I had never heard of this author before I won a copy of her book from librarything and now I know what I was missing. This is a very good book!

It's the fourth in a series but I read it as a stand-alone. I'm sure some aspects of the characters might have been clearer if I had read the others but I didn't feel that I missed anything by starting with this one.

The basis of the book is that a woman is found on the path in a small village dying of a knife wound. No one admits to knowing her so she ends up buried in a pauper's grave. The laird of the village, Murray of Letho, and his houseguest, Mr. Blair, do not want to let it go at that and begin to investigate it themselves. They are not the typical amateur sleuths, they are very much gentlemen of their time so the investigation is rather subtle but the story is quite engaging.

This would be called a historical mystery because it is set in the Georgian era in Scotland but any mystery lover, whether you like period pieces or not, will enjoy this. The characters are very realistic as is the dialogue. The setting feels authentic and the mystery is challenging. I loved the personalities of the villagers. I'll be looking for the others in this series.