Maeshowe Murders

by B.K. Bryce

Maeshowe Murders is the first in a series of whodunnits set in Neolithic Orkney, with Marna as our intrepid investigator.

339 pages, Kindle Edition

Published December 23, 2016

Reviews

[Anastasia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this. BK's first novel and using detailed research and knowledge of historic Orkney with a well-penned and cleverly written narrative.

Highly recommend to all - especially if you love Orkney or crime novels.

Bravo!!

[Lexie Conyngham · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lovely book, if a crime novel can be called lovely – the setting, Neolithic Orkney, was beautifully drawn but the characters came to life, too, and the plot kept my interest throughout.

[Gill · Rating 3 out of 5]

I know Ba, one half of BK Bryce from my writing group and went to the launch of the third of this series locally recently. On the way I picked up the first in the series from the local library and bought all three volumes at the launch. My elder son particularly likes crime drama and as he visited us recently so has seen a bit of Orkney I thought it would be good to get him the series. Although Barbara lives in Orkney it is her sister Kathleen who lives further south in Scotland who does the research for the stories, and Ba who writes them.
Since I have also researched the Neolithic period in Orkney and taken part in some field walking to find archaeological artifacts and been to a number of talks and presentations I could find some discrepancies in the story, and also a few misused words or odd grammatical constructions. Nevertheless the book was eminently readable, with a good story that kept one reading with a satisfying but unexpected solution to who was responsible for the murders.
I'm looking forward to reading the second, Evil in Eynhallow. (Eynhallow is a magical island, now uninhabited and owned by the RSPCA off the east coast of the mainland of Orkney, about which there are many stories of mystery.)

[Lala G · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wanted to read this because I’ve visited Orkney and know Skara Brae well and I like some of the historical who dunnits very much. It was interesting and a bit unusual being set so long ago, but a very enjoyable read. I want to get the next one asap. The style is straightforward and the geographical knowledge of the area and possible belief system are well known as Bryce is local. I’d recommend it to anyone who loves prehistoric sites and mysteries.