Murder in the Scottish highlands is the start of another series by Dee MacDonald.
After the Kate Palmer series has come to an end I was curious if the next series is going to be as delightful, so when an Arc of the first book in a new series became available on Netgalley I was quick to request a copy.

Ally, the new series' protagonist, is a 60 something former research assistant who has relocated from Edinburgh to the Scottish Highlands where she has restored an old malthouse into a Bed & Breakfast. Right from the start Ally's B&B is haunted by problems, quite literally by the resident ghost who goes by the name of Wailing Willie, but also her because her very first lodger is killed on her doorstep. Definitely not a good start. Because she has not much confidence in the detecting qualities of inspector Rigby Ally decides to do her own research. (Note to Ally: if you don't see a police officer making progress it doesn't mean there is no progress, it just means the police is not telling the public what they are doing)

In the course of the book we meet a lot of eccentric villagers ans Ally acquires a couple of admirers. Se also acquires a labrador puppy, that goes by the name of Flora.
Murder in the Scottish highland is certainly a nice, cosy read but there is too little development in the characters to my liking. Well I'm going to give it the benefit of the doubt and will read the next book in this series, got to know how Flora is growing up and how often she needs to go to the vet ;-)

A quick read that could have been tightened up with some better editing.
Ally has bought and renovated an old malthouse in the Scottish Highlands. At retirement age she has taken on a bed and breakfast at the foot of a mansion and welcomed her first guests. When her American guest is murdered on the property Ally must help the bumbling police in the village to solve the case. Full of quirky villagers and a frisky earl, plus 2 more Americans who are helping to uncover the murderer and a new puppy, how can she fail!

Murder In The Scottish Highlands by Dee McDonald was a decent, pretty average mystery. It wasn’t terrible by any means, but it also wasn’t a favorite.
Thank you NetGalley & Bookouture for an ARC copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

3 stars! When I saw the title of this book, I immediately requested in on NetGalley! It sounded right up my alley - I love Scotland and cozy murder mysteries. Then I read the description because I love Agatha Christie's Miss Marple and was hoping for something similar.

Overall, I think this does deliver as a cozy murder mystery. Ally McKinley retires to the Scottish Highlands and opens up a bed & breakfast. One of her guests from America, Wilbur, has a supposed claim to the Earldom of Locharran. Wilbur suddenly is murdered outside of Ally's B&B! So Ally, starts to investigate! Did the current Earl kill him? Did any of the townsfolk who rely on the Earldom kill him?

I thought the premise was good, but I found other elements of the story (the main character and the dialogue) silly and a little ridiculous at times. If you're looking for a quick, light, cozy murder mystery - this works! If you're looking for something with more substance or a hard to solve murder, this may miss the mark.

Thank you to NetGalley & Bookouture for the eARC!

A Delightful Start..
The first in the Ally McKinley series of mysteries finds our recently retired protagonist running a small guesthouse in the Highlands of Scotland. Things certainly seem rosy for her. That is, until a dead body makes an appearance practically at her front door and, worse, it just happens to be one of her paying guests. With the local police making little progress, Ally cannot help but don her own sleuthing hat and begin to meddle. A delightful start to a new series with a well drawn cast, a perfect setting and a narrative laced with plenty of humour.

Thank you NetGalley and Bookouture for the opportunity to read "Murder in the Scottish Highlands" in exchange for my honest opinion.

This is the first book in the new Ally McKinley series from Dee MacDonald. Having read all the books in her Kate Palmer series, I had high hopes for this new series and she did not disappoint! This book grabbed my attention from the first sentence and did not let go until the very last sentence. Ally is 68 and has retired from Edinburgh to Locharran in the Western Highlands of Scotland and bought the old malthouse and turned it into The Auld Malthouse Bed and Breakfast. Her family had their doubts, thinking she was too old to go into business but Ally is a strong, fun character who is instantly likeable.

Her first guest - Wilbur Carrington - an American staying in Room 1 - is found with a Skean Dhu in his back out in the courtyard of the B & B. Mr. Carrington had been going around the village claiming to be the rightful heir to the earldom instead of Lord Hamish Sinclair. Soon his brother Tyler Carrington arrives to find out who killed his brother and to take his body back to the States. Soon after Mamie Van Nuyen arrives claiming to be Wilbur's fiancé.

Not long after another murder happens. Someone had figured out what really happened to Wilbur and before they could go to the police they were also killed.

Ally not really believing that DI Rigby is competent to solve this case, sets out to solve it herself and puts herself in some danger along the way. She also has attracted the attention of the Earl and the local retired vet Ross Patterson. She becomes the fodder for the town gossip in the form of Queenie at the Locharran Post Office and Stores which she runs with her sister Bessie who rarely says a word. There is also the interesting character of "Wailing Willie" a ghost who has been haunting the malthouse since the 1800's and Ally's new puppy Flora can sense his presence in one of the guestrooms and refuses to enter the room.

There is something for everyone in this new series. Personally I am eagerly awaiting the next book to see what will happen at the malthouse next and what adventure will find Ally.

Ally seems to be living the dream in a small village in Scotland running an inn in the country. What a retirement. I would love like 80% of that. I am an introvert and need my privacy. I would hate having strangers in my home. It seems though Ally needs the adventure and is free to have it now that her husband is gone and her family is grown. I love that for her.

I was a little confused about her choice of this tiny village in the highlands since she seemed to be searching for adventure. But things started to make more sense as adventure and mystery find her. As evidenced by her self appointment to investigator. Taking it upon herself to nose into her guests family history and who done it lists.

Overall a decent mystery. Shades of Agatha Christie, with Ally solving the mystery for the fairly useless policeman. All in all not a bad book.

“Murder in the Scottish Highlands” by Dee MacDonald is a lovely cozy, with engaging characters, a gorgeous locale and a decent plot. What makes it stand out is the atypical lead character: Ally is a widow of a certain age, newly retired, and new to running a bed and breakfast in the Scottish Highlands. One of her guests is murdered, and Ally decides to solve the murder. She’s new to her community, which might explain it, but the usual cozy neighborly vibes (the nosy next-door, the vicar, and so on) are missing. It’s a charming start to the series, and I look forward to reading more!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

Thanks to Netgalley for this ARC!

Oh my goodness this book is so adorable! I love a cozy murder mystery and of course I’m down for anything set in Scotland. The characters are fun and bring great color to the story.

Loved this one! Great and fun read. Highly recommend.
Many thanks to the publisher, Netgalley, and the author for my ARC.

1.5 ⭐️

I was really excited to read this one, but the writing style and plot just did nothing for me. The dialogue seemed so far-fetched and unrealistic and caused me to set this book down frequently.

If you’re looking for a basic murder mystery, this may be for you. The crime is simplistic and, at least in my case, easy to solve before the main character.

I wanted to like it, but this one just was not for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for an advanced copy of the book.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC of Murder in the Scottish Highlands by, Dee MacDonald. I always love a cozy mystery and when I saw that this one was set in the Scottish highlands I knew I wanted to read it.

Ally is a widow who has just retired and has moved her life from Edinburgh to renovate a malt house in the highlands into into a bed and breakfast. When one of her guests is murdered Ally is determined to solve the murder as well as the mystery that goes with it.

This book and it had all the aspects of a cozy mystery that draw me in: an older and unlikely detective, a mystery behind the murder, a cast on funny and interesting side characters. The book did jump right into the murder and I had wished for a little more background into the characters and setting before we are introduced to the murder. I also wanted to see more of Ally’s relationships with the other people in her village, she didn’t seem particularly close to anyone but I think that was to show how new she was to the area and hopefully those relationships will be expanded in future books in the series.

This was a fun cozy mystery for anyone looking for something set in the Scottish Highlands.

Ally has retired to the village of Locharron and restored an old Scottish malthouse. When her first guest is found dead she decides that she must find out how and why. A fun, well written Scottish mystery.

Thanks to NetGalley for the advanced reader copy of "Murder in the Scottish Highlands' by Dee MacDonald in exchange for my review.

I thought this book had a lot of promise. The personalities established for the characters rang true for the location of the story, a good mix of quirky locals and sensibly minded pillar characters. The location and buildings were well described and the general ambiance of the book was enjoyable. My main issues were the dialogue - which felt repetitive and immature - and the murder(s) plot. The inspector was too useless he may as well not have been there and Ally seemed to spend a lot of time traveling to remote locations to ask people one question and then she'd leave and the plot wouldn't have progressed much. At times it felt that Ally's potential love life was more important in the narrative than the murder mystery.

Fans of M. C. Beaton's "Agatha Raisin" series may enjoy this.

Review in exchange for the arc from NetGalley.

This was an enjoyable, cozy murder mystery. If you enjoy sitting down on a rainy afternoon and turning on a Hallmark Mysteries movie, this book is for you.

Overall, the book followed your standard murder mystery story format, which is to say it didn't have a wholly unpredictable ending, but it was satisfying.

The charm of Scotland can be found throughout the pages, and Ally is enjoyable to follow as she uncovers the truth.

A very gentle cosy mystery that's perfect for curling up with. Set in the stunning highlands of Scotland, Ally McKinley retires to highlands to run a newly renovated B&B. As Ali is starting to settle into her new village one of her guests is found dead.

This is a very engaging mystery with lots of funny, warm and endearing characters set in an immersive and well-written landscape of the Scottish Highlands.

I can't wait to read the rest of her books!

The first of Ally McKinley mysteries, this book is about a 68-year-old woman who moved to Scotland to run a bed-and-breakfast business all on her own. Unfortunately for her, one of her guests was found stabbed in the back (literally) and sprawled lifeless in the back of her B&B. As a former researcher for TV, Ally couldn’t help but to want to find out the truth. Especially after meeting the not-so-reliable police.

I thought the book gave everything that I expected to get from cozy mysteries. There was some romance, some idyllic setting, some gossip, some interesting characters and relationships. What I found refreshing was the overall age of the characters – they were all pretty old by typical standards, but they were colourful and full of life. Their love life is more happening than me, that’s for sure! I also loved how the murder happened from the first chapter. I’m not a very patient reader and if I pick a murder mystery, I just prefer that the murder occurs early on.

While I did guess correctly (okay, only partly), I did enjoy the pretty dramatic ending. The story also deals with inheritance and possibly long-lost relative(s), a popular trope with cozy mysteries.
If you like cozy mysteries, one with beautiful highlands in the background, and the vibe of Miss Marple’s St. Mary Mead, this may be the book for you.

This was a generally enjoyable cozy mystery set in the Scottish highlands. I enjoyed the main character and many of the inhabitants of her little town. I found the mystery to be interesting enough to keep me engaged and lots of little hints were dropped here and there that I had a pretty good idea of some of the pieces by the end. That being said this was pretty typical of this type of cozy mystery and there wasn't anything that really set it apart from others of its type. I am undecided if I would read a follow-up.

I received an advanced copy of this book from Netgalley. All opinions are my own.

I just loved this book! It’s the first book I have read by this author and it was very good and I’m looking forward to reading the next book in the series. The book is about Ally McKinley who after visiting with a friend she just loved Locharran and notices that there is a building for sale and thinks why not I’m on my own my children are grown up, I’m going to do this for me and so she does and she renovates and makes the building called the Malthouse into a b&b when she is sorting things in the morning and realises that one of the guests isn’t there as normal so she thinks I’ll check his room and upon checking his room notices that the bed hasn’t been slept in and as she looks out of his bedroom window she hears a scream and looks down to see her cleaning lady Morag stumble upon the guest she was looking for only he’s dead and has been murdered. This then sets off a chain of events until they find the murderer. I really enjoyed reading this book as the story was good and also the characters in this are a hoot. There are the two unmarried sisters who run the shop and love a good gossip, the earl who likes the women and a lot more. It was just so good that I couldn’t put it down.

I would highly recommend reading this book if you like a good murder mystery that has lots of quirky characters.

I would like to thank Bookouture and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book early and I look forward to the next book in the series.