Beth Cunningham has come to Oban, a coastal town in West Scotland, to start a new life, to finally put her past behind her. Opening The Wild Haggis Bookshop was a dream come true, but it quickly turns sour after the first meeting of her crime book club. THe meeting went perfectly fine, despite some tensions between the members – but when one of them is found murdered, their body lying in the body outline that Beth put on the floor, Beth finds herself the prime suspect.

As her employees rally round to help prove her innocence, it becomes clear that the only way to do that is to unmask the real killer. But with all of the book club members holding secrets, it looks like time might be running out for Beth…

OK, let’s get the cosy mystery bingo card out. Let’s see…

• Lead character is a single woman – check
• Lead character finds herself attracted to the local police man after a bad start – check
• Lead character owns a bookshop – check
• There’s a cat – check

Yup, that’s bingo! To be clear, though, I’m not opposed to cosy crime, even the type that’s written in the style of those American ones with dreadful titles. This title’s a bit of a mouthful, to be honest, but at least there’s not a dreadful pun in it.

I picked this one up because of the setting. I’ve holidayed in Oban a few times, it’s a lovely place, so this caught my eye. I’m rather glad I did, as for the most part, I really enjoyed this one.

I liked the central characters, Beth and her staff. There’s a sense of pieces being put in place for the rest of the series. The staff don’t get on at the start but they do by the end. Beth feels lonely and unloved at the start, and by the end has found confidence, friends and more in Oban.

The mystery plot keeps moving as the book goes along and at no point was I bored by the story. I was curious as to how the body got in the shop after everyone had left, why it had been placed in the body outline, whether it was actually one of the book group who was the murderer… and, to be honest, the ending was a bit of a letdown as the first two questions never really get answered. And we’re not given the information to solve the mystery either…

But as I said, I enjoyed the book for the most part, and I’m sure that people who are less invested in the puzzle element will enjoy it even more. I’ll certainly be keeping an eye out for a second visit to Oban.

Murder At The Wild Haggis Bookshop is out on October 8^th from Storm Publishing. Many thanks for the review e-copy via NetGalley.