Lost Books and Old Bones

February 1, 2018
Shades of the 19th-century Burke and Hare murders haunt an American lass working in Edinburgh.Delaney Nichols is the capable assistant to Edwin MacAlister, whose bookstore, The Cracked Spine, is known for housing rare books and a secret room rumored to be packed with treasures. Delaney's become friendly with medical students Sophie and Rena, who recently sold her boss some distinctive hand-drawn medical books. At a pub one night, Delaney meets the respected but rather odd Dr. Eban, one of their professors, who's obsessed with William Burke and William Hare, infamous for selling corpses--often those of people they murdered--to Dr. Robert Knox for his dissection classes at the university. Also at the pub is their friend Mallory, whose body Delaney's co-workers Hamlet and Rosie find the next morning in the close behind the bookstore. Delaney has worked with Inspector Winters in the past (Of Books and Bagpipes, 2017, etc.), but the man in charge of this case is another American transplant, Inspector Raymond Pierce. Even so, Delaney can't resist the urge to look into the mystery. Her research turns up some strange things, from Dr. Eban's former friendship with a man still wanted for murder to a set of scalpels that most likely belonged to Dr. Knox. Though her boyfriend, Tom, is supportive of her sleuthing, his past gets her in a bit of trouble when one of his jealous ex-girlfriends, now a reporter, writes a piece hinting that Delaney has something to hide. Delaney's friends who work at the university are a major help in discovering more clues, but so many people are hiding secrets that it will be an uphill struggle to unmask the killer.A complicated mystery with plenty of historically based characters and whose ending provides more than one kind of surprise.

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February 5, 2018
Deceit and misdirection abound in Shelton’s diverting third Scottish Bookshop Mystery (after 2017’s Of Books and Bagpipes). Kansan Delaney Nichols is finally feeling at home in Edinburgh, thanks largely to her job at the Cracked Spine, a mysterious bookstore specializing in rare manuscripts and historical objects. Delaney is fascinated when medical student friends tell her of their “wee bit odd” professor who’s obsessed with Burke and Hare, 19th-century killers who sold the corpses of their victims to Dr. Robert Knox for dissection in his anatomy classes at Edinburgh University. But when one of the students is found dead in the alley behind the bookstore with a human skull placed next to her body, Delaney vows to discover who did it. Could the murder have to do with artifacts in the bookstore that may have belonged to Dr. Knox? Impulsive Delaney rushes thoughtlessly into danger, and the intricate plot becomes confusing in places. But Shelton’s lovely depictions
of Edinburgh, its denizens, and its bookshops will enchant lovers of cozies with a Scottish setting. Agent: Jessica Faust, BookEnds Literary Agency.

April 1, 2018

Delaney Nichols is enjoying drinks with a group of Edinburgh medical students who had come to the bookshop where she works to sell some antique medical texts. By the next morning, someone has tried to break into the Cracked Spine, and one of the students is found murdered in the alley. Delaney is sure the crime can be traced to the previous night's conversation about scalpels owned by a notorious 19th-century doctor who had bought corpses for dissection from murderers William Burke and William Hare. When she finds the scalpels in the bookshop's warehouse, she is determined to find the killer. Once again, as in Of Books and Bagpipes, Delaney is caught up in a mystery filled with Scottish history. The spirited unconventional amateur sleuth at times overshadows the other characters with her impulsiveness, rashness, and aggressiveness in inserting herself into the police investigation. VERDICT Shelton's atmospheric Scottish bookstore lacks its usual charm in this weak third series entry. Fans of quirky bookstore cozies may want to try Vicki Delany's "Sherlock Holmes Bookshop" mysteries.--Lesa Holstine, Evansville Vanderburgh P.L., IN

Copyright 2018 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

February 15, 2018
Kansan Delaney Nichols works as an appraiser at the Cracked Spine, a rare-book and -manuscript shop in Edinburgh. She's settled into life in Scotland with a boyfriend, pub owner Tom, and new friends, medical students Sophie and Rena, when a third medical student, Mallory, is found murdered in the alley outside the bookshop. When reporter Bridget Carr publishes an article intimating that Delaney may be involved in the murder, Delaney becomes determined to find Mallory's killer. Perhaps the murder is connected to a group of physician friendsone of whom was a murderer who has been missing for yearsor even to the nineteenth-century of William Burke and William Hare, men who murdered to provide Dr. Robert Knox with corpses for dissection. Delaney interviews suspects who all have something to hide, but she ultimately uncovers the truth while almost losing her life. Background on the rare-book business and the Burke and Hare case is woven through the story, which boasts an engaging cast and multiple plotlines.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)