Catriona McPherson

I’m a fan of Catriona McPherson. I’ve some of her Dandy Gilver Murder Mysteries but it’s her stand-alone mysteries that are so mesmerizing and hard to put down like As She Left It, A Child Garden, and the one I just finished Quiet Neighbors.

I love the cover because it adds to the creepiness.

The main character, a woman named Jude, runs away from her home in London and comes to a little town in Scotland to a bookstore she remembered called Lowland Glen owned by a man named Lowell. The bookstore was a shambles with bags and piles of books everywhere. The owner not only hires her to organize his book store, but he takes her to his home to give her a place to stay. He’s a gentle and kind man.

Then a young girl around eighteen shows up and claims she’s the book store’s owners’ daughter, a daughter he had no idea he had. Jude wonders if she is just trying to get money from him especially when she says she’s pregnant. Jude thinks she has stuffed something inside her clothes to make it look that way. For a while both Jude and the girl Eddy are at odds, but eventually they become tentative friends. Eddy takes over the room on the third floor Jude was staying in, and Jude moves to a house Lowell owns in a cemetery down the road.

Another excellent cover

Of course, there are some mysterious things going on in this small town and Jude gets a note in her note box at the little house she’s staying in to tell her to stop snooping. She’s been investigating some of the deaths in the small town of people buried near the small house she’s living in, and asking questions of different people in the small town.

I won’t say anything more about it and give away what happens, but here are some comments about the book Quiet Neighbors  that express my opinions of the book much better.

 The New York Times: “McPherson writes mystery stories that are both cozy and creepy, which accounts for the quirky charm of Quiet Neighbors.”

Kirkus Reviews (starred review) “Layer upon layer of deception.”

Library Journal (starred review) “”McPherson is a master of slightly creepy narratives that are complex and character driven.”

Booklist “Despite the dark underpinnings, this is a story of love.”

Mystery Scene “A cleverly conceived, skillfully executed, decidedly nontraditional small town mystery that is bursting at the seams with warmth, wit, moxie, and menace.”

Suspense Magazine “Quiet Neighbor is a real find . . . This is one of those ideal stories that you cannot put down and actually feel sad when it’s over” I can relate to that.

One of the Dandy Gilver books I have

Catriona McPherson was born in Scotland, where she lived until moving to California in 2010. She is the author of the award-winning Dandy Gilver historical mystery series, a member of Mystery Writers of America, and the 2014-2015 President of Sisters in Crime. Her modern standalone mysteries have garnered numerous awards. I have seen Catriona at Malice Domestic numerous times, and find her delightful.

 Have you read any of Catriona McPherson’s books?