Edinburgh Twilight

[cornerofmadness]

Edinburgh Twilight by Carole Lawrence

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I enjoyed this historical mystery though I did think it went on a little long (I'll be honest, I tend to side eye any mystery over 400 pages because I always worry about pacing).

Ian is a young Edinburgh detective with a traumatic past (his parents' home burned killing them and leaving him with severe burn scars). He was raised by his aunt with his older brother being more or less absent from his life. These are important details later in the book when his brother reappears.

A body has shown up from what looked like an accidental slip and fall off a rocky footpath but turns out Ian was right, this was murder. The man was strangled and a strange playing card left on his body. He is just the first. Ian has to piece together who and why as more strangled but staged as accidents/suicide deaths pop up. Most of the victims have secrets of their own.

Ian is aided by his sergeant and his aunt who is both a talented artist and photographer. Into this mix comes a street wise boy who Ian takes a begrudging liking to. There are hints in this as to Ian's own family and his own life.

The thing that bothered me was him and the police chief which is mildly antagonistic. I am so over this dynamic. It's been used so many times (and their word war of Shakespeare vs Robert Burns got tedious). It looks like it might mellow out in future books.

Overall I did like this. I liked Ian and his supporting cast.



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