A step so grave

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A step so grave

Title:

A step so grave

Personal Author:

McPherson, Catriona, 1965- author.

ISBN:

9781473682351

Physical Description:

320 pages ; 24 cm.

Series:

Dandy Gilver.

Series Title:

Dandy Gilver.

Abstract:

Wedding bells are set to ring as Dandy Gilver, family in tow, arrives in windswept Wester Ross on Valentine's Day. They've come to celebrate Lady Lavinia's fiftieth birthday and to meet her daughter Mallory, a less-than-suitable bride-to-be for Dandy's son Donald. But soon love is the last thing on Dandy's mind when the news breaks that Lady Lavinia has been found dead, brutally murdered in the middle of her famous knot garden. Strange superstitions and folklore abound among the Gaelic-speaking locals. But Dandy suspects that the tangled boughs and branches around Applecross House hide something much more earthly at work ..

Personal Subject:

Gilver, Dandy (Fictitious character)-Fiction.

Subject Term:

Murder -- Investigation -- Fiction.

Upper class -- Scotland -- Fiction.

Geographic Term:

Wester Ross (Scotland) -- History -- 20th century -- Fiction.

Genre:

Detective and mystery fiction.

Electronic Access:

Language:

English

Available:*

Library	Material Type	Shelf Number	Location
Searching... Hillview Branch	Book	FIC MCPH	Searching... Unknown

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Summary

"puts a stylish spin on the traditional country house murder...an intricate plot worthy of Dorothy L. Sayers or Agatha Christie at her finest." -- Publishers Weekly , (Starred Review)
"A sophisticated, elegantly written, intensely powerful mystery, the best of an excellent series." -- Kirkus Reviews (Starred Review)

1930s Scotland
Wedding bells are set to ring as Dandy Gilver with family in tow, arrives in windswept Wester Ross on Valentine's Day. They've come to celebrate Lady Lavinia's fiftieth birthday and to meet her daughter Mallory, a less-than-suitable bride-to-be for Dandy's son Donald.

But soon love is the last thing on Dandy's mind when the news breaks that Lady Lavinia has been found dead, brutally murdered in the middle of her famous knot garden.
Strange superstitions and folklore abound among the Gaelic-speaking locals. But, Dandy suspects that the tangled boughs and branches around Applecross House hide something much more earthly at work . . .

Author Notes

Catriona McPherson was born in the village of Queensferry in south-east Scotland in 1965 and educated at Edinburgh University. She left with a PhD in Linguistics and spent a few years as a university lecturer before beginning to write fiction. The first Dandy Gilver novel was short-listed for the CWA Ellis Peters Historical Dagger 2005 and the second was long-listed for the Theakston's Crime Novel of the Year Award 2007. In 2012 Dandy Gilver and the Proper Treatment of Bloodstains was nominated for a Historical Macavity Award. Catriona writes full-time and divides her time between southern Scotland and northern California.

Reviews (1)

Publisher's Weekly Review

Agatha-winner McPherson's exceptional 13th Dandy Gilver mystery (after 2017's Dandy Gilver and a Spot of Toil and Trouble) puts a stylish spin on the traditional country house murder. In the winter of 1935, Edinburgh PI Dandy and her family travel to meet Mallory Dunnoch, Dandy's son Donald's fiancée, and Mallory's family at Applecross, the Dunnochs' estate in the Scottish Highlands. Oddly, Lady Lavinia, Mallory's mother, is absent during their visit. When the spring thaw reveals Lady Lavinia's body, Dandy returns to Applecross, accompanied by her fellow detective, Alec Osbourne, with his "sharper brain," to investigate. That everyone at Applecross has a motive for wanting Lady Lavinia dead provides multiple red herrings, but who had the opportunity to kill her? Details of rugged Highland life are plentiful, with evocative descriptions of climate and scenery gracefully incorporated into an intricate plot worthy of Dorothy L. Sayers or Agatha Christie at her finest. McPherson reliably entertains. Agent: Lisa Moylett, CMM Literary (U.K.). (Nov.)