I am officially in love with Fran Stewart's ScotShop mysteries! I will admit that I have a great love for all things Scottish (except for the food, especially haggis) because it's literally in my blood, but it's more than that. These would be ordinary, charming cozy mysteries were it not for Dirk, a 700-year-old ghost that attached himself to Peggy Winn when she purchased an antique shawl that belonged to his long lost love. We learn a little more about Dirk and Peggy's connection in each novel (it won't hurt for me to reveal that it seems like Dirk is Peggy's many-times-great-grandfather) as their relationship develops.
This one, the third in the series, focuses on Hamlin, Vermont's annual highland games, where one of the leading competitors is found murdered in his hotel room before he has a chance to compete. There is also the mystery of the missing necklace, apparently shoplifted from Peggy's shop by a mysterious couple. Is there s connection? The details of the shop and its business, the customs of the town, the complicated relationships among the characters, and, most importantly, the interplay between Peggy and her ghost, Dirk (he constantly asks her questions about modern day developments and figures of speech and reads books when she turns the pages for him) are wonderful. I can't wait for the next one!
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