The Balmoral incident

Rose McQuinn #8

by Alanna Knight

Rose McQuinn is invited to stay with her friend Olive who has a small cottage on the Balmoral Estate. As Rose travels on the train with her trusty dog Vane and her niece Mabel, she wonders what exciting adventures await them at the Royal household. Little does she realise that within just 48 hours of their arrival, death will have visited the great castle Can Rose find out what happened and prevent any more bloodshed?"

Genres: Mystery, Audiobook, Crime, Historical Mystery, Historical, Historical Fiction, Scotland

288 pages, Paperback

First published October 23, 2014

About the author

aka Margaret Hope

Alanna Knight MBE has published more than sixty novels (including sixteen in the acclaimed Inspector Faro series, and seven featuring his daughter Rose McQuinn), as well as non-fiction, true crime and several books on Robert Louis Stevenson, numerous short stories and two plays since her award-winning first book ‘Legend of the Loch’ in 1969. A founding member and Honorary President of the Scottish Association of Writers and of the Edinburgh Writer’s Club, born and educated on Tyneside, she has two sons and two granddaughters and lives in Edinburgh.

Reviews

[Anne]

Another fascinating novel by Alanna Knight, featuring Rose McQuinn. This is a lovely book, which I became engrossed in, never guessing who the guilty party was and surprised and shocked to discover the truth.

Rose McQuinn is a great character, very spirited, unafraid, and a loving stepmother to Meg. I admire Rose's character and the way she takes on challenges, facing danger and using her investigative skills to the full.

This particular novel sees Rose meeting up with her sister and brother in law Vince, who is physician to the Royal family and household, who are spending time at Balmoral. Rose and Meg have taken, their dog, Thane with them on this trip and Thane has an important role in this story. There are occasions when I was worried for Thane's safety, as he acts as protector to Rose and Meg. What a character he is.

There are a variety of twists and turns and red herrings, some intriguing characters, each with their own tale to tell. This novel can be read without reading earlier books in the series, but is so intriguing, the reader will want to discover more and read other novels starring our fearless heroine.

Will recommend this to readers of historical detective fiction and anyone who enjoys reading about a strong and brave heroine.

[Rog Harrison · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have read and enjoyed many of the author's books but some of her recent ones have been disappointing. I am not sure how old the author is but she must be at least in her late 80s and possibly in her 90s and I wonder if she is simply getting confused and needs a better editor. In this book a few things grated with me. On a couple of occasions she mentions being followed to Scotland but the whole book is set in Scotland! On another couple of occasions she seems to misunderstand the meaning of peninsula. Most oddly she wrote, "she was foreign, didn't speak English but spoke and understood it perfectly." One of the characters in this book is from another series and perhaps if I had read any of that series I might have understood his role in this book better. All in all the plot is confusing and there were several things which were not explained. A bit sad really.

[Theresa · Rating 1 out of 5]

What a dire book my first from this author and the last. It was a confusing read and not particularly well written. I was still waiting for things to happen when I reached the half way stage where I just gave up. Bit like a family diary of a holiday away.

[Phil Butcher · Rating 2 out of 5]

I usually enjoy this historical mystery series. This one was weaker than normal. The plot was so slow and the denouement obvious from very early on.

[Claudia · Rating 2 out of 5]

Another disappointment. The plot is confusing, the story very slow, and Rose is at her worst... a sad ending for a series that I really enjoyed at the beginning :(

[Janine · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good story which involved my local area and city, Aberdeen. I felt for the dog Thane, was going to be part of the royal household but ends up being poisoned. Famous name dropping as well. Enjoying this author.

[Priscila Marchiori · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 really

[Renny Barcelos · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not all bad but too cozy for my taste.

[GeraniumCat · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was disappointing. It's the first of Alanna Knight's books I've read, and I expected more from an author who seems to be highly acclaimed. To be fair, it's a gentle enough story, but the setting - the Balmoral estate - isn't especially well realised, and some of the characterisation seems rather perfunctory. It was a bit hard to care about them really. I felt the author had rushed it through. And I didn't really like the slight supernatural overtones, I can't see that they added anything.

The biggest irritation, though, was that the editing seemed equally rushed. There are some ridiculous errors, and a good editor should have picked them up easily. Both the author and her editor ought to be embarrassed.

[Westward Woess · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is the first book I read by Alanna Knight and I was sorely disappointed.

I found the characters to be flat and stereotypical and I have to agree with one of the characters when he told the detective that she was a "bad detective". Speaking of the mystery, it was rather poor. It was forced along until the last 40 pages.

[Eva Falconer · Rating 5 out of 5]

The narrator is from N E Scotland so her voice added to my enjoyment of a story set in Deeside my home area.