The Poison Pen by Paige Shelton


 The ninth installment in the cozy mystery series by Paige Shelton and featuring amateur sleuth Delaney Nichols, set in a specialty bookshop in Edinburgh called The Cracked Spine.

Bookseller Delaney Nichols's boss's Edwin comes to her with an unusual assignment. An old friend of his, living in an estate in the village of Roslin, has found what could be a priceless relic on her property, and Delaney is tasked with investigating. Could Jolie possibly have in her possession, as she believes, a Crusader Sword? But when Delaney arrives at Jolie's estate, she is greeted by a legal team with a vested interest in the property. Delaney and Jolie manage to remove the intruders, but as they're examining the antique sword, they hear a scream, and meet a much less welcome a body.

As Delaney digs deeper, she discovers Jolie's own fascinating history. Jolie's mother had long claimed that her daughter was the rightful heir to the throne, not Elizabeth II, because of an affair she claimed to have with King Edward VIII. The only evidence, however, is in the form of a journal that one of Edward’s secretaries kept. The puzzles become more confusing when a connection is uncovered between this far-fetched story and the murdered man. And shortly thereafter, the journal goes missing. Delaney will have to read between the lines to put together the pieces...or become history herself. (GoodReads synopsis)

I love this series. I love Scotland and its rich history. I love that Delaney is immersed in it so much and has such great friends and now family. The crew at The Cracked Spine are a wonderful group, and I wish that I had real life persons like them.

The mystery here was great! I didn’t know the killer but suspected someone else. I also suspected that something about the someone else might have been possible. I was ecstatic to see that I was right.

Overall, I rate this novel 5 out of 5 stars.

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