Murder at a Scottish Social - (A Scottish Shire Mystery) by Traci Hall (Paperback)

Paislee Shaw has agreed to share a table with her friends, Lydia, and Blaise at the fundraiser to support the Nairn Food Bank. Drama starts before Paislee arrives when the Queen Bee of the mom clique from the local elite school, Kirsten Buchanan puts their table at the back of the room next to the loo. The theatrics continue as Kirsten and her worker bees shoot barbs at Blaise who has decided their crowd is not for her. When Kirsten ends up dead after sampling a cookie, Kirsten’s friends are quick to point the finger at Blaise. Paislee puts away her knitting needles and dons her sleuthing cap in order to find the guilty party. Murder at a Scottish Social by Traci Hall is the third A Scottish Shire Mystery. It is best to read this series in order so that you can get to know the and understand their relationships. I thought the story contained good writing with a slower pacing. There is an interesting cast of Scottish characters. Paislee, Brody, Lydia, Gramps, and Wallace the dog are back along Detective Inspector Zeffer. We get to meet Blaise O’Connor, her husband, and son. I did have a hard time with the Scottish brogue. It was in the previous books, but it seemed more pronounced in this one. I had such a hard time deciphering the words that I got a migraine. The whodunit had several suspects, a red herring, and direct clues. If you catch the clues, you should find solving this mystery a cinch. Paislee did not do much sleuthing in this story. She was, though, on the receiving end of nasty potshots. I was turned off by the mean women group. Their nastiness was off-putting (and reminded me of high school). When not knitting or working at the shop, Paislee must deal with an issue regarding her son, Brody. Unfortunately, that means dealing with the problematic headmaster. Gramps, as always, provides humor. I liked how the author emphasized the need for the food bank in the community. The fundraiser was wonderful the way people came together to raise money for the cause (if you can overlook the cruel female clique). Murder at a Scottish Social is a Scottish whodunit with a cookie contest, a cruel clique, nasty nuts, an elusive Epi-pen, a pilfered piece, remarkable knitwear, and a dedicated detective.