Whilst it evokes the classic murder mystery, this story scores highly for originality.

There are lots of characters/suspects, incompetent police and an intelligent and unexpected amateur sleuth. It also has a satirical edge that enables the reader to draw some twenty-first-century comparisons. There is plenty of mayhem and mystery. As long as you can keep track of all the characters and appreciate the humour, this is an enjoyable read.

I received a copy of this book from Hodder and Stoughton via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

Does what it says on the tin. This is a Downton Abbey / pandemic mashup. There's not much suspense in the mystery part because there are either evil characters keeping big secrets or innocent goodies stumbling upon those secrets, but if you open this book knowing you're reading over-the-top Downton Abbey fanfic, it's a good time.

I found "Loch Down Abbey" to be an incredibly smart, witty take on the locked-room mystery. Unfortunately, my library does not purchase self-published works, so I can't recommend this to our patrons.

This was such an entertaining and funny read; full of quirky characters.It's the 1930's and a mysterious illness is creeping toward Scotland from England. Lord Inverkillen, head of the Inverkillen family, is found dead in curious circumstances. The police think it was an accident but the redoubtable Mrs MacBain, Head Housekeeper, thinks otherwise and dons her Miss Marple hat. As the illness begins to infiltrate the house and the servants fall ill, the family are horrified to discover that they might have to do things for themselves.

There are wry and witty observations about 1930's society and the contemporary Covid situation. The hunt of toilet rolls and food hoarding are particularly amusing. This is a fun, quick read where the children of the family really steal the show despite being rarely present. If you read the book I'm sure you'll see why.

Thank you to NetGalley and Hodder Books for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Loch Down Abbey by Beth Cowan-Erskine is a golden age story set in Scotland.

I really liked the premise of the story as it is set in a remote village, it's closed circle mystery and the time period is one of my favorite periods for mystery story.
Unfortunately it didn't fulfill my expectations.
Even though it had a list of characters at the beginning of the book, which I absolutely love, I found it really hard to keep track of who is who and relations between the characters. Some of them I managed to remember but some, I am sad to say continued to elude me.
The setting was very atmospheric and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
It took some time for the murder to happen, which I didn't mind as it was supposed to give us time to get to know the characters. Yet when it did happen, it was pronounced an accident and somehow forgotten. It again took some time for the proper investigation to start. I found it a bit disconcerting.
It had that A. Christie feel to it, which is always a plus in my book, but sadly it didn't reach its full potential.

This was such a fun read and an excellent take on the pandemic and lockdown. Some people may not enjoy reading about it, but I really liked it.
I Will definitely read from the author again.
Thanks a lot to NG and the publisher for this copy.

I’ve been reading a fair amount of historical fiction recently – but I can safely say that nothing has been quite like this offering. The Inverkillen clan are all thoroughly spoilt and entitled – and quite right, too. After all, they’re part of an aristocracy that goes back hundreds of years and everyone in the village and beyond acknowledges their superiority over the common sort. Indeed, they employ lots of the common sort to wait upon them hand, foot and finger. So when a mysterious and rather virulent illness strikes the domestic staff just when Lord Inverkillen is found dead by the weir, dramatic changes have to be made in domestic arrangements – and that’s before the Will is read…

This is a funny and engaging read – but do keep the character cast list bookmarked, at least for the first few chapters, because there are quite a lot of Inverkillens and events keep happening. Think of a cross between the televised version of P.G. Wodehouse’s stories and Agatha Christie’s country house mysteries. And I won’t compare Cowan-Erksine’s writing with Wodehouse, because his prose is far more hilarious. Nonetheless, I thoroughly enjoyed her dry humour and found myself laughing aloud more than once. And as I’m struggling with post-Covid fatigue syndrome, I’m not inclined to chuckle over anything that isn’t genuinely funny.

Since I’ve finished this one, I’ve found myself looking around for something similar – and I haven’t yet found it. If you are looking for a mystery that doesn’t take itself too seriously, then this one comes very highly recommended. While I obtained an arc of Loch Down Abbey from Netgalley, the opinions I have expressed are unbiased and my own.
9/10

Lots of fun, a light-hearted mystery story - as you might guess from the title. I read this when I was in hospital and it was the perfect book for that - absorbing enough to take your mind off things. I'd recommend for sad days, journeys, beaches, waiting rooms, stress relief...a jolly good read.

Thank you, NetGalley, for letting me read this.

4 stars

You can read all of my reviews at Nerd Girl Loves Books.

This is a fun Historical Fiction Cozy Mystery that is a quick and easy read. Set in Scotland in the 1930's while a mysterious illness is spreading through the country, the Inverkillen family and their servants are dealt a terrible blow when Lord Inverkillen, Earl and head of the family, is found dead in mysterious circumstances.

Except, the family doesn't seem too bothered with the Earl's death. They are more concerned about the fact that less tea cakes will be served at tea time because a number of servants are sick and the remaining ones are struggling to maintain the house in their absence. Although the inspector declares the Earl's death an accident, Mrs. McBain, the head housekeeper, isn't convinced and decides to investigate in between her duties.

Mrs. McBain is an astute and clever woman who slowly begins to unravel the mystery of the Earl's death, in addition to uncovering long-hidden family secrets and lies that will alter everyone at the Abbey's future. Mrs. McBain is a well-formed character, as are several of the minor characters. The book has several very funny bits and is full of wry, sarcastic observations of the elitist, selfish, entitled upper class occupants of the manor. Most of the secrets and surprise endings are fairly obvious, but that didn't take away from my enjoyment of the book. If you're looking for a light, fun, quick and easy read, this is the book for you.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from NetGalley and Hodder & Stoughton. All opinions are my own.

Advanced Reader’s Copy provided by NetGalley, Hodder & Stoughton, and Hodder Paperbacks in exchange for an honest review.

A 1930s murder mystery set in Scotland for fans of Downton Abbey and Agatha Christie where the housekeeper sets out to solve everything? SOLD! And Cowan-Erskine does not disappoint.

I really enjoyed LOCH DOWN ABBEY, it was a fun read. There are a LOT of moving parts to this novel, but don't let that discourage you. It just feels like there are so many characters because they're all stuck in the same house during a lock down.

Mrs. MacBain is my favorite and I loved that unraveling how Lord Inverkillen died also uncovered a whole lot of family secrets. Some were expected, others were not, and I LOVED the ending. I'll admit that I did not expect that to be the outcome at all.

This was definitely a novel written during the COVID-19 pandemic and I really enjoyed the subtle nods to some of the things that have happened in 2020, but looking at those issues with a 1930s spin on it. Good to know that even the Scottish aristocracy hides toilet paper away to save it for themselves. This is a murder mystery interwoven with humor and it's a novel that will be hard to put down once you start reading it.

Loch Down Abbey was a cheeky, fun story about an aristocratic family in Scotland. Lord Iverkillen is found dead at the weir and it is ruled an accident. However, the head housekeeper, Mrs McBain, is not so sure. The book started slow for me and there are a ton of characters. So many that there is a list of characters at the beginning of the book. Once I got into it it was a fun read about entitled people and their fall from it all. There is an illness going around the village as well and several of the staff come down with it. They think its make up surely! One of them even steals and hides the toilet paper rations (sounds too familiar?) They have to actually learn to do a few things for themselves. How undignified. Think Downton Abbey but tongue in cheek. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an arc for an honest review.

This locked-room (or better locked mansion) mystery is the author's debut novel, I requested the ARC mainly because of the pun in the title.

The characters, above and below-stairs were well-developed. The writing was good. The conclusion to the mystery was a bit contrived, though.

That said, I enjoyed the book once I got into it, which took me about 15% due to the sudden changes of POV from one paragraph to the next.

It reminded me a lot of Downton Abbey and Gosford Park.

Loch Down Abbey is a great country house story full of family drama, secrets, mystery and humour. The characters were interesting, though I was very glad to have a list of characters as I needed to refer to it right to the end. The biggest and best character was the house itself, a truly wonderful place that I wish I could visit myself. An entertaining escapist novel with an incredibly satisfying ending.

The Ogilvy-Sinclair family had everything: the 120-room Loch Down Abbey, an earldom, and servants galore.

But soon a pox came upon their house. An illness was crossing their land and all of Scotland. First, their children’s nanny died. Then more and more servants were sickened. Eventually, the village shops and even the pub were shuttered. Worse, the 19th Earl, Hamish, is found dead. Was it an accident? Or was it foul play? Only the venerable housekeeper, Mrs. MacBain, has the ability and desire to discover the answer. But what family secrets will her investigation dredge up?

Woo, this family has some scandalous secrets all right! Obviously, if you shove a bunch of non-observant and self-centered people together with nothing to do, most will do the wrong thing. Some of the secrets are obvious to an alert reader. Others should have been, and the clues are clear in hindsight. However, the hilarious conclusion was an unexpected surprise! I adored the ending of Loch Down Abbey, though some of the middle dragged a bit. 4 stars!

Thanks to Hodder & Stoughton and NetGalley for a copy in exchange for my honest review.

This is a different and unusual read
Set in 1930s Scotland
In a big posh house
A dysfunctional family all with secrets
An unsolved murder
Along with a mystery illness
And an unexpected ending

What more can you ask from a debut novel

Good read

Thank you netgalley, Beth Cowen-Erskine and Hodder& Stoughton

Thanks to Hodder & Stoughton and Netgalley for the ARC.
I read that this is the author's first novel, so even though I was not immediately taken with the book, I persevered.
I did like the ending, although by the time you get there, it seems a bit contrived.
This is kind of a very large locked room/escape room type of situation. A large family and their numerous servants are essentially quarantined by a mysterious sickness in an enormous country house in 1930s Scotland.
The majority of the aristocratic family are awful people. The servants are clever and mistreated. It all works out in the end.
The writing was fine, the characters were pretty well developed, but there wasn't really anything that captured my attention, and I didn't really care about anyone. It took me about 10-15% of th book to get used to the way the author was telling the story with multiple characters.
Would recommend as light reading for fans of puzzle mysteries, would be interested to see what the author does next.

I first want to thank Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to have an advance readers copy \

I loved the setting of this book and the Scottish family. I found that I ended up loving all of these characters but MAN, they are all so stuck up! I love that about them though. I think it really made the book and the mystery so much better. I love how the author had an entire glossary of all the characters in the front of the book because there truly is so many of them. You get all the family secrets right up front and although some things are hidden, the author give you a lot of information up from for you to use as motive.

The author does move the point of view a lot and with out warning. I can see how this could be confusing, however I think it kept me on my toes. The author talks about how she wrote this book during the pandemic and that does reflect in this book. There is a “sickness” that the family does not take seriously and when the staff starts to die or get sick, the family is annoyed with it. I think this adds to the craziness of this family and how stuck up they are. Again, I can see how people would get annoyed with this, but I honestly found it funny. How stuck up and crazy they are when people are dying is just so funny to me.

I think this was a perfect murder mystery and I really enjoyed it!

Loch Down Abbey by Beth Cowan-Erskine
This book captures effectively the essence of the 1930’s in particular the attitudes of those members of the upper classes. There is humour in these depictions of privileged people who assume that everyone should wait on them hand and foot. There are some humorous parallels drawn too between the events and the sorts of shortages suffered during Covid. It captures the elements of the cosy murder mystery in the style of Agatha Christie. There is a huge country house with many rooms and huge grounds peopled by a huge cast of characters few of whom are adequately fleshed out.
The plot is convoluted and at times difficult to follow. There is an interesting twist at the end but I am not sure what precedes it warrants the effort of reading it. It was a quick read but it is not a book I would urge others to read.
Many thanks to the author, the publishers and Net Galley for the opportunity to read this book in return for an honest review.

This is the first novel from Beth Cowan-Erskine and was clearly born out lockdown last year. What has resulted is a rather Wodehouse type novel of the cosy murder mystery type.

Scotland, the 1930s a , Loch Down Abbey is suffering from a lack of servants as some mysterious illness sweeps through the country. There is a lack of certain items and many are having to adapt to a strange new time.

There are not enough toilet rolls, the Nanny has died and no one can control the children and their seems to be a problem with money.

Lord Inverkillen is found dead. It appears to be an accident to the lacklustre Inspector but to the force that is Mrs McBain, the housekeeper of the Abbey there is much more to it than meets the eye.

It has to be someone from the Abbey and because most of the servants have been struck down with this mysterious illness, it seems it therefore has to be one of the family.

But which one and what secrets are they all hiding?

The ‘upstairs’ characters were in abundance and I had to keep referring back to the character list at the beginning to work out who was who, who was married to whom and whose children were running wild across the house and the estate. After a while this became a little cumbersome, especially on a kindle and I don’t think I got to the end of the book really knowing everyone as I would have liked to have done.

That aside, there are twist and turns, red herrings and everything you would expect from a cosy mystery. The humour was subtle, the references to a pandemic quite obvious but the story would work quite happily without it. Clearly much inspiration is drawn on from Downton Abbey and with the author being American, I can see the fascination that our English or in this case Scottish history, big families and big houses can have. This may well have over influenced the whole of the book but for me, definitely the ending which I didn’t see coming and felt a little bit absurd.

A book for escapism and fun, nothing more taxing than that.

In the 1930s, somewhere in Scotland highlands near the village of Inverkillen, was the Loch Down Abbey where the Ogilvy-Sinclair family lived. Though there was a mysterious illness spreading across the country, the family's more pressing concern was who will look after the children after their nanny so inconveniently died after catching the virus. With the servants falling prey to the disease left, right and centre, a very small number of servants were left to serve the family. After the mysterious death of the head of the family- Lord Inverkillen, there is a power tussle in the family and some skeletons tumble out of his closet. Housekeeper Mrs MacBain not convinced by the supposed accidental death starts looking for answers.
I picked it up because the premise brought back the memories of The Downton Abbey, with a large aristocratic family living their entitled lives. But the similarity ended right there. There are a plethora of characters and I had to keep referring to the list of characters given. But then that was annoying because I hate going back and forth in the book.
Most of us would identify with the mysterious illness, the lockdowns and the shortage of stuff (especially the dwindling supply of toilet tissue). The struggle of the family to make their beds and to serve themselves was jocular.
The characters are extremely self-centred and shallow, to the extent that not having one's own maid was the major point of contention between father and daughter. The disease was mentioned now and then but didn't seem like a vital part of the narration.
All in all, the book had an impressive premise. An interesting narrative could have been built on the disease, its effects on the lifestyle of the entitled, their struggles to survive with no or little help from servants. It could have been a witty and humorous take on the family's life but falls short.
Thanks to Netgalley and Hodder & Stoughton for sharing the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.