Murder in the Castle by MB Shaw is a contemporary crime novel despite the fact that the cover design led me to believe that it might be set in the early part of the twentieth century like so many of the crime books I read – never judge a book by its cover…. It’s set in Scotland where a portrait painter, Iris Grey, is engaged to paint a picture of the American fiancée of the owner of the castle, who is a minor aristocrat, before their wedding which is scheduled to take place at the New Year. Iris finds that the engagement may not be as firmly based as the couple hope and it is fiercely opposed by the adult children of the Baron. When there is a murder Iris becomes involved in seeking out the culprit and instrumental in bringing them to justice.
Once I’d got over my original misconception I enjoyed this novel a lot although I have my doubts about how accurate a picture it is of life in a small Scottish village. As required by the genre there are plenty of hidden secrets to uncover and not everyone is who you first think that they are. The remains which are uncovered require delving into the past but there is a threat to the family currently inhabiting the castle and lives may be in danger. There is lots of good descriptive writing of the Scottish landscape, which the author obviously loves, and a potential new romance for Iris following her divorce.
This is the second of a so-far short series of novels featuring Iris. The author is using a pen name here and is better known for writing romance novels but this reads well and I would be interested in seeing more novels about Iris.
Anne Is Reading 