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Liss MacCrimmon Mysteries #13
A View to a Kilt
A series of blizzards have kept tourists away from Moosetookalook, Maine, and shoppers out of Liss MacCrimmon’s Scottish Emporium. But as warmer weather brings promises of tartan sales and new faces, melting snow reveals cold-blooded murder . . .
Liss has suddenly found herself in charge of the March Madness Mud Season Sale, a town-wide celebration created to boost the local economy during the slushy weeks of early spring. With businesses ailing after a rough winter, the pressure is on to make this year’s effort the can’t-miss-event of the season. But before Liss can get her hands dirty, her husband makes a horrifying discovery. There’s a dead man on their property, and he didn't die of natural causes . . .
Stunned by the murder mystery developing in her own backyard, Liss receives another shock. The victim is identified as Charlie MacCrimmon, an uncle believed to have died eleven years before Liss was born. No one has seen or heard from Charlie since he went off to fight in Vietnam. What secrets could he have been hiding for so many years, and who would want to kill a man long thought to be dead?
Enlisting the help of her family, Liss uncovers more questions than answers as she delves into her uncle’s murky past. One thing is clear—before he met his end, Uncle Charlie was desperately trying to warn her about something sinister. And unless Liss can soon track down a maniacal criminal as elusive as the Loch Ness Monster, she just might be the next MacCrimmon to disappear . . .
Liss has suddenly found herself in charge of the March Madness Mud Season Sale, a town-wide celebration created to boost the local economy during the slushy weeks of early spring. With businesses ailing after a rough winter, the pressure is on to make this year’s effort the can’t-miss-event of the season. But before Liss can get her hands dirty, her husband makes a horrifying discovery. There’s a dead man on their property, and he didn't die of natural causes . . .
Stunned by the murder mystery developing in her own backyard, Liss receives another shock. The victim is identified as Charlie MacCrimmon, an uncle believed to have died eleven years before Liss was born. No one has seen or heard from Charlie since he went off to fight in Vietnam. What secrets could he have been hiding for so many years, and who would want to kill a man long thought to be dead?
Enlisting the help of her family, Liss uncovers more questions than answers as she delves into her uncle’s murky past. One thing is clear—before he met his end, Uncle Charlie was desperately trying to warn her about something sinister. And unless Liss can soon track down a maniacal criminal as elusive as the Loch Ness Monster, she just might be the next MacCrimmon to disappear . . .
304 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 28, 2020
About the author
Kaitlyn Dunnett
20 books356 followersKaitlyn Dunnett is a pseudonym used by Kathy Lynn Emerson, author of the Mistress Jaffrey Mysteries, the Face Down Mysteries featuring Susanna Appleton, 16th century gentlewoman, herbalist, and sleuth, the Diana Spaulding 1888 Quartet, and the award-winning How to Write Killer Historical Mysteries, plus an assortment of other books.
As Kaitlyn she writes the Liss MacCrimmon series set in Moosetookalook, Maine and the Deadly Edits series set in rural Sullivan County, New York.
She is a member of Mystery Writers of America, Sisters in Crime and other professional organizations and blogs regularly with Maine Crime Writers.
As Kaitlyn she writes the Liss MacCrimmon series set in Moosetookalook, Maine and the Deadly Edits series set in rural Sullivan County, New York.
She is a member of Mystery Writers of America, Sisters in Crime and other professional organizations and blogs regularly with Maine Crime Writers.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 60 reviews
February 1, 2020
Dollycas’s Thoughts
We arrive in Moosetookalook, Maine just before the March Madness Mud Season Sale. Our protagonist Liss MacCrimmon of MacCrimmon’s Scottish Emporium is in charge of this year’s event. With many details to iron out, she knows she is going to busy. When her husband finds, or I should say Scotties, Dandy, and Dondi find a dead body in the backyard, a body who is soon identified as Charlie MacCrimmon, an uncle who was thought to have died serving in the Vietnam war, Liss knows she is going to be way beyond busy. Where had he been all these years? Why did he come back to Moosetookalook now? Liss and her family try to answer these questions, plus another, Who killed Charlie MacCrimmon?
I love the idea of a long lost uncle. Sadly Liss never got to meet him but her mother is determined that she will find his killer, in fact, dragging her all the way to Florida to uncover the man’s past. Liss is strong and smart but her mother Vi is a force to be reckoned with. Both in solving the mystery and inserting her own event into the March Madness Mud Season Event. This being only the 3rd book in the series I have read I am still learning the family dynamics but I am glad to see these two women get closer. All the other supporting characters are well-developed too. The dialogues are crisp and realistic. This series would be the same without the pets, Scotties, Dandy and Dondi, and Glenora the cat. They always bring a smile to my face.
I was totally caught up in the mystery and the reason Charlie MacCrimmon came back to Maine when he did. I don’t want to give anything away but I was impressed the issue really involved the entire community. It included several twists and a moment that could have gone totally wrong. The author has laid out a very believable plot that kept me glued to the pages.
As a Wisconsinite, it is easy to identify with the muddy or not so muddy March weather. What a fun idea to celebrate the terrain left after the snow melts away. The events sounded like a lot of fun. Who doesn’t love slipping and sliding around with a group of neighbors and friends?
My one critique is that I am sorry that Liss is not happy running the family store and is thinking about just handling online sales. I hope she reconsiders, as in real life though many shops like this one are closing. I hope she can buck the trend and find joy in running the Scottish Emporium for a long time. I just love the word Emporium 🙂
We arrive in Moosetookalook, Maine just before the March Madness Mud Season Sale. Our protagonist Liss MacCrimmon of MacCrimmon’s Scottish Emporium is in charge of this year’s event. With many details to iron out, she knows she is going to busy. When her husband finds, or I should say Scotties, Dandy, and Dondi find a dead body in the backyard, a body who is soon identified as Charlie MacCrimmon, an uncle who was thought to have died serving in the Vietnam war, Liss knows she is going to be way beyond busy. Where had he been all these years? Why did he come back to Moosetookalook now? Liss and her family try to answer these questions, plus another, Who killed Charlie MacCrimmon?
I love the idea of a long lost uncle. Sadly Liss never got to meet him but her mother is determined that she will find his killer, in fact, dragging her all the way to Florida to uncover the man’s past. Liss is strong and smart but her mother Vi is a force to be reckoned with. Both in solving the mystery and inserting her own event into the March Madness Mud Season Event. This being only the 3rd book in the series I have read I am still learning the family dynamics but I am glad to see these two women get closer. All the other supporting characters are well-developed too. The dialogues are crisp and realistic. This series would be the same without the pets, Scotties, Dandy and Dondi, and Glenora the cat. They always bring a smile to my face.
I was totally caught up in the mystery and the reason Charlie MacCrimmon came back to Maine when he did. I don’t want to give anything away but I was impressed the issue really involved the entire community. It included several twists and a moment that could have gone totally wrong. The author has laid out a very believable plot that kept me glued to the pages.
As a Wisconsinite, it is easy to identify with the muddy or not so muddy March weather. What a fun idea to celebrate the terrain left after the snow melts away. The events sounded like a lot of fun. Who doesn’t love slipping and sliding around with a group of neighbors and friends?
My one critique is that I am sorry that Liss is not happy running the family store and is thinking about just handling online sales. I hope she reconsiders, as in real life though many shops like this one are closing. I hope she can buck the trend and find joy in running the Scottish Emporium for a long time. I just love the word Emporium 🙂
February 12, 2020
A View to a Kilt by Kaitlyn Dunnett is the 13th A Liss MacCrimmon Scottish Mystery. Liss MacCrimmon Ruskin has trouble saying “no” which is how she finds herself in charge of the Moosetookalook’s March Madness Mud Season Sale. Aunt Margaret will not be around to help because she is taking off for Ireland with the local genealogy group. The day after Aunt Margaret’s departure, Dan Ruskin finds a dead man in their backyard. Since Gordon Tandy was promoted, no-nonsense Detective Kelly Cussler is the lead investigator. Liss is shocked when the victim is identified as her uncle, Charlie MacCrimmon. Charlie had served in the Vietnam war where he had been declared MIA and was never heard from again. Detective Cussler deems Mac MacCrimmon, Liss’ dad, as the prime suspect which has Liss donning her sleuthing cap. A View to a Kilt can be read as a standalone for those new to this series. I always enjoy returning to Moosetookalook, Maine to catch up with Liss, Dan, Aunt Margaret and the other residents. Liss is considering closing the shop and doing online sales only. I hope she reconsiders since she has a unique shop and I like what it adds to the town as well as the series. The mystery was intriguing with an uncle being found dead in Liss’ backyard. They were told Charlie was MIA in Vietnam. Now the family learns he has been alive and living in Florida. Violet, Liss’ mother, drags Liss down to Florida to search for clues. There are several suspects, but one sticks out like a sore thumb. The whodunit was interesting with some unique qualities. Liss did miss a great opportunity to search for clues in the story which surprised me. When an amateur sleuth stumbles upon papers, they really should go through them before summoning the police. I could do with less of Violet MacCrimmon and her overbearing personality (she drives me batty). Liss is trying to get along with her, but I can see why it is a challenge (and why she liked her mother living in a different state). Liss has good relationships with her aunt and father which I find sweet. She is working on her relationship with her mother (it is like riding a bike up a steep hill). A View to a Kilt is a lighthearted cozy mystery with sweet Scotties, missing mud, a disdainful detective, and a wild whodunit.
February 15, 2020
liss is in charge of the town’s mud season sale to boost sales in the dreary time of year. the town is also trying to decide if they should let a company come in and use their water to make their bottled water. Liss’s husband finds a dead man in their backyard. They find out he is Liss’s uncle who supposedly died in Vietnam 11 years before she was born. She had to find out where he has been and why he didn’t tell them or why he was killed.
March 21, 2020
2020 bk 103. A very enjoyable read, particularly after the heaviness of the mystery I had just read. We are back in Maine, in March, a very slushy March. Liss is the small business owner in charge of the March Mud Madness event held in the town. Think small children sliding down hills of mud, you get the idea. But all of that activity is set to the side when Liss and her husband find a body in their backyard. Things get even more strange when the body is determined to be that of her uncle - who went missing in Vietnam and was then declared deceased, oh about 50 years prior to his appearance in her yard. With the new State Detective pointing the fingers at Liss's father, she only has one option, to seek out her uncle's whereabouts in the years he was missing. A well written, well crafted mystery and perhaps the best of the series.
December 31, 2019
Despite coming to this long running series totally cold, that didn't leave me in the dust but spurred me into reading others in the series AFTER I read this one in a day. Liss finds out that her dad had a brother only after the man turned out to be the body in her Maine backyard. Oh, and he'd been declared dead/MIA before she was born. It's a good thing that she is a veteran sleuth, because her mother drags her down to Florida under protest to see just what the man has been doing all those years. Good snooping despite the Maine detective figuring her dad for the killer. Excellent read!
I requested and received a free ebook copy from Kensington Books via NetGalley. Thank you!
I requested and received a free ebook copy from Kensington Books via NetGalley. Thank you!
February 25, 2020
Liss MacCrimmon Ruskin has never seen the body that her husband discovers among the snowdrifts in their yard. So she's really surprised when she learns that the dead man is her Uncle Charlie, who was reported missing in Vietnam years before her birth. But she's shocked when the state police seem to suspect her father, who also didn't know Charlie was alive. Her mother draws her into the investigation, mainly to clear her father, but Liss is also concerned about her small town's plans to sign on with a bottled water company. A message from beyond the grave warns her that the company is planning to defraud the town and wreak ecological disaster. Is that why Charlie had to die--again?
February 12, 2020
Liss is excited about being in charge of the March Madness Mud Sale that is a town wide celebration. You see after a series of blizzards and a harsh winter everyone is looking forward to the much needed boost to the economy. Things are moving forward until Liss's husband discovers a body in their yard and he didn't die from natural causes. The shock of having a dead man in her yard hasn't worn off before she is dealt another blow. Liss soon learns the identity of the dead man and can't believe it, it's an uncle who she thought had died eleven years ago. There are so many questions that need to be answered among them who would kill a man perceived to be dead. Liss looks to her family for answers hoping to uncover some clues that will help her figure out just what happened to her Uncle. Can she find this murderer before something.else horrible happens maybe to her? This book pulled me in and I couldn't wait to figure out who the killer was.and why they chose to murder!
February 21, 2020
A VIEW TO A KILT by Kaitlyn Dunnett is the 13th book in the Liss MacCrimmon Mysteries Series. A VIEW TO A KILT centers around Liss MacCrimmon Ruskin, the family generational establish business - the Scottish Emporium, and the town of Moosetookalook, Maine. In addition to Liss being in charge of the upcoming March Madness Mud Season sale, there is the shocking murder of an Uncle everyone thought was long dead years ago.
After Charles “Charlie” Edward MacCrimmon’s came up MIA in Vietnam and time passed, his family had him declared legally dead. Imagine their surprise when the dead man found in Liss and Dan’s back yard by Dandy and Dondi, Aunt Margarent’s two Scotties, turned out to be Charlie, the uncle Liss had never heard about and who until murdered was very much still alive. With a lot of emotions brought back to the surface and after Liss’ dad, Mac, supposedly a person of interest with being Charlie’s sole heir, Liss and her mom, Vi, are determined to prove him innocent as well as find out why Charlie had never let the family know that he was still alive and who murdered him.
The case is turned over to the state police. Detective Cussler is a hard nose cop out to prove a woman can do as good a job or better than any man in this male dominated occupation. She’s determine to solve this case to prove she can do it. The fact that she zones in on Liss’ dad, makes the two of them bunt heads and Liss more determined than ever to get the proof to prove her dad innocent as well as whodunit.
Things get complicated when Jeremiah Forestall, a former resident, presents to the city a deal from Merveilleuse International offering the city a substantial income for the right to tap into the local aquifer. It appears to Liss that it may be connected to her uncle’s murder. Things start to get interesting and dangerous.
Absolutely love the way the author weaves this great story into a page turning whodunit while having you fall in love with Moosetookalook and all its inhabitants. The list of characters can be both lovable and irritating. There’s the friendship between Sherri Campbell (the chief of police) and Liss, the ruff and gruff selectwoman, Thea (who happens to be Sherri’s mother-in-law), the odd couple of Roger “Moose” Mayfiend (town drunk) and his wife Dolores (librarian), Violet “Vi” MacCrimmons (Liss’ mom) who can be overbearing to say the least, along with a host of others. Then there’s the adorable critters (Dandy, Dondi and Glenora) that steal the show when they make an appearance.
It was entertaining to learn about the mud sale and fun activities held during the event. The author did a great job of keeping you interested in the event having it pop up throughout the story from the planning stage to the finally event and working it into the big reveal.
This is the first book in this series that I have read. It can definitely be read as a standalone book. You will have no problem knowing who is who and keeping up. After reading, A VIEW TO A KILT, I feel like I’ve actually visited Moosetookalook and I definitely want to go back! I will be checking out the other books in this series. Highly recommend this to anyone that loves a well written, great cozy mystery.
After Charles “Charlie” Edward MacCrimmon’s came up MIA in Vietnam and time passed, his family had him declared legally dead. Imagine their surprise when the dead man found in Liss and Dan’s back yard by Dandy and Dondi, Aunt Margarent’s two Scotties, turned out to be Charlie, the uncle Liss had never heard about and who until murdered was very much still alive. With a lot of emotions brought back to the surface and after Liss’ dad, Mac, supposedly a person of interest with being Charlie’s sole heir, Liss and her mom, Vi, are determined to prove him innocent as well as find out why Charlie had never let the family know that he was still alive and who murdered him.
The case is turned over to the state police. Detective Cussler is a hard nose cop out to prove a woman can do as good a job or better than any man in this male dominated occupation. She’s determine to solve this case to prove she can do it. The fact that she zones in on Liss’ dad, makes the two of them bunt heads and Liss more determined than ever to get the proof to prove her dad innocent as well as whodunit.
Things get complicated when Jeremiah Forestall, a former resident, presents to the city a deal from Merveilleuse International offering the city a substantial income for the right to tap into the local aquifer. It appears to Liss that it may be connected to her uncle’s murder. Things start to get interesting and dangerous.
Absolutely love the way the author weaves this great story into a page turning whodunit while having you fall in love with Moosetookalook and all its inhabitants. The list of characters can be both lovable and irritating. There’s the friendship between Sherri Campbell (the chief of police) and Liss, the ruff and gruff selectwoman, Thea (who happens to be Sherri’s mother-in-law), the odd couple of Roger “Moose” Mayfiend (town drunk) and his wife Dolores (librarian), Violet “Vi” MacCrimmons (Liss’ mom) who can be overbearing to say the least, along with a host of others. Then there’s the adorable critters (Dandy, Dondi and Glenora) that steal the show when they make an appearance.
It was entertaining to learn about the mud sale and fun activities held during the event. The author did a great job of keeping you interested in the event having it pop up throughout the story from the planning stage to the finally event and working it into the big reveal.
This is the first book in this series that I have read. It can definitely be read as a standalone book. You will have no problem knowing who is who and keeping up. After reading, A VIEW TO A KILT, I feel like I’ve actually visited Moosetookalook and I definitely want to go back! I will be checking out the other books in this series. Highly recommend this to anyone that loves a well written, great cozy mystery.
January 13, 2020
4.5 Stars
This is the thirteenth book in the Liss MacCrimmon Mystery series by Kaitlyn Dunnett
I like how this mystery centered around family and discovery. This is the type of story that really sucks you in from the first page.
Basic synopsis: Liss’s husband finds a dead body in the back yard but this man is no random person, he was Liss’s uncle whom she never even knew about. The rest of the family thought him to be dead, MIA from the Vietnam War, but he had been alive and living in Miami as a private investigator for over fifty years. You get intrigued right from the start wondering why this man would keep his identity a secret for so long.
As Liss looks into her uncle’s past she uncovers a plot that could possibly ruin the town of Moosetookalook. There sure were a lot of overly stubborn people in this small tourist town. I’m sure the mystery could have been solved a whole lot faster if they had all been more open with each other.
I was entranced by this mystery and found a new series I could love and dig my teeth into.
If you love a good cozy mystery, definitely check this one out. You won’t be disappointed.
I received this as an ARC (Advanced Reader Copy) in return for an honest review. I thank NetGalley, the publisher and the author for allowing me to read this title.
This is the thirteenth book in the Liss MacCrimmon Mystery series by Kaitlyn Dunnett
I like how this mystery centered around family and discovery. This is the type of story that really sucks you in from the first page.
Basic synopsis: Liss’s husband finds a dead body in the back yard but this man is no random person, he was Liss’s uncle whom she never even knew about. The rest of the family thought him to be dead, MIA from the Vietnam War, but he had been alive and living in Miami as a private investigator for over fifty years. You get intrigued right from the start wondering why this man would keep his identity a secret for so long.
As Liss looks into her uncle’s past she uncovers a plot that could possibly ruin the town of Moosetookalook. There sure were a lot of overly stubborn people in this small tourist town. I’m sure the mystery could have been solved a whole lot faster if they had all been more open with each other.
I was entranced by this mystery and found a new series I could love and dig my teeth into.
If you love a good cozy mystery, definitely check this one out. You won’t be disappointed.
I received this as an ARC (Advanced Reader Copy) in return for an honest review. I thank NetGalley, the publisher and the author for allowing me to read this title.
January 2, 2020
Book provided by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
If “fiction is life with all the boring bits left out”, then this book makes for terrible fiction, because it’s for boring bits in spades. After a great hook (man found dead in the backyard), the plot fizzles out rapidly. The small-town atmosphere in A View to a Kilt hinders the novel far more than it helps. The name of the village alone (Moosetookalook, really?) stopped me from taking it too seriously. The first three chapters could’ve used tightening and infodumping is rife, much of it told through dialogue. The book opens, for example, with a blow-by-blow description of a town meeting; good for those who live and breathe bureaucracy, maybe, but not for your average reader. The entire second third of the book consisted of Liss marching in like a bull in a china shop and interrogating various townspeople about how well they knew the victim thirty years ago and what he was like. It’s all rather repetitive and dull, because she doesn’t gain much new information. I never got a good impression of Liss’ actual relationship with most of them, except for Moose. There are far too many background characters introduced, such as Clementine, who add little to the story and just take up page time.
What compels Liss to act the amateur policewoman, and why can’t the actual police officer assigned to the case do it? She barely plays a role and is hostile for no other reason than to be hostile.
In fact, the book could have started at the funeral and it would have been a shorter read. That was one of my problems with this book - it felt like it should have started far later.
If the story had been primarily about Liss trying to dig up dirt on the selectmen for some reason, it would have been a bit more believable that, say, Thea was sleeping with one of the thugs and therefore didn’t bother doing her due diligence on the company. As it is, it comes out of nowhere, *especially* because, as is lampshaded in the book, she’s so thorough elsewhere. The book could’ve been about ferreting out and verifying the townspeople’s secrets, then, rather than who dated the victim in high school. Liss’ mother Vi could’ve had an important part to play in trying to win over some of the townspeople to give up their secrets about Thea when the police couldn’t, and that might have helped to develop the mother-daughter relationship.
It would’ve worked better, I think, if the victim hadn’t been found in the MC’s backyard, because there is no way the police would realistically allow someone to go around poking their nose in in such an amateurish way.
And, too, it seems this book can’t decide what it wants to be. For a book set in modern times, the only mentions of tech are phones, a laptop and a USB. Instead of all the face-to-face meetings of the Small Business Association, why aren’t the groups virtual?
There is also a random appearance and a few threats from two toughs - not only do they happen to be at the cafe at the exact time Liss is there, they come and sit next to her and threaten her in broad daylight, in front of eavesdropping witnesses. And then the ending itself has a Super Sekrit Agent dropping in just to confirm that yes, he’s the one who’s been following Liss and her mother around, and the CIA haven’t reported the victim missing because he’s part of some undisclosed Sekrit Guvmint Bizness (TM). There should be a Cops are Useless trope, because this is the second crime fiction book I’ve read where the cops do sweet FA.
We hear a lot of “He’d uncovered rah rah” at second and third hand, which makes for dull reading. Great, the company’s corrupt, whoop de doo. Now, if she’d been an employee at the company and found this out, it might’ve worked, but reading your dead uncle’s memos does nothing to make me care. I would’ve liked a more organic start, a scene set in the shop, perhaps her overhearing gossip about how Thea was sleeping with the thug through small-town gossip and becoming interested in the case that way, a bit like Miss Marple, rather than being a member of the town committee and making a nuisance of herself by quizzing all her uncle’s old friends.
All our intrepid main character manages to achieve is finding the USB, but it isn’t encrypted (Because Reasons), so they hack into it in minutes. Then Murch the lawyer goes and digs up some dirt on the rest of it and it’s all wrapped up. So basically, she’s not only an amateur, but a spectacularly incompetent one by all accounts. She freaks out and rings her sheriff mate at every opportunity. All this pussyfooting around does is make the lampshading ring true because she shouldn’t be solving a case instead of the cops! Phryne Fisher this isn’t.
“Liss supposed that was true, but if Thea, Farley, and Ranger expected to be reelected, they had to give some consideration to opinions voiced at this hearing. As soon as Thea stepped back, Liss stood up, forcing John Farley to recognize her. No matter how much anyone wanted her to remain silent, she had a right to speak. Had anyone tried to deny her a voice in the proceedings, her neighbors would have been up in arms.”
Really? It’s not because she’s the main character?
People just seem to listen to her at the second town meeting for no reason, not because she actually brings anything to the table in terms of personality, authority, charisma, personal stakes or interrogative power. How much more powerful if she’d been a farmer and this had been about a drought, for instance. Instead we get the town springwater, which Liss has zero personal investment in. I understand the Charlie angle, I just feel the motivation didn’t come through for me. I didn’t feel like Liss caring as strongly as she did really made sense under the circumstances.
This woman supposedly owns a business, but she isn’t involved in it at all and she doesn’t appear to have any sort of social life. All she does is make to-do lists about who to interrogate. Why bother with the business owner gimmick, then? Why not just make her a housewife? The town didn’t feel real to me either - it was just sort of... there. There were none of Liss’ memories attached to the actual town, just endless reminiscences of Charlie from carbon-copy characters.
What’s more, the author appears to have something of a fetish for Scotland: there are Scottie dogs, a business called The Scottish Emporium, a Scottish Highland dancing company, a Scottish funeral, someone wearing a tartan kilt and of course the main character’s Scottish ancestry. Of modern Scotland itself, however, there is no mention apart from name-dropping.
What I liked: Water is an unusual but vital motivation for a criminal to cover up a crime. Insider trading, as it were. I liked the premise, but it just wasn’t immediate or interesting enough for me. It could’ve been a good white-collar mystery. The action did pick up toward the end, but it wasn’t enough to save the book.
If “fiction is life with all the boring bits left out”, then this book makes for terrible fiction, because it’s for boring bits in spades. After a great hook (man found dead in the backyard), the plot fizzles out rapidly. The small-town atmosphere in A View to a Kilt hinders the novel far more than it helps. The name of the village alone (Moosetookalook, really?) stopped me from taking it too seriously. The first three chapters could’ve used tightening and infodumping is rife, much of it told through dialogue. The book opens, for example, with a blow-by-blow description of a town meeting; good for those who live and breathe bureaucracy, maybe, but not for your average reader. The entire second third of the book consisted of Liss marching in like a bull in a china shop and interrogating various townspeople about how well they knew the victim thirty years ago and what he was like. It’s all rather repetitive and dull, because she doesn’t gain much new information. I never got a good impression of Liss’ actual relationship with most of them, except for Moose. There are far too many background characters introduced, such as Clementine, who add little to the story and just take up page time.
What compels Liss to act the amateur policewoman, and why can’t the actual police officer assigned to the case do it? She barely plays a role and is hostile for no other reason than to be hostile.
In fact, the book could have started at the funeral and it would have been a shorter read. That was one of my problems with this book - it felt like it should have started far later.
If the story had been primarily about Liss trying to dig up dirt on the selectmen for some reason, it would have been a bit more believable that, say, Thea was sleeping with one of the thugs and therefore didn’t bother doing her due diligence on the company. As it is, it comes out of nowhere, *especially* because, as is lampshaded in the book, she’s so thorough elsewhere. The book could’ve been about ferreting out and verifying the townspeople’s secrets, then, rather than who dated the victim in high school. Liss’ mother Vi could’ve had an important part to play in trying to win over some of the townspeople to give up their secrets about Thea when the police couldn’t, and that might have helped to develop the mother-daughter relationship.
It would’ve worked better, I think, if the victim hadn’t been found in the MC’s backyard, because there is no way the police would realistically allow someone to go around poking their nose in in such an amateurish way.
And, too, it seems this book can’t decide what it wants to be. For a book set in modern times, the only mentions of tech are phones, a laptop and a USB. Instead of all the face-to-face meetings of the Small Business Association, why aren’t the groups virtual?
There is also a random appearance and a few threats from two toughs - not only do they happen to be at the cafe at the exact time Liss is there, they come and sit next to her and threaten her in broad daylight, in front of eavesdropping witnesses. And then the ending itself has a Super Sekrit Agent dropping in just to confirm that yes, he’s the one who’s been following Liss and her mother around, and the CIA haven’t reported the victim missing because he’s part of some undisclosed Sekrit Guvmint Bizness (TM). There should be a Cops are Useless trope, because this is the second crime fiction book I’ve read where the cops do sweet FA.
We hear a lot of “He’d uncovered rah rah” at second and third hand, which makes for dull reading. Great, the company’s corrupt, whoop de doo. Now, if she’d been an employee at the company and found this out, it might’ve worked, but reading your dead uncle’s memos does nothing to make me care. I would’ve liked a more organic start, a scene set in the shop, perhaps her overhearing gossip about how Thea was sleeping with the thug through small-town gossip and becoming interested in the case that way, a bit like Miss Marple, rather than being a member of the town committee and making a nuisance of herself by quizzing all her uncle’s old friends.
All our intrepid main character manages to achieve is finding the USB, but it isn’t encrypted (Because Reasons), so they hack into it in minutes. Then Murch the lawyer goes and digs up some dirt on the rest of it and it’s all wrapped up. So basically, she’s not only an amateur, but a spectacularly incompetent one by all accounts. She freaks out and rings her sheriff mate at every opportunity. All this pussyfooting around does is make the lampshading ring true because she shouldn’t be solving a case instead of the cops! Phryne Fisher this isn’t.
“Liss supposed that was true, but if Thea, Farley, and Ranger expected to be reelected, they had to give some consideration to opinions voiced at this hearing. As soon as Thea stepped back, Liss stood up, forcing John Farley to recognize her. No matter how much anyone wanted her to remain silent, she had a right to speak. Had anyone tried to deny her a voice in the proceedings, her neighbors would have been up in arms.”
Really? It’s not because she’s the main character?
People just seem to listen to her at the second town meeting for no reason, not because she actually brings anything to the table in terms of personality, authority, charisma, personal stakes or interrogative power. How much more powerful if she’d been a farmer and this had been about a drought, for instance. Instead we get the town springwater, which Liss has zero personal investment in. I understand the Charlie angle, I just feel the motivation didn’t come through for me. I didn’t feel like Liss caring as strongly as she did really made sense under the circumstances.
This woman supposedly owns a business, but she isn’t involved in it at all and she doesn’t appear to have any sort of social life. All she does is make to-do lists about who to interrogate. Why bother with the business owner gimmick, then? Why not just make her a housewife? The town didn’t feel real to me either - it was just sort of... there. There were none of Liss’ memories attached to the actual town, just endless reminiscences of Charlie from carbon-copy characters.
What’s more, the author appears to have something of a fetish for Scotland: there are Scottie dogs, a business called The Scottish Emporium, a Scottish Highland dancing company, a Scottish funeral, someone wearing a tartan kilt and of course the main character’s Scottish ancestry. Of modern Scotland itself, however, there is no mention apart from name-dropping.
What I liked: Water is an unusual but vital motivation for a criminal to cover up a crime. Insider trading, as it were. I liked the premise, but it just wasn’t immediate or interesting enough for me. It could’ve been a good white-collar mystery. The action did pick up toward the end, but it wasn’t enough to save the book.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 17, 2020
Liss MacCrimmon runs the family’s shop, the Scottish Emporium in Moosetookalook, Maine. She has been put in charge of the town’s March Madness Mud Season sale and she won’t have the help of her Aunt Margaret who is out of the country. Liss is watching Margaret’s two Scottie dogs and they make a gruesome discovery in Liss and her husband Dan’s backyard. There is a dead body of a man not known to Dan and Liss in their yard. Liss gets another shock when the identity of the victim is revealed and her father, Mac, becomes the prime suspect of the hard-nosed state police officer in charge of the case. In spite of not wanting to be involved in another murder investigation, Liss can’t stand by and watch her father imprisoned for a crime he didn’t commit so she begins looking for clues that will lead her and the police to the truth.
This is the thirteenth book in this series and the fifth I have read. What got me interested in this series was that Liss was a former professional Scottish dancer and the information about Scottish customs and items sold in her store. Unfortunately, neither Liss’s dancing background nor anything to do with the Scotland plays a part in the book. That is what made the earlier books in this series so unique and it’s been missing in the last couple of books. Liss and her husband are still likable characters and the author does make the most of the Maine setting in this book both in providing an interesting background and in a central part of the storyline. I love Liss and Dan’s relationship although it isn’t central to this book. Liss’s mother Vi is not one of my favorite characters, but I enjoyed the scenes when she and Liss go to Florida as part of the investigation. Unfortunately, Vi is just not a pleasant person and quickly spoils any of the ground she makes in the relationship with her daughter.
The case itself starts out very intriguing. Without spoiling anything, the identification of the victim is a shock to Liss and her family and many other residents of their small town because it’s someone who had been presumed dead many years ago. Liss’s investigation into the murder and into the life of this person caught my interest right away. Liss makes some missteps, but I found the investigation very interesting. They way the case mixes in with an issue the town is facing regarding rights to their water supply is well-done. Less successful is the mystery surrounding the “twice-dead” victim. When all the details come out, the solution is so improbable and incompletely explained, it left me very disappointed. The premise hooked me and the build-up kept me going, but the ultimate payoff isn’t there. This isn’t my favorite of Dunnett’s books and I would rate it 3.5 stars, but I am still a fan of her writing and this series. I hope future books get back to basics and have more of a focus on Liss and her husband’s loving relationship and all things Scottish.
I received this book from NetGalley, through the courtesy of Kensington Books. The book was provided to me in exchange for an honest review.
This is the thirteenth book in this series and the fifth I have read. What got me interested in this series was that Liss was a former professional Scottish dancer and the information about Scottish customs and items sold in her store. Unfortunately, neither Liss’s dancing background nor anything to do with the Scotland plays a part in the book. That is what made the earlier books in this series so unique and it’s been missing in the last couple of books. Liss and her husband are still likable characters and the author does make the most of the Maine setting in this book both in providing an interesting background and in a central part of the storyline. I love Liss and Dan’s relationship although it isn’t central to this book. Liss’s mother Vi is not one of my favorite characters, but I enjoyed the scenes when she and Liss go to Florida as part of the investigation. Unfortunately, Vi is just not a pleasant person and quickly spoils any of the ground she makes in the relationship with her daughter.
The case itself starts out very intriguing. Without spoiling anything, the identification of the victim is a shock to Liss and her family and many other residents of their small town because it’s someone who had been presumed dead many years ago. Liss’s investigation into the murder and into the life of this person caught my interest right away. Liss makes some missteps, but I found the investigation very interesting. They way the case mixes in with an issue the town is facing regarding rights to their water supply is well-done. Less successful is the mystery surrounding the “twice-dead” victim. When all the details come out, the solution is so improbable and incompletely explained, it left me very disappointed. The premise hooked me and the build-up kept me going, but the ultimate payoff isn’t there. This isn’t my favorite of Dunnett’s books and I would rate it 3.5 stars, but I am still a fan of her writing and this series. I hope future books get back to basics and have more of a focus on Liss and her husband’s loving relationship and all things Scottish.
I received this book from NetGalley, through the courtesy of Kensington Books. The book was provided to me in exchange for an honest review.
March 6, 2020
I like this series but this one was really slow moving and has a somewhat disjointed storyline. You’ve got a dead body in Liss’s back yard who just happens to be her long-presumed dead uncle, an annual festival, an old tragedy and cute dogs and cats, but the storylines just seemed to fizzle out. These components should have had the makings of an engrossing mystery but the only characters I cared about were the two Scottie dogs and Glenora the cat!
December 29, 2019
I adore this series and I am always extremely excited to read a new book by the talented Kaitlyn Dunnett.
Liss is my favorite character, she’s strong, independent, smart and lovable, all things an excellent main character needs to be.
In A View to a Kilt, Liss is enjoying minding her store while her aunt is away. When a body shows up, Liss has no idea who the person is, but she finds off soon enough, sending the whole family into a downward spiral.
I was so engrossed in this story, I read the book in one sitting, only stopping when I was done.
I hope to see this series continuing for a long time.
I highly recommend A View to a Kilt.
Liss is my favorite character, she’s strong, independent, smart and lovable, all things an excellent main character needs to be.
In A View to a Kilt, Liss is enjoying minding her store while her aunt is away. When a body shows up, Liss has no idea who the person is, but she finds off soon enough, sending the whole family into a downward spiral.
I was so engrossed in this story, I read the book in one sitting, only stopping when I was done.
I hope to see this series continuing for a long time.
I highly recommend A View to a Kilt.
December 19, 2019
One morning Liss and Dan find a body in their back yard and are shocked to find out that it was Liss’ uncle who went MIA during the Vietnam war and was declared dead decades before. How could this be? How could Charlie MacCrimmon let his family grieve for their loss? Why show up all these years later and not make contact with his family? So many questions, so few answers.
When Liss and Vi go to Florida to learn more bout Charlie, Liss discovers a secret hiding place where her uncle has stored document related to a company that is trying to do business with Moosetookalook. Apparently Charlie uncovered the truth behind the company and was there to help save his beloved hometown from being then next victim of the unscrupulous company. Was Charlie silenced before he could share the information and where is the proof that is needed to get the council to vote against the proposal?
With so many questions, Liss can’t help but try to find a few answers, though he vows to leave the solving of the murder to the police. The murderer seems to have it out for Liss, hopefully the police will get the murderer before Liss becomes the next victim.
Another great entry in a long running series! You don’t get a series this established and long standing without having a talented author with well developed characters and solid mysteries. Well done!
When Liss and Vi go to Florida to learn more bout Charlie, Liss discovers a secret hiding place where her uncle has stored document related to a company that is trying to do business with Moosetookalook. Apparently Charlie uncovered the truth behind the company and was there to help save his beloved hometown from being then next victim of the unscrupulous company. Was Charlie silenced before he could share the information and where is the proof that is needed to get the council to vote against the proposal?
With so many questions, Liss can’t help but try to find a few answers, though he vows to leave the solving of the murder to the police. The murderer seems to have it out for Liss, hopefully the police will get the murderer before Liss becomes the next victim.
Another great entry in a long running series! You don’t get a series this established and long standing without having a talented author with well developed characters and solid mysteries. Well done!
December 25, 2019
I received this book from NetGalley. When Liss and Dan find a dead body in their backyard, Liss sets to finding out why he was there and who killed him. The latest installment in the series, Dunnett keeps us guessing who the killer is until the very end. I enjoyed this book, often it seems like the author gets tired of writing and they begin to be repetitive, but not this one! We have some new twists to the book and Liss gets to butt heads with a new police detective!
December 19, 2019
Liss and her husband discover a body in their backyard. Liss's friend is no longer with the state police so Liss will now have to deal with someone new (and no surprise doesn't like her). The characters are interesting and I love the town of Moosetookalook. Liss and her mother are still trying to get their relationship on steadier ground. All in all a very good read.
Thank you to the publisher, author and NetGalley for my eARC in exchange for an honest review.
Thank you to the publisher, author and NetGalley for my eARC in exchange for an honest review.
March 13, 2020
This book is the 13th book in the Liss McCrimmon cozy mystery series. I thought this book was delightful! The premise is, Liss, who is our amateur sleuth, finds a dead man in her back yard.. When authorities identify him, he is a long-lost uncle who was declared deceased in the Vietnam war.
Liss and her family start to uncover clues about Charlie, and travel to Florida for answers about his past. It seems Charlie was in the private detective business in Florida. In all these years, why had he never contacted his brother or the rest of the family?
I enjoyed this story very much and had no problem jumping right in, even though I had not read the previous stories in the series. I love Liss and her quirky family.
I highly recommend this book to anyone who loves a good mystery with a Scottish flair (Liss and her family own the Scottish Emporium).
My thanks to #NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.
Liss and her family start to uncover clues about Charlie, and travel to Florida for answers about his past. It seems Charlie was in the private detective business in Florida. In all these years, why had he never contacted his brother or the rest of the family?
I enjoyed this story very much and had no problem jumping right in, even though I had not read the previous stories in the series. I love Liss and her quirky family.
I highly recommend this book to anyone who loves a good mystery with a Scottish flair (Liss and her family own the Scottish Emporium).
My thanks to #NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.
January 17, 2020
Liss- and her family- are shocked when the body found in her yard (which would have been enough for anyone) turns out to be her Uncle Charlie who was declared MIA during the Vietnam War. Turns out he's been alive all along and living in Florida but why did he come to Moosetookalook, Maine, now? Liss and her mom decide they're going to find out what happened- and it turns out that Charlie knew something no one else did about the town. I liked that this took Liss from Maine to Florida. This is a long running series but you'll be fine with it as a standalone once you get over the name of the town and the concept that it could be such a tourist attraction. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. For cozy fans.
April 18, 2020
This is book 13 in the Liss MacCrimmon Cozy series and it's a winner. Set in Moosetookalook, Maine it's time for the March Madness Mud Season sale. Liss is in charge this year and hopes the town gets the tourist season off to a good start. When they find a dead body in her back yard the family is shocked to discover it's an uncle who they thought died in Vietnam during the war. What was he doing in town and why was he killed? This book can be read as a stand alone but the previous books are all fun and good reads. This story certainly brings a twist into Liss's life and the whole town. Looking forward to # 14 to see what develops. I received a copy of this ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review.
January 28, 2020
If you are looking for a good light weight murder mystery with cute animals, this isn’t it. This is also not a particularly good example of small town police procedural. On the other hand, if you are looking for small town minutiae, this is it. There is so much boring detail presented that it is like listening to a gossip that you wish would either stop talking or edit so you got the point.
July 15, 2020
Waste of time.
This book is a complete waste of time for anyone looking for a mystery. It is dripping in “Mayberry” little town dribble.
This book is a complete waste of time for anyone looking for a mystery. It is dripping in “Mayberry” little town dribble.
February 21, 2020
3.5 Stars
Liss MacCrimmon runs the family’s shop, the Scottish Emporium in Moosetookalook, Maine. She has been put in charge of the town’s March Madness Mud Season sale and she won’t have the help of her Aunt Margaret who is out of the country. Liss is watching Margaret’s two Scottie dogs and they make a gruesome discovery in Liss and her husband Dan’s backyard. There is a dead body of a man not known to Dan and Liss in their yard. Liss gets another shock when the identity of the victim is revealed and her father, Mac, becomes the prime suspect of the hard-nosed state police officer in charge of the case. In spite of not wanting to be involved in another murder investigation, Liss can’t stand by and watch her father imprisoned for a crime he didn’t commit so she begins looking for clues that will lead her and the police to the truth.
This is the thirteenth book in this series and the fifth I have read. What got me interested in this series was that Liss was a former professional Scottish dancer and the information about Scottish customs and items sold in her store. Unfortunately, neither Liss’s dancing background nor anything to do with the Scotland plays a part in the book. That is what made the earlier books in this series so unique and it’s been missing in the last couple of books. Liss and her husband are still likable characters and the author does make the most of the Maine setting in this book both in providing an interesting background and in a central part of the storyline. I love Liss and Dan’s relationship although it isn’t central to this book. Liss’s mother Vi is not one of my favorite characters, but I enjoyed the scenes when she and Liss go to Florida as part of the investigation. Unfortunately, Vi is just not a pleasant person and quickly spoils any of the ground she makes in the relationship with her daughter.
The case itself starts out very intriguing. Without spoiling anything, the identification of the victim is a shock to Liss and her family and many other residents of their small town because it’s someone who had been presumed dead many years ago. Liss’s investigation into the murder and into the life of this person caught my interest right away. Liss makes some missteps, but I found the investigation very interesting. They way the case mixes in with an issue the town is facing regarding rights to their water supply is well-done. Less successful is the mystery surrounding the “twice-dead” victim. When all the details come out, the solution is so improbable and incompletely explained, it left me very disappointed. The premise hooked me and the build-up kept me going, but the ultimate payoff isn’t there. This isn’t my favorite of Dunnett’s books, but I am still a fan of her writing and this series. I hope future books get back to basics and have more of a focus on Liss and her husband’s loving relationship and all things Scottish.
~ Christine
Liss MacCrimmon runs the family’s shop, the Scottish Emporium in Moosetookalook, Maine. She has been put in charge of the town’s March Madness Mud Season sale and she won’t have the help of her Aunt Margaret who is out of the country. Liss is watching Margaret’s two Scottie dogs and they make a gruesome discovery in Liss and her husband Dan’s backyard. There is a dead body of a man not known to Dan and Liss in their yard. Liss gets another shock when the identity of the victim is revealed and her father, Mac, becomes the prime suspect of the hard-nosed state police officer in charge of the case. In spite of not wanting to be involved in another murder investigation, Liss can’t stand by and watch her father imprisoned for a crime he didn’t commit so she begins looking for clues that will lead her and the police to the truth.
This is the thirteenth book in this series and the fifth I have read. What got me interested in this series was that Liss was a former professional Scottish dancer and the information about Scottish customs and items sold in her store. Unfortunately, neither Liss’s dancing background nor anything to do with the Scotland plays a part in the book. That is what made the earlier books in this series so unique and it’s been missing in the last couple of books. Liss and her husband are still likable characters and the author does make the most of the Maine setting in this book both in providing an interesting background and in a central part of the storyline. I love Liss and Dan’s relationship although it isn’t central to this book. Liss’s mother Vi is not one of my favorite characters, but I enjoyed the scenes when she and Liss go to Florida as part of the investigation. Unfortunately, Vi is just not a pleasant person and quickly spoils any of the ground she makes in the relationship with her daughter.
The case itself starts out very intriguing. Without spoiling anything, the identification of the victim is a shock to Liss and her family and many other residents of their small town because it’s someone who had been presumed dead many years ago. Liss’s investigation into the murder and into the life of this person caught my interest right away. Liss makes some missteps, but I found the investigation very interesting. They way the case mixes in with an issue the town is facing regarding rights to their water supply is well-done. Less successful is the mystery surrounding the “twice-dead” victim. When all the details come out, the solution is so improbable and incompletely explained, it left me very disappointed. The premise hooked me and the build-up kept me going, but the ultimate payoff isn’t there. This isn’t my favorite of Dunnett’s books, but I am still a fan of her writing and this series. I hope future books get back to basics and have more of a focus on Liss and her husband’s loving relationship and all things Scottish.
~ Christine
February 9, 2020
A View to a Kilt earns 5/5 Bottles of Spring Water...Entertaining!
I must say I’ve been interested in Kaitlyn Dunnett’s Liss MacCrimmon Mystery for awhile: young girl returns home, small village in a Northeast setting, shop with a Scottish flair, and pesky murders to solve...all good things! I am lucky to finally join in with this thirteenth installment and becoming a eager fan with a dozen more cozies in the future! Liss is hoping the winter thaw will bring the tourists back to the small Maine township of Moosetookalook (try quickly saying that three times), and to her Scottish Emporium. With the sloshy soon-to-be Spring arriving the town prepares for the March Madness Mud Season Sale, an annual event to help boost the local economy and help bring residents and businesses out of its winter doldrums. But, her husband finding a dead man on their property isn’t the worst of it, even being determined as murder isn’t the worst of it. The worst of it is that the victim is Liss’s uncle who has not been seen for decades, long before she was born, not since her was deployed to...Vietnam. Where has he been? Why has he reappeared? Who killed him? Delightfully entertaining page-turner! Kaitlyn’s well-written drama uses a third-person narrative and included enough background and character connections to make it a nice standalone. The mystery was very compelling with Liss’s family shocked by the identity of the dead-alive-dead victim made more complicated by cryptic notes by the victim, Liss and her mother being surveilled, and her father as law enforcement’s major suspect. Her investigative style is realistic, trying to be thorough with a last-minute trip to Florida, but hampered by the new detective on the case. The additional drama of the town’s water rights adds a contemporary issue into the mix and its increasing importance was engaging. The story had little of the Scottish flair I expected from the cover and knowledge of the series, the dynamics between mother and daughter was frustrating at times, and the ending is satisfactory, but also not what I expected. I enjoyed the characters and the story, so I recommend this book, and I’m off to check out the rest of the series.
Disclosure: I received an ARC from NetGalley (Kensington). My review is voluntary with honest insights and comments.
I must say I’ve been interested in Kaitlyn Dunnett’s Liss MacCrimmon Mystery for awhile: young girl returns home, small village in a Northeast setting, shop with a Scottish flair, and pesky murders to solve...all good things! I am lucky to finally join in with this thirteenth installment and becoming a eager fan with a dozen more cozies in the future! Liss is hoping the winter thaw will bring the tourists back to the small Maine township of Moosetookalook (try quickly saying that three times), and to her Scottish Emporium. With the sloshy soon-to-be Spring arriving the town prepares for the March Madness Mud Season Sale, an annual event to help boost the local economy and help bring residents and businesses out of its winter doldrums. But, her husband finding a dead man on their property isn’t the worst of it, even being determined as murder isn’t the worst of it. The worst of it is that the victim is Liss’s uncle who has not been seen for decades, long before she was born, not since her was deployed to...Vietnam. Where has he been? Why has he reappeared? Who killed him? Delightfully entertaining page-turner! Kaitlyn’s well-written drama uses a third-person narrative and included enough background and character connections to make it a nice standalone. The mystery was very compelling with Liss’s family shocked by the identity of the dead-alive-dead victim made more complicated by cryptic notes by the victim, Liss and her mother being surveilled, and her father as law enforcement’s major suspect. Her investigative style is realistic, trying to be thorough with a last-minute trip to Florida, but hampered by the new detective on the case. The additional drama of the town’s water rights adds a contemporary issue into the mix and its increasing importance was engaging. The story had little of the Scottish flair I expected from the cover and knowledge of the series, the dynamics between mother and daughter was frustrating at times, and the ending is satisfactory, but also not what I expected. I enjoyed the characters and the story, so I recommend this book, and I’m off to check out the rest of the series.
Disclosure: I received an ARC from NetGalley (Kensington). My review is voluntary with honest insights and comments.
January 24, 2020
This is the 13th installment in the Liss MaCrimmon mystery series. I have not read all of the books in this series, however, I was able to easily follow the storyline so you do not need to read in order. In this installment Liss MaCrimmon is in charge of the annual Moosetookalook March Madness Mud Season Sale and she is being kept very busy as her Aunt Margaret has just gone on a genealogy trip to Ireland and Liss is talking care of her two Scotties. One day at the Emporium Liss is puzzled that the dogs have their eyes glued on the stairway to Aunt Margaret’s apartment. Liss thinks they are just missing Margaret. The next morning the dogs go outside only to continually bark and they decide to go ahead and eat their breakfast as the dogs refuse to come in. Dan (Liss’s husband) goes outside to get the dogs and finds a body dead in their backyard. The police are called as are the state police. State police detective Cussler does not appear to be all that keen on being nice to the Ruskins or anyone else in town. Liss is forced to go see the body and although the dead man seems familiar (he reminds her briefly of her father) he is someone she has never seen before. Soon the town is at her door but she swears she does not know who he is and has no plan to investigate. Unfortunately it turns out the man is Charlie MaCrimmon Mac’s (Liss’s Father) older brother who was presumed dead 50 years ago after being MIA in Vietnam. Liss along with her Mother begin to investigate after her Father is considered the prime suspect. They travel to Florida to find out some information about her Uncle and they find some information that he was investigating (he was a private investigator) the company that is planning to a water deal with the town. Charlie found evidence that it is a scam and has several accusations, however, no proof can be found. Liss returns home and gets the council to postpone a decision and then works to find the proof. This was a good solid and interesting mystery with lots of twists and turns. Highly recommend.
January 10, 2023
I thoroughly enjoyed it, preferring it to the prior one of this series I've read. They weren't adjacent to each other chronologically, but each can be read as stand-alones, so I don't mind skipping around in the series. Some of the characters' relationships with each other seemed to be convoluted, and might have been more fully explained if I'd done the series in order.
This series is about the mystery-solving owner of a Scottish-themed store.
I am glad the Scottish terriers, Dandy & Dondi sill figure prominently, and was sorry to hear about Lumpkin's passing. I don't know if that was in a prior book I missed or if it was first mentioned here.
I also enjoy the Sherri character. I'm so glad this series has the main protagonist as best friends with a police officer rather than at odds with her, as is so often the case in this genre. Sherri's character reminds me of the Donna character in "The Potluck Club," another series I'd read and enjoyed and would recommend (although it's not a mystery, exactly.)
The story opened very slowly at a town council meeting. Reading about real-life politics is bad enough. I didn't want to read about fictional politics, too, and most of the items on the docket were very mundane ones.
But soon enough, the story took an interesting turn with the discovery of a long-lost relative, long believed dead.
I figured out whodunit with a major clue, which the author never highlighted, and none of the characters referenced. It's hinted at in the title, though.
Why do the mothers always have to be the annoying characters in these books?
I agree with the other reviewers who would be sad if Liss closed her Scottish-themed emporium in favor of just online sales.
This series is about the mystery-solving owner of a Scottish-themed store.
I am glad the Scottish terriers, Dandy & Dondi sill figure prominently, and was sorry to hear about Lumpkin's passing. I don't know if that was in a prior book I missed or if it was first mentioned here.
I also enjoy the Sherri character. I'm so glad this series has the main protagonist as best friends with a police officer rather than at odds with her, as is so often the case in this genre. Sherri's character reminds me of the Donna character in "The Potluck Club," another series I'd read and enjoyed and would recommend (although it's not a mystery, exactly.)
The story opened very slowly at a town council meeting. Reading about real-life politics is bad enough. I didn't want to read about fictional politics, too, and most of the items on the docket were very mundane ones.
But soon enough, the story took an interesting turn with the discovery of a long-lost relative, long believed dead.
I figured out whodunit with a major clue, which the author never highlighted, and none of the characters referenced. It's hinted at in the title, though.
Why do the mothers always have to be the annoying characters in these books?
I agree with the other reviewers who would be sad if Liss closed her Scottish-themed emporium in favor of just online sales.
January 30, 2020
This is a long running series that never lets me down. I had saved it for a rainy day but needed it for a snow day. Because of the snow I settled down to read it in one day. Snow in the mystery and snow outside my windows - perfect. Liss is one of my favorite characters and this mystery hits where she lives, literally. Her Aunt Margaret is traveling for two weeks in Ireland and Liss and her husband, Dan are taking care of her two Scotties. Liss is more of a cat person and fails to listen to the dogs when they seem fixated with the stairs going up to Margaret's apartment over the store. Then they kick up a storm, barking in the back yard. When Dan decides to go investigate they get a shock that turns out to be the shock of their life. There is a dead man in the backyard and nobody has any idea who he is and what brought him to their secluded yard along with his killer.
Soon enough the John Doe is identified and therein lies the shock that rattles her entire family. The man turns out to be Liss's uncle, a man she didn't know existed.....but he sort of didn't. Turns out he had been declared MIA fifty years prior and the declared dead. I could say a lot more but I don't want to give anything away. I hate spoilers. Let's just say that, now that her parents are back in town Liss and her mom are at odds with each other and family members and friends are harboring many long buried secrets. They better start opening up before irreparable harm is done to the small Maine town of Mossetookalook.
My thanks to the publisher Kensington and to NetGalley for giving me an advance copy in exchange for my honest review.
Soon enough the John Doe is identified and therein lies the shock that rattles her entire family. The man turns out to be Liss's uncle, a man she didn't know existed.....but he sort of didn't. Turns out he had been declared MIA fifty years prior and the declared dead. I could say a lot more but I don't want to give anything away. I hate spoilers. Let's just say that, now that her parents are back in town Liss and her mom are at odds with each other and family members and friends are harboring many long buried secrets. They better start opening up before irreparable harm is done to the small Maine town of Mossetookalook.
My thanks to the publisher Kensington and to NetGalley for giving me an advance copy in exchange for my honest review.
August 12, 2023
Another excellent adventure in Moosetookalook with Liss and her family. Good plot.
A series of blizzards have kept tourists away from Moosetookalook, Maine, and shoppers out of Liss MacCrimmon’s Scottish Emporium. But as warmer weather brings promises of tartan sales and new faces, melting snow reveals cold-blooded murder . . .
Liss has suddenly found herself in charge of the March Madness Mud Season Sale, a town-wide celebration created to boost the local economy during the slushy weeks of early spring. With businesses ailing after a rough winter, the pressure is on to make this year’s effort the can’t-miss-event of the season. But before Liss can get her hands dirty, her husband makes a horrifying discovery. There’s a dead man on their property, and he didn't die of natural causes . . .
Stunned by the murder mystery developing in her own backyard, Liss receives another shock. The victim is identified as Charlie MacCrimmon, an uncle believed to have died eleven years before Liss was born. No one has seen or heard from Charlie since he went off to fight in Vietnam. What secrets could he have been hiding for so many years, and who would want to kill a man long thought to be dead?
Enlisting the help of her family, Liss uncovers more questions than answers as she delves into her uncle’s murky past. One thing is clear—before he met his end, Uncle Charlie was desperately trying to warn her about something sinister. And unless Liss can soon track down a maniacal criminal as elusive as the Loch Ness Monster, she just might be the next MacCrimmon to disappear . . .
A series of blizzards have kept tourists away from Moosetookalook, Maine, and shoppers out of Liss MacCrimmon’s Scottish Emporium. But as warmer weather brings promises of tartan sales and new faces, melting snow reveals cold-blooded murder . . .
Liss has suddenly found herself in charge of the March Madness Mud Season Sale, a town-wide celebration created to boost the local economy during the slushy weeks of early spring. With businesses ailing after a rough winter, the pressure is on to make this year’s effort the can’t-miss-event of the season. But before Liss can get her hands dirty, her husband makes a horrifying discovery. There’s a dead man on their property, and he didn't die of natural causes . . .
Stunned by the murder mystery developing in her own backyard, Liss receives another shock. The victim is identified as Charlie MacCrimmon, an uncle believed to have died eleven years before Liss was born. No one has seen or heard from Charlie since he went off to fight in Vietnam. What secrets could he have been hiding for so many years, and who would want to kill a man long thought to be dead?
Enlisting the help of her family, Liss uncovers more questions than answers as she delves into her uncle’s murky past. One thing is clear—before he met his end, Uncle Charlie was desperately trying to warn her about something sinister. And unless Liss can soon track down a maniacal criminal as elusive as the Loch Ness Monster, she just might be the next MacCrimmon to disappear . . .
February 19, 2020
Princess Fuzzypants here: As Liss prepares for March Mud Madness, her entire family is spiralled into turmoil. Her father’s brother who was reported MIA in Vietnam and declared dead not only shows up in Moosetookalook but in Liss’ backyard very dead. Where has he been for more than 40 years and why has he never contacted any of his family before? Moreover, what did he know that was enough to get him killed and who did it?
When Liss’s father is suspected of the crime, and the family discover he is the sole beneficiary of his brother’s substantial estate, Liss and her mother fly off to Miami where he has lived for the past several years and worked as a PI. Each day brings new revelations and as they search through his belongings and talk to those who knew him during his absence, they learn he uncovered some very important information that could have far reaching effects on the people of his home town.
When Liss finds out what it is and shares that information, she does not make any new friends. In fact, she feels threatened by those most impacted by the information. But danger lurks in unexpected places and unexpected people. Will Liss get out of this unscathed?
You will just have to read the book to find out. Four purrs and two paws up.
When Liss’s father is suspected of the crime, and the family discover he is the sole beneficiary of his brother’s substantial estate, Liss and her mother fly off to Miami where he has lived for the past several years and worked as a PI. Each day brings new revelations and as they search through his belongings and talk to those who knew him during his absence, they learn he uncovered some very important information that could have far reaching effects on the people of his home town.
When Liss finds out what it is and shares that information, she does not make any new friends. In fact, she feels threatened by those most impacted by the information. But danger lurks in unexpected places and unexpected people. Will Liss get out of this unscathed?
You will just have to read the book to find out. Four purrs and two paws up.
January 28, 2020
A View to a Kilt is the 13th book in Kaitlyn Dunnett’s Liss MacCrimmon Mystery series. In this stand alone novel Liss MacCrimmon Ruskin is thrown into the midst of a murder investigation when a body is found in the snow bank behind her home. Then, she finds herself in the middle of a family mystery when the body is found to be her Uncle Charlie who was thought to have died in the Vietnam War when he was reported MIA, never found, and later declared dead.
When state police detective Kelly Cussler places Liss’ father Mac at the top of her suspect list, Liss and her mother, Violet, go into action to figure out who killed Charlie and why he had faked his death for half a century. When it becomes apparent that Liss is being followed and her mother is being watched the stakes rise. But when Liss discovers notes made by Charlie that concern a possible calamity for the small town of Moosetookalook, Maine, it becomes imperative for her to solve both mysteries.
This was a very good read with wonderful characters, great settings, and many twists and turns. Although part of a lengthy series, it definitely stands on its own. I did enjoy this book and do recommend it.
When state police detective Kelly Cussler places Liss’ father Mac at the top of her suspect list, Liss and her mother, Violet, go into action to figure out who killed Charlie and why he had faked his death for half a century. When it becomes apparent that Liss is being followed and her mother is being watched the stakes rise. But when Liss discovers notes made by Charlie that concern a possible calamity for the small town of Moosetookalook, Maine, it becomes imperative for her to solve both mysteries.
This was a very good read with wonderful characters, great settings, and many twists and turns. Although part of a lengthy series, it definitely stands on its own. I did enjoy this book and do recommend it.
February 15, 2020
This is the 13th in the series and I have read 3 of the series now. Each book is a enjoyable fun cozy with a well crafted mystery. I enjoyed this next in series and always enjoy returning to this series. Thank you to Net Galley and to the publisher for the opportunity.. My review is my own.
Our protagonist Liss MacCrimmon manages her family’s shop, the Scottish Emporium in Moosetookalook, Maine. Part of the charm of this series are the descriptions of Maine and the Scottish shop. Liss is now in charge of running a sale while her Aunt who helps in the shop is gone on a trip. She is pet sitting her aunt's dogs.
When the dogs find a body in their backyard she is shocked to find who the victim was and that her Father may be suspect number one due to his relationship with the victim. Liss decides to step up and help her Father clear his name . Soon clues abound and she has a suspect list that is growing with every question.
The sleuth was pleasing to conclusion. I love the shop, the setting and supporting charcters. I look forward to the next in this cozy series.
Our protagonist Liss MacCrimmon manages her family’s shop, the Scottish Emporium in Moosetookalook, Maine. Part of the charm of this series are the descriptions of Maine and the Scottish shop. Liss is now in charge of running a sale while her Aunt who helps in the shop is gone on a trip. She is pet sitting her aunt's dogs.
When the dogs find a body in their backyard she is shocked to find who the victim was and that her Father may be suspect number one due to his relationship with the victim. Liss decides to step up and help her Father clear his name . Soon clues abound and she has a suspect list that is growing with every question.
The sleuth was pleasing to conclusion. I love the shop, the setting and supporting charcters. I look forward to the next in this cozy series.
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