Review: Plaid and Plagiarism by Molly MacRae

Plaid and Plagiarism by Molly MacRae

Rating: ✮✮✮

Genre: Mystery

Review:

Plaid and Plagiarism is a cozy mystery set in Inversgail, Scotland. It’s centered around a group of four women who have decided to partner up and run a bookshop, tearoom, and bed and breakfast (though only the bookshop is running in this book). They’re thrust into the middle of a murder investigation and decide to try a little sleuthing of their own to get to the bottom of whodunnit.

Like most cozy mysteries, the pacing was a little slower than I’d hoped, though once I got involved in the story a bit more, I was definitely interested in seeing where it headed. I loved the idea of setting the book in Scotland and I found myself wishing we saw more of it. Instead, most of the time we were reading about the women inside a pub or their shop, which made sense in some ways, but I was left wondering why the author bothered to set the book in Scotland if most of the plot takes place in a bookshop that could have been anywhere. Still, I enjoyed the concept of the bookshop and tearoom, and I’m now dying for some scones after many, many mentions of them in the book.

Regarding the murder and mystery itself, I thought it was fairly well done. I didn’t guess who the killer was and I jumped to some of my own conclusions like any good amateur sleuth would, even though I didn’t have all of the information. I felt a little like one of the characters (a bit misguided, but pretty convinced I was on the right track). I did wish there were more little clues that let me come to my own conclusions (the right conclusions), but I enjoyed the way things worked out.

I’m giving this three stars rather than four because while I did enjoy reading it, I found the beginning to be a little slow, and as I mentioned above, I’d really like to see more of Scotland. Even more description about the setting outside of the shop might be nice, but that’s a personal preference. It’s a good cozy mystery and if you enjoy the genre, I’d give it a try.

*ARC from Pegasus Books via NetGalley