Death at the Highland Loch - Lydia Travers

Move over, Inspector! Lady Poppy Proudfoot is here to solve her very first case.

Scotland, 1924: When Lady Poppy Proudfoot travels to the Highlands for a midsummer party, the last thing she and her fellow guests expect is for a body to wash up beside the loch.

Despite protests that it could have been an accident, Poppy is convinced it’s murder and decides to dust off her law degree and hunt for clues. But when the police arrive, the grumpy Inspector MacKenzie dismisses her evidence, insisting a crime scene is no place for a Lady. The nerve!

With the help of her trusted Labrador, Major, Poppy begins to unpick the case. But she soon has two mysteries to solve, as her host Lady Constance Balfour claims a diamond and emerald bracelet has been stolen. Could the two cases be linked? Was it Freddy the footman, a favourite of her ladyship? Or American actress Miss Cornett, with a keen eye for jewels? Or with such a dazzling guestlist, was someone from the local village tempted into the grounds by the party?

When a woman bearing an uncanny resemblance to Poppy is attacked, she realizes that someone wants her off the case. Someone connected to Balfour House is a murderer and a thief, but who? And can Poppy solve the mystery before she, too, washes up beside the loch?

A warm, unputdownable page-turning historical whodunnit, perfect for fans of Helena Dixon, Verity Bright, T.E. Kinsey and Catherine Coles.

My Review:

Death at the Highland Loch is a murder mystery set between the First and Second World Wars. Lady Poppy Proudfoot is of that class of woman who doesn't need to work, but is very keen to stick her nose into everyone elses' affairs, a bonus when you are investigating a murder. She is also a little aragant and irritating, but hopefully as the series progresses, some of her rougher edges come of and we warm to her a bit more.
There are plenty of twists and turns in this book and it certainly kept me guessing, although I had figured out one or two things by the end. I wasn't keen on the way that Poppy decided she was a detective on the strength of solving one mystery. Most amatures are a little less keen to label themselves straight away.
There are mentions of characters from a previous series I believe, I haven't ready any of the books, so didn't really understand who they were, but fans of Lydia Travers other books might well appreciate them.
This was an entertaining read and a good start to a new series.
I received a complimentary copy of this book through NetGalley. The opinions expressed in this review are completely my own and given voluntarily.

Author Bio:

Lydia Travers was born in London.  She moved progressively north until settling with her husband in a village on the edge of the Scottish Highlands. She has raised children, bred dogs and kept chickens; and for as long as she can remember has written for pleasure. A former legal academic and practitioner with a PhD in criminology, she now runs self-catering holiday accommodation, sings in a local choir and is walked daily by the family dog.

Lydia also writes as Linda Tyler and her first novel under that name, Revenge of the Spanish Princess, won a 2018 Romance Writers of America competition for the beginning of an historical romance. Her second novel The Laird's Secret was Commended in the 2021 Scottish Association of Writers' Pitlochry Quaich competition for the beginning of a romantic novel. Mischief in Midlothian won the 2022 Scottish Association of Writers' Constable Silver Stag trophy. She has had a number of short stories published in magazines, journals and anthologies in the UK, the USA and Australia.

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