this as a movie or mini series.
Story by Lydia Travers ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Really enjoyed this cosy whodoneit mystery. I actually would really love to see this as a movie or mini series.
April 21, 2023
Thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture Audio for the ARC. It hasn't affected the content of my review.
This was fun! I will read the next one! I have a really hard time with most cozy mysteries. I really don't want to come across as a genre snob here, because I love genre. LOVE IT. But in my experience, most cozy mysteries are just not that well-written. And by that I don't just mean I don't like them, which is what most people say when they don't like something but can't figure out why. I mean that characters are usually flat, dialogue is pointless or not-real sounding, sometimes poorly described (and sometimes well-described!) settings like restaurants and libraries and coffee shops are made to heft a lot of weight of the narrative. The mysteries are usually not well-plotted or interesting. The relationships seem constructed. The prose is not well-constructed enough to slip into the background and let you believe what you are reading is real.
All that said, this book fell into exactly none of those above problems! The characters are fun, the dialogue is sharp and at times witty, the mysteries are well-thought out and reveals well-placed. The settings are fun and described just enough to give you a nice picture in your head. The main conflict of the series (a woman detective starting her own business in a time where that type of thing is simply not done) is inherently interesting and used well. The prose does what it needs to and gets out of the way. We don't learn much about our two main characters, Maud and her former ladies maid and now employee Daisy, in terms of concrete backstory, but we come out of the story knowing exactly what kind of people they are anyway. We see it in their actions and their words (and in what they don't say and do as well).
The narrator, Helen McAlpine, does a fantastic job, and listening to her accent for eight hours was a good time.
So I have finally found a cozy mystery series that I genuinely like, and I will definitely be continuing on. Worth noting, I think this book would appeal to people who don't generally like cozier mysteries, but who just like a good mystery, no flash or fuss, as well.
This was fun! I will read the next one! I have a really hard time with most cozy mysteries. I really don't want to come across as a genre snob here, because I love genre. LOVE IT. But in my experience, most cozy mysteries are just not that well-written. And by that I don't just mean I don't like them, which is what most people say when they don't like something but can't figure out why. I mean that characters are usually flat, dialogue is pointless or not-real sounding, sometimes poorly described (and sometimes well-described!) settings like restaurants and libraries and coffee shops are made to heft a lot of weight of the narrative. The mysteries are usually not well-plotted or interesting. The relationships seem constructed. The prose is not well-constructed enough to slip into the background and let you believe what you are reading is real.
All that said, this book fell into exactly none of those above problems! The characters are fun, the dialogue is sharp and at times witty, the mysteries are well-thought out and reveals well-placed. The settings are fun and described just enough to give you a nice picture in your head. The main conflict of the series (a woman detective starting her own business in a time where that type of thing is simply not done) is inherently interesting and used well. The prose does what it needs to and gets out of the way. We don't learn much about our two main characters, Maud and her former ladies maid and now employee Daisy, in terms of concrete backstory, but we come out of the story knowing exactly what kind of people they are anyway. We see it in their actions and their words (and in what they don't say and do as well).
The narrator, Helen McAlpine, does a fantastic job, and listening to her accent for eight hours was a good time.
So I have finally found a cozy mystery series that I genuinely like, and I will definitely be continuing on. Worth noting, I think this book would appeal to people who don't generally like cozier mysteries, but who just like a good mystery, no flash or fuss, as well.
April 15, 2024
Ladies' detective agencies, as a subgenre have captured me, so as this Scottish one popped up on lists I was mighty intrigued! Maud McIntyre and her assistant Daisy Cameron are a lively pair set in Edinburgh in 1911.
Maud comes from wealth, and checks in with her father for tea now and again, while Daisy was Maud's maid before the Detective Agency came into being. Both are earnest suffragettes and keep tuned to the radio waves for news about the current global conflicts.
Clients show up and after the first awkward exchanges where clients were expecting male detectives, M. McIntyre was able to land her first cases after persuasive discussions.
Still, I'm going to read on to the next book in the series before considering myself convinced. It's a great start for something new to read in the Ladies' Detective category.
*A sincere thank you to Lydia Travers, Bookouture, and NetGalley for an ARC to read and independently review.* #TheScottishLadiesDetectiveAgency #NetGalley
52:15
Maud comes from wealth, and checks in with her father for tea now and again, while Daisy was Maud's maid before the Detective Agency came into being. Both are earnest suffragettes and keep tuned to the radio waves for news about the current global conflicts.
Clients show up and after the first awkward exchanges where clients were expecting male detectives, M. McIntyre was able to land her first cases after persuasive discussions.
Still, I'm going to read on to the next book in the series before considering myself convinced. It's a great start for something new to read in the Ladies' Detective category.
*A sincere thank you to Lydia Travers, Bookouture, and NetGalley for an ARC to read and independently review.* #TheScottishLadiesDetectiveAgency #NetGalley
52:15
September 30, 2023
I’m so thrilled! A start to a new mystery series that I can tell is just perfect for me. Maud McIntyre and her former lady’s maid Daisy Cameron have started a private detective agency in Edinburgh in 1911. They get several different cases through the book that are all tied together in mysterious ways. I loved the Edinburgh setting and the pre-WWI time period. There is some talk of suffragettes and the rising militarism of Germany, but mostly the prosperity and the delightful fashion of the Edwardian era is very much in evidence. Maud and Daisy are enjoying some new privileges as young women but they still have to contend with prejudice.
I love that Maud is adept at disguises. She wears at least three in the novel and it was fun to read about her transformations. Perhaps there were a few coincidences in the mystery solving process but I don’t mind because of how fun Maud and Daisy are as a pair. I’m sure they’ll mature in their detecting abilities too. Maud has a fun family with an understanding father and three big brothers. There are references to the literature of the time because Maud is a big reader. (Father Brown and The Moonstone among others!) The author says in her historical note that she was influenced by P.G. Wodehouse, and I can easily tell. There is a lightness to the tone that I particularly enjoyed.
Long may this series continue!
I love that Maud is adept at disguises. She wears at least three in the novel and it was fun to read about her transformations. Perhaps there were a few coincidences in the mystery solving process but I don’t mind because of how fun Maud and Daisy are as a pair. I’m sure they’ll mature in their detecting abilities too. Maud has a fun family with an understanding father and three big brothers. There are references to the literature of the time because Maud is a big reader. (Father Brown and The Moonstone among others!) The author says in her historical note that she was influenced by P.G. Wodehouse, and I can easily tell. There is a lightness to the tone that I particularly enjoyed.
Long may this series continue!
April 17, 2023
Enjoyable Edwardian Mystery!
Edinburgh 1911! Women are demanding the vote! Two women whose sympathies lie with the suffrage movement have opened a detective agency, Maud McIntyre and Daisy Cameron, who had been Maud’s maid for the last seven years. It’s officially their first day of business and a likely candidate turns up, Lord Hamish Urquhart, looking for help with a delicate matter. Only when he realises that a woman was in charge he decided against using their agency. Disgruntled, Maud is fuming against the dismissal from men when another client arrives, the Duchess of Duddingston, who has no objection to employing women enquiry agents. She’s having a weekend house party and as there’s been a spate of jewel thefts lately. She hires Maud and Daisy to keep watch. Oh, and guess who’s a house guest? That’s right, Lord Urquhart. Others on the guest list include Duchess’ daughters attend as does an Earl and his American wife, a pleasant advocate-depute Douglas Laing, and a popular author Esmeralda Taft.
A quiet beginning to the weekend gathers steam and there’s plenty of excitement when an elderly Viscountess is murdered, her diamonds go missing, and her husband arrested for the murder.
Case solved! Back in town a High Court Judge, Lord Miller, hires the agency to look for his missing daughter who’s about to be married. Has she had second thoughts or has something more sinister occurred. No sooner have Maud and Daisy started their investigations than another would be client appears, Lord Urquart.
A fast paced cozy mystery, with two gleeful, determined, and creative lady detectives where nothing is being left to chance, mostly.
A Bookouture ARC via NetGalley.
Many thanks to the author and publisher.
(Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.)
Edinburgh 1911! Women are demanding the vote! Two women whose sympathies lie with the suffrage movement have opened a detective agency, Maud McIntyre and Daisy Cameron, who had been Maud’s maid for the last seven years. It’s officially their first day of business and a likely candidate turns up, Lord Hamish Urquhart, looking for help with a delicate matter. Only when he realises that a woman was in charge he decided against using their agency. Disgruntled, Maud is fuming against the dismissal from men when another client arrives, the Duchess of Duddingston, who has no objection to employing women enquiry agents. She’s having a weekend house party and as there’s been a spate of jewel thefts lately. She hires Maud and Daisy to keep watch. Oh, and guess who’s a house guest? That’s right, Lord Urquhart. Others on the guest list include Duchess’ daughters attend as does an Earl and his American wife, a pleasant advocate-depute Douglas Laing, and a popular author Esmeralda Taft.
A quiet beginning to the weekend gathers steam and there’s plenty of excitement when an elderly Viscountess is murdered, her diamonds go missing, and her husband arrested for the murder.
Case solved! Back in town a High Court Judge, Lord Miller, hires the agency to look for his missing daughter who’s about to be married. Has she had second thoughts or has something more sinister occurred. No sooner have Maud and Daisy started their investigations than another would be client appears, Lord Urquart.
A fast paced cozy mystery, with two gleeful, determined, and creative lady detectives where nothing is being left to chance, mostly.
A Bookouture ARC via NetGalley.
Many thanks to the author and publisher.
(Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.)
April 12, 2023
Thank you to NetGalley and Bookoture for the free advanced reading copy. All opinions expressed in this review are my own and not affected by the giveaway.
Maud McIntyre and her lady's maid Daisy have just started a detective agency in Edinburgh. It's 1911 though and in spite of women breaking windows and shouting for the right to vote, most people are reluctant to hire a female detective. Such is the case with their first prospective client, Lord Urquhart. He turns the ladies down flat. The next client is reluctant to hire them but has exhausted all her options. The Duchess of Duddington needs someone to attend her house party and prevent a jewel thief from stealing or barring that, catch the person. With Daisy acting as lady's maid belowstairs and Maud as an undercover guest, this should be easy. Unfortunately Lord Urquhart is also in attendance and well aware of who Maud really is. The other guests are in the dark about her identity though and the investigation continues until someone ends up dead. Murder is beyond Maud's expertise and the police are summoned. When Maud thinks she has her thief, she allows the police to do their job and returns home where more cases are waiting. McIntyre Detective Agency ends up with three new cases: Lord Urquhart returns to ask the dynamic duo to locate a set of missing love letters belonging to his former paramour, a young lady married to a conservative MP. If word gets out his wife wants to have an affair, his career would be over. It seems Lord U's neighbor, Lady Argyll, is also missing something- her beloved Pekinese. The third case involves a missing bride. Could any of these events be linked? It sure seems like the letter thief probably took the dog but where are the letters and more importantly, did the bride disappear on her own or did somebody take her? Is there a connection between the groom and Lady Duddingston's thief?
In the tradition of T.E. Kinsey, C.J. Archer and Verity Bright, this richly detailed novel depicts life in the early 20th-century UK when women didn't have the right to vote or any citizenship status at all. While suffragettes are using deeds not words to make their case, the upper classes are carrying on with their usual shenanigans. The first third of the story drags on and on. It reads like a short story where it takes too long to set up and the thief catching happens too quickly. That part is under 100 pages. It would have been a good novella. Then the story picks up a bit more around page 100 when the real mystery begins. Some of the other stuff that happens in the book is a distraction and could have been pared down a lot. As much as I LOVE the suffragettes, my favorite topic to read about, it wasn't necessary to include EVERYTHING especially the trial of the suffragette accused of assaulting a police officer. Yes it tells us a lot about the characters based on how they feel about women's suffrage but it's a lot of extraneous information. TWO of the mysteries also should have been relegated to a novella or short story and the focus should have been on the missing bride. Taken as a whole, the story felt disjointed. I guessed who the villain was early on but I stayed up late to find out what happened to the bride! I couldn't put the book down. I had to skim/speed read and skip some of the details about Edwardian life to finish before 2 AM!
I like Maud and Daisy well enough. They have a backstory that is just tossed at the reader which should be a prequel novella. Maud is sometimes naïve and crazy. She thinks because she easily discovered one jewel thief she can solve crimes! She gets herself into tough situations but she's intelligent enough to know when to back down and to know what she can and can not handle. Daisy is tougher being from the lower classes. She speaks with a Scottish accent which is a little annoying when it's spelled out. She needs a glossary because I didn't always understand what she was saying. Daisy is more brash and rash than Maud. She's cheeky but can handle herself when she rubs someone the wrong way or when a man tries to get cheeky with her. I think Lord Urquhart is supposed to be Maud's love interest. At first he comes across as sexist and arrogant but then Maud reads about him in the tabloids and runs into him at the house party only to discover he's kind of a playboy. Unsurprising since King Edward VII has only recently died! Fundamentally I think Lord U, Hamish, is a good guy. He may be a rake right now but I think he's intrigued by Maud and admires her intelligence and her guts in going after what she wants. She's confused by his attentions but Daisy knows what's what!
The Duchess of Duddingston is a wealthy widow with two marriageable daughters. She hints that she has Lord U earmarked for one of her daughters. Lady D is arrogant and snobby at times but she truly wants and needs Maud's help. She accepts Maud is experienced and observant. Lady D only stands in Maud's way when it comes to searching everyone's rooms. She insists on searching her own and her daughters' rooms by herself which makes me a little suspicious. Her eldest daughter, Lady Cynthia, is a piece of work. She's more snobby and rude than her mother. She is uninterested in the plight of the poor, helping servants get healthcare and anything except whatever it is empty headed young ladies are into. Husband hunting I suppose. Lady Violet seems to be treated like an afterthought. Unlike Cynthia, she isn't conventionally pretty and she seems like a schoolgirl from her appearance. She gives away a hint that she dreams of romance and has a man in mind for her future husband. I hope she's not competing with her sister because something tells me Cynthia would be ruthless and nasty to her sister if they both liked the same man.
Miss Esme Taft, author of tawdry romance novels, is one of the guests. Like Lady Cynthia, she's horrible. She thinks she's an Edwardian rock star or because she writes about the medieval period, she thinks it's still like back then and she's a lady and everyone else peasants. She's rude to Daisy but her dismissal of the maid allows Daisy to discover Miss Tate's secrets. In spite of being a successful novelist with nice clothes, she also seems to be poor for some reason. Do her expensive tastes exceed her income? Do her nice things come from money from stolen jewels? She's even changed her appearance even though her original coloring is more fashionable. I find her suspicious and think she's the prime suspect for thief. That might be too obvious though.
The Earl of Swinton and his Countess seem like a lovely couple. She may be a Buccaneer but they seem to be in love or at least fond of each other. With her money, they have no need to steal. Colonel Morrison is an old, boring war hero living on past glory. He's invited everywhere and has been on the guest list where other jewels have been stolen. He brings along a guard dog no one seems to have any idea is there. That makes me think he's hiding something. He puts up a big fuss about Maud searching his room. Between him and his dog, Maud seems to think he's challenged her to prove his guilt. Viscount and Viscountess Drummond are a nice elderly couple. They may not be as wealthy as the hostess or some of the other guests. There's hints money is short and Maud discovers a secret of her that may prove that the Viscountess is the thief. At least until she's murdered! I don't think her husband did it. He's too old, confused and upset by her death.
Mr. Laing seems nice. He's quiet and seems to be interested in Maud. He was one of the first on the scene after the murder and Maud doesn't think he could have done it and gone back to his room so quickly. Yet when she gets to know him better, she revises her opinion of him. Away from other people, alone in his own home, he can be free to be himself and what Maud sees is not pleasing. He is a nasty, selfish, social climbing weasel with an anti-suffrage mind. He's rude and I do not like him. Did he drive his bride away or did she run off on her own? I'd run too if I were engaged to Mr. Laing.
Belowstairs there's a tough butler, Mr. Thompson, who is very proper. The housekeeper too is also tough and proper but not unkind. Daisy takes a shine to the housemaids, especially wee Ada and offers to help. She does not like Mackenzie, the cheeky footman. I don't think any of them are suspects though. For a brief moment, it seems they have their man in a "vagrant" who stops by but it can't be the homeless person. It just never is just like it's never the servants! Sergeant McKay, the local constable sent to discover the murderer is wet behind the ears and not too bright. He'll never figure it out on his own.
Back in Edinburgh, we meet judge Lord Miller, a doting father worried about his daughter Diana who has gone missing. Diana is due to marry shortly and her father insists he isn't forcing her and she seemed excited and happy. Maud picks up on certain clues that Lord Miller isn't being entirely truthful. He may want himself to appear as a doting father but like most upper class fathers, he may want his daughter to make an advantageous marriage for political reasons rather than a love match. Diana's friend Angela Grant claims she doesn't know anything about Diana's disappearance and she's worried about her friend. Diana seems young and a little silly. Maud's methods of getting information from her are rather unethical but it works because Maud had already used her observational skills. Ovinus Davies, the photographer, violates client privilege by prattling on to Maud about Diana's sittings and who she came with. That doesn't usually happen in these sorts of novels, not without a bribe. He must be a newbie. Madame Escoffier, the dressmaker, knows more about what goes on in Society than anyone but also knows how to be discreet. She wants her money though she has every motive to want Diana found.
Sebastian Ferguson is a horrible excuse for a human being. He's a right wing nut job MP who doesn't believe in women's rights and does believe in corporal punishment for even minor offenses. Who on earth would marry him? He's away a lot on business and his young wife is doing her best to be a Real Housewife of Edinburgh 1911. Stella is young, bored and restless. She wants to resume her affair with Lord U and doesn't care about her husband or his reputation. She may be petty and vindictive too. She's a spoiled young miss but there's no reason for her to be punished by being married to the worst man in the novel.
Lady Argyll spoils her Peke, Max. Max barks too much and she can't train him to stop. She allows it and that's how she knows he's missing. I believe she loves her dog but she doesn't seem too distraught. If it were my dog, I'd be asking Maud and Daisy every day if they had a lead and what I could do to find my baby!
While I didn't LOVE this book, I would be open to reading another one if the author can dial it back a bit and not include EVERY idea and EVERYTHING that was going on in 1911 in one book.
Maud McIntyre and her lady's maid Daisy have just started a detective agency in Edinburgh. It's 1911 though and in spite of women breaking windows and shouting for the right to vote, most people are reluctant to hire a female detective. Such is the case with their first prospective client, Lord Urquhart. He turns the ladies down flat. The next client is reluctant to hire them but has exhausted all her options. The Duchess of Duddington needs someone to attend her house party and prevent a jewel thief from stealing or barring that, catch the person. With Daisy acting as lady's maid belowstairs and Maud as an undercover guest, this should be easy. Unfortunately Lord Urquhart is also in attendance and well aware of who Maud really is. The other guests are in the dark about her identity though and the investigation continues until someone ends up dead. Murder is beyond Maud's expertise and the police are summoned. When Maud thinks she has her thief, she allows the police to do their job and returns home where more cases are waiting. McIntyre Detective Agency ends up with three new cases: Lord Urquhart returns to ask the dynamic duo to locate a set of missing love letters belonging to his former paramour, a young lady married to a conservative MP. If word gets out his wife wants to have an affair, his career would be over. It seems Lord U's neighbor, Lady Argyll, is also missing something- her beloved Pekinese. The third case involves a missing bride. Could any of these events be linked? It sure seems like the letter thief probably took the dog but where are the letters and more importantly, did the bride disappear on her own or did somebody take her? Is there a connection between the groom and Lady Duddingston's thief?
In the tradition of T.E. Kinsey, C.J. Archer and Verity Bright, this richly detailed novel depicts life in the early 20th-century UK when women didn't have the right to vote or any citizenship status at all. While suffragettes are using deeds not words to make their case, the upper classes are carrying on with their usual shenanigans. The first third of the story drags on and on. It reads like a short story where it takes too long to set up and the thief catching happens too quickly. That part is under 100 pages. It would have been a good novella. Then the story picks up a bit more around page 100 when the real mystery begins. Some of the other stuff that happens in the book is a distraction and could have been pared down a lot. As much as I LOVE the suffragettes, my favorite topic to read about, it wasn't necessary to include EVERYTHING especially the trial of the suffragette accused of assaulting a police officer. Yes it tells us a lot about the characters based on how they feel about women's suffrage but it's a lot of extraneous information. TWO of the mysteries also should have been relegated to a novella or short story and the focus should have been on the missing bride. Taken as a whole, the story felt disjointed. I guessed who the villain was early on but I stayed up late to find out what happened to the bride! I couldn't put the book down. I had to skim/speed read and skip some of the details about Edwardian life to finish before 2 AM!
I like Maud and Daisy well enough. They have a backstory that is just tossed at the reader which should be a prequel novella. Maud is sometimes naïve and crazy. She thinks because she easily discovered one jewel thief she can solve crimes! She gets herself into tough situations but she's intelligent enough to know when to back down and to know what she can and can not handle. Daisy is tougher being from the lower classes. She speaks with a Scottish accent which is a little annoying when it's spelled out. She needs a glossary because I didn't always understand what she was saying. Daisy is more brash and rash than Maud. She's cheeky but can handle herself when she rubs someone the wrong way or when a man tries to get cheeky with her. I think Lord Urquhart is supposed to be Maud's love interest. At first he comes across as sexist and arrogant but then Maud reads about him in the tabloids and runs into him at the house party only to discover he's kind of a playboy. Unsurprising since King Edward VII has only recently died! Fundamentally I think Lord U, Hamish, is a good guy. He may be a rake right now but I think he's intrigued by Maud and admires her intelligence and her guts in going after what she wants. She's confused by his attentions but Daisy knows what's what!
The Duchess of Duddingston is a wealthy widow with two marriageable daughters. She hints that she has Lord U earmarked for one of her daughters. Lady D is arrogant and snobby at times but she truly wants and needs Maud's help. She accepts Maud is experienced and observant. Lady D only stands in Maud's way when it comes to searching everyone's rooms. She insists on searching her own and her daughters' rooms by herself which makes me a little suspicious. Her eldest daughter, Lady Cynthia, is a piece of work. She's more snobby and rude than her mother. She is uninterested in the plight of the poor, helping servants get healthcare and anything except whatever it is empty headed young ladies are into. Husband hunting I suppose. Lady Violet seems to be treated like an afterthought. Unlike Cynthia, she isn't conventionally pretty and she seems like a schoolgirl from her appearance. She gives away a hint that she dreams of romance and has a man in mind for her future husband. I hope she's not competing with her sister because something tells me Cynthia would be ruthless and nasty to her sister if they both liked the same man.
Miss Esme Taft, author of tawdry romance novels, is one of the guests. Like Lady Cynthia, she's horrible. She thinks she's an Edwardian rock star or because she writes about the medieval period, she thinks it's still like back then and she's a lady and everyone else peasants. She's rude to Daisy but her dismissal of the maid allows Daisy to discover Miss Tate's secrets. In spite of being a successful novelist with nice clothes, she also seems to be poor for some reason. Do her expensive tastes exceed her income? Do her nice things come from money from stolen jewels? She's even changed her appearance even though her original coloring is more fashionable. I find her suspicious and think she's the prime suspect for thief. That might be too obvious though.
The Earl of Swinton and his Countess seem like a lovely couple. She may be a Buccaneer but they seem to be in love or at least fond of each other. With her money, they have no need to steal. Colonel Morrison is an old, boring war hero living on past glory. He's invited everywhere and has been on the guest list where other jewels have been stolen. He brings along a guard dog no one seems to have any idea is there. That makes me think he's hiding something. He puts up a big fuss about Maud searching his room. Between him and his dog, Maud seems to think he's challenged her to prove his guilt. Viscount and Viscountess Drummond are a nice elderly couple. They may not be as wealthy as the hostess or some of the other guests. There's hints money is short and Maud discovers a secret of her that may prove that the Viscountess is the thief. At least until she's murdered! I don't think her husband did it. He's too old, confused and upset by her death.
Mr. Laing seems nice. He's quiet and seems to be interested in Maud. He was one of the first on the scene after the murder and Maud doesn't think he could have done it and gone back to his room so quickly. Yet when she gets to know him better, she revises her opinion of him. Away from other people, alone in his own home, he can be free to be himself and what Maud sees is not pleasing. He is a nasty, selfish, social climbing weasel with an anti-suffrage mind. He's rude and I do not like him. Did he drive his bride away or did she run off on her own? I'd run too if I were engaged to Mr. Laing.
Belowstairs there's a tough butler, Mr. Thompson, who is very proper. The housekeeper too is also tough and proper but not unkind. Daisy takes a shine to the housemaids, especially wee Ada and offers to help. She does not like Mackenzie, the cheeky footman. I don't think any of them are suspects though. For a brief moment, it seems they have their man in a "vagrant" who stops by but it can't be the homeless person. It just never is just like it's never the servants! Sergeant McKay, the local constable sent to discover the murderer is wet behind the ears and not too bright. He'll never figure it out on his own.
Back in Edinburgh, we meet judge Lord Miller, a doting father worried about his daughter Diana who has gone missing. Diana is due to marry shortly and her father insists he isn't forcing her and she seemed excited and happy. Maud picks up on certain clues that Lord Miller isn't being entirely truthful. He may want himself to appear as a doting father but like most upper class fathers, he may want his daughter to make an advantageous marriage for political reasons rather than a love match. Diana's friend Angela Grant claims she doesn't know anything about Diana's disappearance and she's worried about her friend. Diana seems young and a little silly. Maud's methods of getting information from her are rather unethical but it works because Maud had already used her observational skills. Ovinus Davies, the photographer, violates client privilege by prattling on to Maud about Diana's sittings and who she came with. That doesn't usually happen in these sorts of novels, not without a bribe. He must be a newbie. Madame Escoffier, the dressmaker, knows more about what goes on in Society than anyone but also knows how to be discreet. She wants her money though she has every motive to want Diana found.
Sebastian Ferguson is a horrible excuse for a human being. He's a right wing nut job MP who doesn't believe in women's rights and does believe in corporal punishment for even minor offenses. Who on earth would marry him? He's away a lot on business and his young wife is doing her best to be a Real Housewife of Edinburgh 1911. Stella is young, bored and restless. She wants to resume her affair with Lord U and doesn't care about her husband or his reputation. She may be petty and vindictive too. She's a spoiled young miss but there's no reason for her to be punished by being married to the worst man in the novel.
Lady Argyll spoils her Peke, Max. Max barks too much and she can't train him to stop. She allows it and that's how she knows he's missing. I believe she loves her dog but she doesn't seem too distraught. If it were my dog, I'd be asking Maud and Daisy every day if they had a lead and what I could do to find my baby!
While I didn't LOVE this book, I would be open to reading another one if the author can dial it back a bit and not include EVERY idea and EVERYTHING that was going on in 1911 in one book.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 29, 2023
"A bee buzzed past and from somewhere in the distance came the clickety-clack of a mowing machine. The sounds of a country summer. Maud inhaled the roses' soothing, sweet perfume...and felt all was right with the world."
A book about a female private detective, set in 1911, with a jewel thief that strikes during country house weekend parties where a limited amount of suspects are all under one roof? SIGN ME UP!
This started out strongly and I was jazzed to read it. I like how the author depicted the difficulty of being a female detective - Maud's first client discovers "M. McIntyre" is a woman and quickly leaves. I also enjoyed Maud and Daisy's relationship, in that Miss Cameron used to be her ladies maid and now is her assistant.
The pacing of the book is slightly off, and I didn't realize until I was about 60% of the way through that the book resolves at 90% (10% is a section of book 2 in the series). But still, the house party was the best part, meeting all the characters/suspects. Because of how the stolen necklace is thrown from a window, Maud and the Duchess (her client) think they know whodunnit and then Maud and Daisy go back to business. This is all before 40% of the book. But Maud's feeling of catching the wrong culprit just continues to gnaw at her, especially as she takes on a couple more cases that might be related.
Once Maud and Daisy are back in the city, the pace got very slow for me. It felt almost like two different books to me, and though I appreciate how the different cases are related (there's a missing dog and a runaway fiance along with the country house jewel thief), there were some places where things felt stalled. Like Maud goes to visit her dad in the country, which was charming and I appreciated learning more about her family but it didn't really advance the plot. Then she visits a court case where a suffragette is being tried for assault and we learn about the case but this really isn't information that is helpful (and though the suffrage movement is relevant to another aspect, the court trial isn't adding anything to what we already know).
Oh - and there were some instances where the book slips into first person narrative. Like "returning her gaze to me" - maybe the book was originally not told in third person? It happened in a few places and maybe that will be fixed in a published edition.
Thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book!
A book about a female private detective, set in 1911, with a jewel thief that strikes during country house weekend parties where a limited amount of suspects are all under one roof? SIGN ME UP!
This started out strongly and I was jazzed to read it. I like how the author depicted the difficulty of being a female detective - Maud's first client discovers "M. McIntyre" is a woman and quickly leaves. I also enjoyed Maud and Daisy's relationship, in that Miss Cameron used to be her ladies maid and now is her assistant.
The pacing of the book is slightly off, and I didn't realize until I was about 60% of the way through that the book resolves at 90% (10% is a section of book 2 in the series). But still, the house party was the best part, meeting all the characters/suspects. Because of how the stolen necklace is thrown from a window, Maud and the Duchess (her client) think they know whodunnit and then Maud and Daisy go back to business. This is all before 40% of the book. But Maud's feeling of catching the wrong culprit just continues to gnaw at her, especially as she takes on a couple more cases that might be related.
Once Maud and Daisy are back in the city, the pace got very slow for me. It felt almost like two different books to me, and though I appreciate how the different cases are related (there's a missing dog and a runaway fiance along with the country house jewel thief), there were some places where things felt stalled. Like Maud goes to visit her dad in the country, which was charming and I appreciated learning more about her family but it didn't really advance the plot. Then she visits a court case where a suffragette is being tried for assault and we learn about the case but this really isn't information that is helpful (and though the suffrage movement is relevant to another aspect, the court trial isn't adding anything to what we already know).
Oh - and there were some instances where the book slips into first person narrative. Like "returning her gaze to me" - maybe the book was originally not told in third person? It happened in a few places and maybe that will be fixed in a published edition.
Thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book!
April 29, 2023
She may not rival Sherlock Holmes, but Maud McIntyre forms a female detective agency with her dear friend Daisy. It is 1911 Edinburgh and the suffragette movement is underway. Maud has no intention to live by convention and takes on as many cases as she can. With the support of her father and her stalwart friend and partner, Maud dons various disguises and roles for the times they have to go undercover.
Maud and Daisy’s first case is to try and locate a jewelry thief. They find much more. In fact, a murder takes place which naturally makes things far more serious. Their new business is certainly underway. What a delightful start to a new series. The setting, characters and intrigue were all done wonderfully, and this promises to be an engaging series. I really am looking forward to the second book in the series, Murder in the Scottish Hills.
I loved that I was able to get this book for review as an audiobook. The narrator Helen McAlpine was new to me and I really enjoyed her Scottish accent. Her exceptional narration made a wonderful book all that much better.
Many thanks to Bookouture and to NetGalley for this ARC for review. This is my honest opinion.
Maud and Daisy’s first case is to try and locate a jewelry thief. They find much more. In fact, a murder takes place which naturally makes things far more serious. Their new business is certainly underway. What a delightful start to a new series. The setting, characters and intrigue were all done wonderfully, and this promises to be an engaging series. I really am looking forward to the second book in the series, Murder in the Scottish Hills.
I loved that I was able to get this book for review as an audiobook. The narrator Helen McAlpine was new to me and I really enjoyed her Scottish accent. Her exceptional narration made a wonderful book all that much better.
Many thanks to Bookouture and to NetGalley for this ARC for review. This is my honest opinion.
April 11, 2023
A perfect cosy mystery with some fab characters. It had the same elements as some of my favourite historical fiction murder mysteries and was effortless to read.
The audiobook was superbly narrated and brought the words from the pages and into life. I always looked forward to going back to this one and it’s steady and gentle plot had me sad once it had finished!
It’s a perfect foundation for more books in this series in the future and I can’t wait for more. I look forward to rejoining Maud & Daisy and their future adventures in detective-ing.
Thank you to the author and publisher for this audiobook on NetGalley in return for my honest thoughts and review.
The audiobook was superbly narrated and brought the words from the pages and into life. I always looked forward to going back to this one and it’s steady and gentle plot had me sad once it had finished!
It’s a perfect foundation for more books in this series in the future and I can’t wait for more. I look forward to rejoining Maud & Daisy and their future adventures in detective-ing.
Thank you to the author and publisher for this audiobook on NetGalley in return for my honest thoughts and review.
April 16, 2023
DNF at 47%
I love cozy mysteries with lady detectives that also take place in a historical setting/context. Scottish narrators are also a treat for my ears and yet this book bored me to pieces.
The story takes a very (very!) long time to get going (by 30% we are still in the setup stage)
Then once “action” starts to happen, it too is boring. I also felt the characters did not act the way people from that time would act. They were all far too “modern”.
I was particularly annoyed with how our lady detective was constantly swooning over a male character and then thinking about how she can’t be distracted by a cute fellow with a new business. It also seemed odd that she referenced so many detective novels.
Overall, I was very disappointed. I was hoping for a new series to get into (having enjoyed a few others in this genre already)
Thanks netgalley for my ARC.
I love cozy mysteries with lady detectives that also take place in a historical setting/context. Scottish narrators are also a treat for my ears and yet this book bored me to pieces.
The story takes a very (very!) long time to get going (by 30% we are still in the setup stage)
Then once “action” starts to happen, it too is boring. I also felt the characters did not act the way people from that time would act. They were all far too “modern”.
I was particularly annoyed with how our lady detective was constantly swooning over a male character and then thinking about how she can’t be distracted by a cute fellow with a new business. It also seemed odd that she referenced so many detective novels.
Overall, I was very disappointed. I was hoping for a new series to get into (having enjoyed a few others in this genre already)
Thanks netgalley for my ARC.
September 19, 2023
I think I've found my next series. Great characterization and a series of mysteries that kept me guessing even after I had figured it out. That's awesome. I love the middle twist especially. I was just so sure I saw what was coming, and I did, but not in the WAY I thought.
This would have been a five-star read if it hadn't gotten downright preachy about the poor downtrodden women in the early 1900s. Bringing up issues of the day would have been reasonable and interesting, but harping on them at every turn just took away from the story. I get it. Women didn't have the same rights and privileges as men in certain times and areas. But sometimes I feel like authors forget that readers know this. We don't need the same old same old stuff rehashed all the time.
Still, as long as this doesn't continue to be a constant drag on the stories, I'm all in for this series.
This would have been a five-star read if it hadn't gotten downright preachy about the poor downtrodden women in the early 1900s. Bringing up issues of the day would have been reasonable and interesting, but harping on them at every turn just took away from the story. I get it. Women didn't have the same rights and privileges as men in certain times and areas. But sometimes I feel like authors forget that readers know this. We don't need the same old same old stuff rehashed all the time.
Still, as long as this doesn't continue to be a constant drag on the stories, I'm all in for this series.
April 27, 2023
Travers did such a wonderful job with this book. The book starts off getting right into the storyline. I appreciate that there wasn’t too much back story into how Maud and Daisy decided to go into the private investigation business. Instead, it got right into them receiving cases and solving various inquiries. One of my first thoughts into the book was “this is a great whodunit!” It’s great because there is no clear suspect; Travers doesn’t try to make you look one way to go another (which so many authors do). What she does is make everyone a suspect equally. Travers also artfully layers mystery upon mystery in this novel. It never felt like too much and you didn’t necessarily know if there was any connection between the mysteries. I would best describe this as a cozy mystery and would recommend it to anyone that enjoys a good whodunit.
February 6, 2025
2.75 stars (Audible Plus Catalog). Extra points for the authentic Scottish narrators. Maybe I'm still in a bit of a COVID brain fog, but this seemed overly complicated. It has all the things I love in a story: strong female protagonists, mystery, suffragists, + more. I just couldn't connect + stay focused.
April 30, 2023
The story opens in Edinburgh 1911 with Maude two days into opening her Detective Agency with Daisy ( her ex Lady’s Maid) and they’ve got no clients!
Maude has to make it work because she’s put every penny she had into opening it so it has to work, well every penny her mother left to her.
Then an unexpected Duchess enters the office with a mystery to solve and the luck of Maud and Daisy has changed.
This is an enchanting story that I found so easy to read because Maud and Daisy are delightful and so easy to like.
You can tell the author knows her Scottish History because her knowledge leaps off of the pages.
For fans of a cozy historical mystery this is a MUST READ it’s the perfect Whodunit and I for one can’t wait for the next adventure.
Maude has to make it work because she’s put every penny she had into opening it so it has to work, well every penny her mother left to her.
Then an unexpected Duchess enters the office with a mystery to solve and the luck of Maud and Daisy has changed.
This is an enchanting story that I found so easy to read because Maud and Daisy are delightful and so easy to like.
You can tell the author knows her Scottish History because her knowledge leaps off of the pages.
For fans of a cozy historical mystery this is a MUST READ it’s the perfect Whodunit and I for one can’t wait for the next adventure.
September 13, 2023
2.5 stars. A little too much like the Lady Hardcastle mystery series with a title that sounds like the popular #1 Ladies Detective Agency. Set in the early 1900’s, Lady Hardcastle and her former ladies maid, Flo solve… oh wait I mean, Maud McIntyre and her former ladies maid, Daisy solve mysteries in the early 1900’s.
April 3, 2023
Edinburgh 1911 Miss Maud McIntyre with the help of her ex-lady's maid, Daisy Cameron, have set up a Detective Agency. Their first major case involves a house party at Duddingston Hall. Because of the recent spate of jewellery thefts the hostess is concerned for the safety of these items in her home. The weekend results in a theft and a death. But soon after further cases soon arrive. But what will the result of their investigations bring.
A delightful cozy historical mystery with its likeable and varied characters. A good start to this new enjoyable series.
An ARC was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
A delightful cozy historical mystery with its likeable and varied characters. A good start to this new enjoyable series.
An ARC was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
April 28, 2023
This was a darling read! Maud and Daisy were delightful detectives, and this was the perfect cozy mystery. It reminded me a lot of the PBS show Miss Scarlett and the Duke, which is one of my favorites. Plus the narrator had a Scottish accent, which was the icing on the cake!
April 10, 2023
Maude Montgomery starts her own detective agency with her ladies’ maid turned assistant, Daisy. After a slight struggle in the beginning, Maude gets her first client, a Duchess, who wants Maude to come to her party and try to prevent a jewel theft from happening after a string of thefts have happened at other society parties. Failing that, she wants Maude to solve the case if a theft does occur. Shortly after, Maude gains a couple more cases and quickly finds out things are more connected than she imagined.
This was a cute read and I would be interested to see what happens in the next book. I just wish I had liked it as much as I hoped I would. My main complaint is that I don’t think we got enough backstory on anything. Why was the detective agency such a dream of Maude’s? Why is Daisy so loyal to her and willing to run the agency with her? Maude’s interest in Sherlock Holmes is mentioned, but it didn’t feel like enough. I wanted to know more about the characters and what motivated them.
Guessing the villain was pretty easy early on. After that, it was mainly reading on to see when and how Maude would reveal them to everyone else. Which, the way she did it, felt dramatic and unsafe. I don’t know–I love cozy mysteries and Scotland and strong women…I wanted to love this one. I just don’t think everything worked together well enough for me to feel satisfied at the end of it.
2.5-3 stars
Thank you to NetGalley for the advanced copy of this book. All thoughts are my own.
This was a cute read and I would be interested to see what happens in the next book. I just wish I had liked it as much as I hoped I would. My main complaint is that I don’t think we got enough backstory on anything. Why was the detective agency such a dream of Maude’s? Why is Daisy so loyal to her and willing to run the agency with her? Maude’s interest in Sherlock Holmes is mentioned, but it didn’t feel like enough. I wanted to know more about the characters and what motivated them.
Guessing the villain was pretty easy early on. After that, it was mainly reading on to see when and how Maude would reveal them to everyone else. Which, the way she did it, felt dramatic and unsafe. I don’t know–I love cozy mysteries and Scotland and strong women…I wanted to love this one. I just don’t think everything worked together well enough for me to feel satisfied at the end of it.
2.5-3 stars
Thank you to NetGalley for the advanced copy of this book. All thoughts are my own.
April 27, 2023
It’s always nice to read the first in a new series, enjoy it, and anticipate future installments.
Maud McIntyre and Daisy Cameron have set up a detective agency in Edinburgh in 1911, at the height of the suffragette movement, a cause they both avidly support. Friends and business partners now, they were formerly mistress (Maud) and ladies’ maid (Daisy). Eager to succeed as investigators, Maud and Daisy are thrilled when the Duchess of Duddingston hires them to come to a weekend country party to ferret out who amongst her guests may be a jewel thief. While the two manage to uncover the culprit, something about it doesn’t feel quite right…
Back in Edinburgh, they find themselves in demand when hired by a local judge to find his missing daughter while also commissioned by Lord Urquhart to retrieve stolen letters of a delicate nature. And in the background of these two cases is the seemingly unrelated niggling doubt Maud has whether they did, in fact, actually solve the Duddingston mystery.
The extended cast of characters was interesting and I enjoyed both Maud and Daisy. I look forward to seeing how each of them grows in future books in the series, and how the series itself evolves.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read and review this book.
Maud McIntyre and Daisy Cameron have set up a detective agency in Edinburgh in 1911, at the height of the suffragette movement, a cause they both avidly support. Friends and business partners now, they were formerly mistress (Maud) and ladies’ maid (Daisy). Eager to succeed as investigators, Maud and Daisy are thrilled when the Duchess of Duddingston hires them to come to a weekend country party to ferret out who amongst her guests may be a jewel thief. While the two manage to uncover the culprit, something about it doesn’t feel quite right…
Back in Edinburgh, they find themselves in demand when hired by a local judge to find his missing daughter while also commissioned by Lord Urquhart to retrieve stolen letters of a delicate nature. And in the background of these two cases is the seemingly unrelated niggling doubt Maud has whether they did, in fact, actually solve the Duddingston mystery.
The extended cast of characters was interesting and I enjoyed both Maud and Daisy. I look forward to seeing how each of them grows in future books in the series, and how the series itself evolves.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read and review this book.
August 23, 2023
The Scottish Ladies' Detective Agency by Lydia Travers. Pub Date: April 27, 2023. Rating: 3 stars. If you like cozy mysteries with witty characters set in a foreign country, then this book is for you. The first installment in a new series, this book takes you on a journey of a female who is trying to create her own path in the private investigator world. As a female in her time, she is met with roadblocks of societal standards in which women were not known to be successful, accomplished and business owners who can do the job just as well if not better than their male counterparts. The main character teams up with her female help to solve a mystery of stolen jewelry. I found this novel fun and a palate cleanser. I will be reading the other installments in this series. Thanks to NetGalley and Booktouture for this e-arc in exchange for my honest review. #netgalley #thescottishladiesdetectiveagency
January 18, 2025
I gave this one a try cause I got it for free and was curious about the whole “cosy, murder mystery”-genre. But I ended up feeling kind of bored and not that engaged. I guess it was sweet but not very exciting. Wanted to complete it to see what happened but ended up kind of dissatisfied.
April 23, 2023
My thanks to Bookouture for an eARC and to Bookouture Audio for a review copy of the unabridged audiobook edition, both via NetGalley, of ‘The Scottish Ladies' Detective Agency’ by Lydia Travers. The audiobook is narrated by Helen McAlpine. I was also invited to take part in the publication week blog tour.
I enjoy historical cosy mysteries and it’s lovely when a new series comes out, especially one as promising as this.
Edinburgh, 1911. Maud McIntyre has just set up a detective agency. She is assisted in this new venture by Daisy, her former lady’s maid who has become a close friend. This book sees these fledgling lady detectives investigating their first few cases.
The first case involves them going undercover at a stately home in the Scottish Highlands. There has been a recent series of jewellery thefts at posh house parties and the Duchess of Duddingston is concerned that the thief might target her upcoming lavish weekend party. However, the case quickly becomes more complicated when one of the house guests is discovered dead.
I won’t say more about that case in order to avoid spoilers. In addition, when Maud and Daisy return to Edinburgh they are hired to solve three other cases including finding a missing heiress, retrieving a cache of compromising letters, and locating a lost Pekingese. Regarding this last case, Maud comments to Daisy that “‘Missing pets are the bread and butter of detective agencies.” They then return to Duddingston House for the final denouement.
This was a delight from start to finish. Maud is a wonderful character and is very keen on following the adventures of various fictional detectives, including Sherlock Holmes. Indeed, she often takes cues from him in terms of their disguises and sleuthing techniques.
Lydia Travers also includes social issues linked to the period, including the Scottish government’s response to the Women’s Suffrage Movement. There’s also a number of comic incidents that had me giggling.
With respect to the audiobook, its narrator, Helen McAlpine, is an experienced voice actor working across a number of genres. In 2022 she won the Romantic Novelists’ Association’s Narrator of the Year.
Aside from bringing Maud and Daisy vividly to life, I was also impressed with her voicing of the novel’s minor characters and found her comic timing spot-on. I hope that if audiobooks are produced for future titles in the series that Helen McAlpine will be invited back as their narrator.
Overall, I felt that ‘The Scottish Ladies' Detective Agency’ was a highly promising start to this new series of Scottish historical cosy mysteries. I am already looking forward to Book 2, ‘Murder in the Scottish Highlands’, due out at the end of May.
I enjoy historical cosy mysteries and it’s lovely when a new series comes out, especially one as promising as this.
Edinburgh, 1911. Maud McIntyre has just set up a detective agency. She is assisted in this new venture by Daisy, her former lady’s maid who has become a close friend. This book sees these fledgling lady detectives investigating their first few cases.
The first case involves them going undercover at a stately home in the Scottish Highlands. There has been a recent series of jewellery thefts at posh house parties and the Duchess of Duddingston is concerned that the thief might target her upcoming lavish weekend party. However, the case quickly becomes more complicated when one of the house guests is discovered dead.
I won’t say more about that case in order to avoid spoilers. In addition, when Maud and Daisy return to Edinburgh they are hired to solve three other cases including finding a missing heiress, retrieving a cache of compromising letters, and locating a lost Pekingese. Regarding this last case, Maud comments to Daisy that “‘Missing pets are the bread and butter of detective agencies.” They then return to Duddingston House for the final denouement.
This was a delight from start to finish. Maud is a wonderful character and is very keen on following the adventures of various fictional detectives, including Sherlock Holmes. Indeed, she often takes cues from him in terms of their disguises and sleuthing techniques.
Lydia Travers also includes social issues linked to the period, including the Scottish government’s response to the Women’s Suffrage Movement. There’s also a number of comic incidents that had me giggling.
With respect to the audiobook, its narrator, Helen McAlpine, is an experienced voice actor working across a number of genres. In 2022 she won the Romantic Novelists’ Association’s Narrator of the Year.
Aside from bringing Maud and Daisy vividly to life, I was also impressed with her voicing of the novel’s minor characters and found her comic timing spot-on. I hope that if audiobooks are produced for future titles in the series that Helen McAlpine will be invited back as their narrator.
Overall, I felt that ‘The Scottish Ladies' Detective Agency’ was a highly promising start to this new series of Scottish historical cosy mysteries. I am already looking forward to Book 2, ‘Murder in the Scottish Highlands’, due out at the end of May.
February 2, 2025
Another series I decided to pick up in my hopes of finding a new mystery series to read. I saw the title and thought Alexander McCall Smith had a new series out. But he doesn't though this book has some resemblance to the No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency series. Maud takes money that her father gave her and opens her own detective agency alongside her former ladies maid Daisy. Although at first no one seems interested in hiring a woman. It's 1911 and ladies are not supposed to work outside the home. Then she gets two possible cases. One with a handsome young man who says a lady can't handle this sort of thing and another from the Duchess of Duddingston. She is having a weekend party and with a rash of jewelry theft she wants someone to keep an eye on things. So off they go with Maud as guest and Daisy as her maid to catch a thief. They end up with a theft and murder and with what Maud feels like a railroading of an innocent man. Once they've returned home cases come flooding in. The man who approached them at the start of the book Lord Urquhart arrives to say he's missing letters he sent to a former lover now wife of an MP and these could bring the lady and her husband to ruin. The woman who lives next door to him has her dog stolen and a judge arrives looking for his daughter who vanished before her wedding to a man who was also a guest at the weekend party. Are all these cases connected? Or are they somehow separate? This was fun and as other reviewers have said adorable. I loved seeing the bond between Maud and Daisy. From their fun disguises to the banter between, reminiscent of Precious and Grace and Mma Potokwane. As one by one the cases fall into place it ends Agatha Christie style with the party guests gathered as Maud unveils who the murderer and thief are. This was cute and so much fun I look forward to following more of Maud and Daisy's adventures.
April 5, 2023
Thank you to Bookouture for providing me with an ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
The Scottish Ladies' Detective Agency is the cute, cozy debut in a new mystery series set in Edwardian Scotland. Miss Maud McIntyre has started her own detective agency in Edinburgh, accompanied by her former lady's maid-turned-assistant Daisy Cameron. For their first case, the Duchess of Duddingston asks Maud and Daisy to go undercover at a house party at her country estate. A recent series of jewel thefts has plagued members of the Scottish aristocracy and the Duchess wants Maud and Daisy to prevent a similar theft at her party.
I really liked Maud as the main character. She is very intelligent and resourceful, as well as a lover of classic mystery novels. Throughout the book, she mentions the novels of many popular mystery writers of her day, from Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes mysteries to Baroness Orczy's Lady Molly of Scotland Yard (which I had never heard of before, but sounds super fun.) I also liked the character of Lord Urquhart, who I'm assuming will become a love interest for Maud in future novels.
I do think I would've liked the book better if the story was told from both Maud and Daisy's perspectives. While they are staying at the Duchess's house, we don't get to see what Daisy is doing to investigate, instead we just read about her telling Maud what she's learned at a later date. I would've preferred to see this dramatized rather than summarized. I also think the villain was a bit obvious, seeing as they had the most obvious motive.
All in all, a good book for those looking for a light mystery read.
The Scottish Ladies' Detective Agency is the cute, cozy debut in a new mystery series set in Edwardian Scotland. Miss Maud McIntyre has started her own detective agency in Edinburgh, accompanied by her former lady's maid-turned-assistant Daisy Cameron. For their first case, the Duchess of Duddingston asks Maud and Daisy to go undercover at a house party at her country estate. A recent series of jewel thefts has plagued members of the Scottish aristocracy and the Duchess wants Maud and Daisy to prevent a similar theft at her party.
I really liked Maud as the main character. She is very intelligent and resourceful, as well as a lover of classic mystery novels. Throughout the book, she mentions the novels of many popular mystery writers of her day, from Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes mysteries to Baroness Orczy's Lady Molly of Scotland Yard (which I had never heard of before, but sounds super fun.) I also liked the character of Lord Urquhart, who I'm assuming will become a love interest for Maud in future novels.
I do think I would've liked the book better if the story was told from both Maud and Daisy's perspectives. While they are staying at the Duchess's house, we don't get to see what Daisy is doing to investigate, instead we just read about her telling Maud what she's learned at a later date. I would've preferred to see this dramatized rather than summarized. I also think the villain was a bit obvious, seeing as they had the most obvious motive.
All in all, a good book for those looking for a light mystery read.
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