Argyles and Arsenic

The Highland Bookshop Mystery Series: Book Five

Molly MacRae

In the latest novel in the beloved Highland Bookshop Mystery Series, a murder at a baronial manor leads to a poisonous game of cat and mouse—with the women of Yon Bonnie Books playing to win.

After 93 well-lived years, Violet MacAskill is ready to simplify her life. Her eccentric solution? She’ll throw a decanting and decluttering party at her family home—a Scottish Baronial manor near the seaside town of Inversgail, Scotland. Violet sets aside everything she wants or needs, then she invites her many friends in to sip sherry and help themselves to whatever they want from all that’s left.

Janet Marsh and Christine Robertson, two of the women who own Yon Bonnie Books in Inversgail, enjoy themselves at the party. Not everyone who attends has a good time, though. Wendy Erskine, director of the Inversgail museum, is found dead, and rumors swirl about food poisoning from a local food truck. Then Violet tells Constable Hobbs that a tin of rat poison is missing. And when Hobbs’ own grandmother comes under suspicion for murder, he enlists the women from Yon Bonnie Books, and the race is on to find the murderer.

But where do they begin? Are there clues in the “Shocking Stockings” exhibit at the museum? Will the antique scrapbook pasted full of trivia about arsenic and bygone poisoners offer a solution? Or does the answer lie closer to home—is one of Violet’s friends truly toxic? Poisonous games are afoot in Inversgail and the women of Yon Bonnie Books are playing to win.

Molly MacRae is the national bestselling author of Lawn Order, Wilder Rumors, and the Haunted Yarn Shop Mystery Series, including Knot the Usual Suspects and Plagued by Quilt. Her short stories have appeared in Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine for more than twenty years, and she has won the Sherwood Anderson Award for Short Fiction. Molly lives with her family in Champaign, Illinois.

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Endorsements & Reviews

“MacRae revels in clever wordplay and banter. Cozy lovers who come for the atmosphere and the camaraderie will enjoy themselves. What’s not to like about a knitting competition, Scottish scenery, books, and scones?” Publishers Weekly

Praise for The Highland Bookshop Mystery Series:

"Cozy aficionados will be charmed." Criminal Element

“Enough motives and suspects to provide plenty of twists and turns.” Kirkus Reviews

“A new cozy mystery series in which the drama is tempered with humor.” Marilyn Stasio, The New York Times Book Review

“With its cast of appealing amateur sleuths and quirky town residents, this leisurely paced mystery will attract cozy fans.” Library Journal

“This charming mystery set in the Scottish Highlands combines murder, poison-pen letters and the challenges of running a bookshop.” Shelf Awareness

"Appealing local color, including a dash of Scottish dialect, buoys this easygoing mystery. Well-drawn characters enhance the story line. Armchair travelers will have fun. Cozy fans are in for a treat." Publishers Weekly