Read Scotland 2018 discussion

After reading far more Scottish books than I thought I would last year, I might as well really try to push myself this year and go for the hardest challenge. I guess time will tell if I manage it.

List of books read:
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Good luck Susan, I’m sure we’ll manage it :)

Well that's book #1 finished so hopefully off to a good start.
Written in Bones by James Oswald the 7th book in the Inspector Tony McLean series.
An enjoyable read but not the best in the series. Review here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Good for you on finishing a book so quickly!

Crime and paranormal in one book - my favourite genres :) I've now added the first book in the series to my 'to read' list

Took a quick detour from my other books to read the very short Worlds End Murders: Christine Eadie & Helen Scott. Very basic without much detail but ok for anyone not very familiar with the case. Review at https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Susan wrote: "Took a quick detour from my other books to read the very short Worlds End Murders: Christine Eadie & Helen Scott. Very basic without much detail but ok for anyone not very familiar ..."

Oh interesting. Shall check that out

Just finished Strange Tales of Scotland. Started it last summer after seeing it mentioned in last years challenge. Took a long time as I started just reading 1 or 2 chapters between other books and then stalled for a while. Finally decided to go back and finish it. Nowhere near as hard a slog as this makes it sound though, it was just a bit away from where my reading wanted to go.
It's a nice compilation of some well known and other less known myths, legends and ghosts etc. Worth a look if you like this type of thing.

That's the latest James Oswald finished. Happily it returned to the more paranormal themes which make this series stand out from others, in my opinion. Glad to see Madam Rose back as well and already looking forward to the next one as the end of this one seemed to drop a few hints.

Susan wrote: "That's the latest James Oswald finished. Happily it returned to the more paranormal themes which make this series stand out from others, in my opinion. Glad to see Madam Rose back as well and alrea..."
So glad to hear Madame Rose is back with some paranormal activities. It's about the only series I enjoy that in. The latest by J.O. won't be available in the States or my library for another few months.

Ellen wrote: "Susan wrote: "That's the latest James Oswald finished. Happily it returned to the more paranormal themes which make this series stand out from others, in my opinion. Glad to see Madam Rose back as ..."

She's only got a smallish part in this one but there's definite hints that she's sticking around for the next one.

Just read Partners in Crime by Stuart MacBride. Two short stories featuring DI Steel and Logan McRae. The 1st sees DI Steel in line to inherit money in a criminals will, if she delivers the eulogy at his funeral. The 2nd has Logan and Steel on the Isle of Jura trying to capture a collection of drug dealers. Both stories are more comedy than 'serious' crime fiction and provide a nice short interlude between other books.

Two books finished since my last post. The Long Drop by Denise Mina, which I reviewed here https://www.goodreads.com/review/show....

Also Bloody Royals by Alan Alexander the 1st book in the Aberdeen based Fiske and Macnee detective series. Following the investigation into the discovery of an old skeleton near the Balmoral estate, the 'office politics' surrounding the investigation and leads to the discovery of several past crimes which have been covered up.

Not the most exciting story I have read and a bit predictable at times, but good enough that I will give the next in the series a go.

I think I may try that Alan Alexander series, we stayed a few times in Crathie, so I think that would be fun.

Book no. 8 was Against a Dark Sky by Katherine Pathak the first in the DCI Dani Bevan series. Really enjoyed this book. 5 walkers get lost and separated in bad weather on a mountain. 2 make it down and call for help. The next morning 1 is found alive, 1 dead and 1 missing.

Initially looking like a tragic accident it soon become clear it was murder, possibly with links to another tragedy on the mountain 20 years earlier.

Set primarily in the small town at the foot of the mountain, a small pool of 'suspects' hides a complex set of interlocking stories which send the team down a number of blind alleys before they unearth the truth.

I really got into this story, the description of the location and the characters really drew me in and through the deceptively fast paced story. Really looking forward to reading more in this series.

A quick read for book 9. The Skye Trail. by Mountainstar Wales. An account of 6 days walking on Skye. Amusing anecdotes and plenty of photo's of the views make this an interesting short read. Polished it off in two sittings although I did go back and look at the photo's again on the laptop as the kindle only showed them in black & white and not great detail.

Followed on from the walk on Skye with Call-out: A climber's tales of mountain rescue in Scotland by Hamish MacInnes. A fascinating insight into Mountain Rescue in the 1960s and 70s. The accounts of the rescues are well told, going into detail of the technical aspects and difficulties of extracting the casualties. The harrowing nature of the work and the dedication of the teams comes across yet there is no glory hunting about the way the stories are told.

Really pleased that this has been republished as an e-book as paper copies of MacInnes' books can be hard to track down.