Scotched (Liss MacCrimmon Mysteries #5) by Kaitlyn Dunnett

Set in a small town Moosetookalook, Maine Liss MacCrimmon is excited the town is hosting the annual Maine-ly Cozy Con. A group of Authors gathering together to discuss their work and sell books. This will benefit her (Liss) business as well, until someone ends up dead. Liss is determined to crack the case and solve the crime, before anyone else is in danger.

A fast paced cozy murder mystery with interesting characters and engaging plot. Liss and her fiance Dan are very likable, not only is she trying to solve a crime she is also planning her wedding. The suspect list grows, as secrets are revealed. A classic who-done-it feel, I found Scotched a fun read and recommend to those who enjoy a good murder/mystery. ( )

I really like this series! Liss can't help herself, she just has to know everything! I enjoy the occassional Scottish references and I like the townspeople and their pets. It's just an enjoyable cozy mystery. ( )

It had been not quite five years since I first checked out and read Scotched, but I was a few chapters in before I suspected I had read it before. Of course, finding out that I already had catalogued it on LibraryThing and checking the 'reading dates' section clinched it. It didn't matter. I enjoyed the book again. I hadn't even remembered the killer and I screwed up my guess.

The First Annual Maine-ly Cozy Con is being held at the Spruces Hotel in Moosetookalook. (Why call your convention the 'first annual'? Do you want to jinx it?)
Liss MacCrimmon of Moosetookalook Scottish Emporium and Angie Hogencamp of Angie's Books are both going to try to sell their stuff in the Dealers' room ('Hucksters' Room if you're not trying to be polite).

What should be a fun occasion for fans and writers of cozy mysteries is in danger of being ruined by Jane Nedlinger, blogger. In her 'The Nedlinger Report' she goes out of her way to be negative and nasty. Not only is she planning on sabotaging the career of a bestselling author, Yvonne Quinlan, she would like to wreck Moosetookalook's reputation because of the murders that happened in previous books. In short, Jane is the kind of person who can feel better about herself only if she's tearing others down. Will she get humiliation, therapy, or death? (it's a cozy mystery. No surprise there.)

Liss MacCrimmon is also one of Jane's targets. Liss' fiancé, handsome Dan Ruskin, would prefer for Liss to play it safe. He would also prefer not to wear a kilt at their wedding (it's not Liss' idea!). Liss' aunt, Margaret Boyd, knows one of the suspects. There are plenty of persons with a reason to wish Jane dead, and not all of them are from out of town.

NOTES: Non-spoiler clues for readers who want to find a section again and real life persons, places, or things mentioned:

Chapter 1:

a. Liss can't sing and she mixes up lyrics. An example is given.

b. The late Lenny Peet's fox terrier, Skippy, will need a new home.

c. Some of the stories on the town square and their locations are mentioned.

Mentions: Agatha Christie, Miss Marple, Ellis Peters, and Brother Cadfael.

Chapter 2:

a. Sherri's seven-year-old son, Adam, has broken his arm falling out of a tree.

b. There's information about book signings and sales.

c. Liss' middle name is Rosalie.

Mentions: Barnes & Noble, Augusta (Maine), and Rite Aid

Chapter 3:

a. Of the classic movies Liss mentions being shown at the convention, IMDb doesn't list a remake for 'Dial M for Murder, but it does list a 1931 version of 'The Maltese Falcon'. (It's the 1941 version that's considered a classic.)

b. It's been almost two years since Liss moved back to Moosetookalook.

c. Aunt Margaret has stopped dying her hair bright red, It's real color is grayish brown.

d. Susan Vaughn writes romantic suspense. Yvonne Quinlan writes quasi paranormals. (There are indeed paranormal detective novels. Both Tanya Huff and P. N. Elrod write mysteries featuring vampires. Jim Butcher has a detective who is a wizard.)

e. We're told a bit about Yvonne's amateur detective, Toni Starling, and her assistant, Simon. (Yvonne's vampire character on TV was Caroline Sweet.)

f. Look here for a T-shirt good for an aspiring writer.

g. Liss is thinking of Harris' Southern Vampire mystery series. (By the way, despite the title, Dead Over Heels is an Aurora Teagarden mystery, not a Southern Vampire one.)

Mentions: 'Rear Window' (1954), 'Dial M for Murder', 'Murder on the Orient Express' (1974), 'The Maltese Falcon' (1941), Hollywood, Vancouver, 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer' (TV), Buffy, Angel, Joss Whedon, Vampire Bill [Compton], and Charlaine Harris

Chapter 4:

a. Nola hates the great outdoors.

b. Liss' tourmaline engagement ring was created by the retired couple who turned the Toy Box into a jewelry store.

Mentions: Cabot Cove, Jessica Fletcher, and 'Murder, She Wrote',

Chapter 5:

a. Liss' mother leaves a message with ideas about Liss' wedding. They involves the Western Maine Highland Games.

b. We learn why Sherri's mother, Ida, and father, Ernie, are not available to babysit Adam.

Mentions: 'Renaissance Magazine'

Chapter 6:

a. There's a discussion between two fans about the kind of writing they hate.

b. The Kathy who writes historical mysteries here is probably Kathy Lynn Emerson, who also writes as Kaitlyn Dunnett. Hee.

c. The like the title of the panel Liss attends.

Mentions: The Body in the Library (Miss Marple #2),

Chapter 7:

a. Margaret Boyd's office is described.

b. We learn why Sherri knows the medical examiner fairly well.

Chapter 8: Margaret tells Liss about something that happened in 1973.

Mentions: Charlotte MacLeod (I endorse Liss' recommendation!)

Chapter 9:

a. Stu Burroughs says he was barely legal when he was barely 22 in 1973. I don't know what the age of consent was in Maine back then, but a person who was 21 was already legally an adult.

b. Gordon Tandy's brother, Russ, runs the family business, Tandy's Gifts and Music.

c. There really is a T-shirt that features a drawing of a cat playing the bagpipes.

d. Glenora probably adopted Liss in book three, A Wee Christmas Homicide.

Mentions: Peyton Place, New York, Los Angeles, 'Six O'Clock Report', Julia Spencer-Fleming, Susan Vaughan, Lea Wait

Chapter 9:

a. Nola's assistant's last name is Lewis.

b. Yvonne is interviewed.

c. I have a lot of those 20th century Gothic romances with a young woman in a flowing nightgown fleeing in the dark. They were such a cliche when I was in school (class of 1972) that I remember drawing one for an art class.

Mentions: cordite,

Chapter 11: Jane reads an e-book called Contract for Murder.

Mentions: David and Goliath,

Chapter 12:

a. There are some amusing stories told at the convention banquet and a fun award.

b. The author who writes Elizabethan mysteries is probably Kathy Lynn Emerson again.

Chapter 13: This is the first time that Liss has visited the Carrabassett County Sheriff's Office and Jail, which is in Fallstown.

Chapter 14:

a. Sam Ruskin's daughter's dog's name is Papelbon.

b. Liss learns about stripped books.

Mentions: Papelbon the Red Sox closer, Tatupu, the Patriots player, Green Berets, Navy Seals, the Master ('Buffy the Vampire Slayer', not "Doctor Who'), Nancy Drew

Epilogue: Liss apologizes to Gordon.

Mention: Portland

I enjoyed the goings on at the convention, especially things overheard and the banquet jokes. This is a nice entry in a nice cozy series.

Cat lovers: Lumpkin and Glenora have several scenes as well as the cover. (I like most of the classic mystery authors on the books on the cover, though I've never read Micky Spillane or Zane (Moose?)) ( )

This one was fun, and was better than the earlier books in the series.

I tend to like multiple books by the same author (and read them back to back) to get the cadence of the writing and see the growth of their writing. Ms. Dunnett has grown with each book, and I will look forward to the next in this series. ( )

A conference for cozy mystery lovers is coming to the hotel in Moosetookalook. When the writer of a very critical blog turns up dead over Lover's Leap, it appears at first to investigators that it was just a terrible accident. Liss knows there are plenty who would have loved to see the blogger dead, but she can't quite prove that it wasn't an accident. All of our cast of characters is back, even Gordon Tandy of the State Police who had vied for Liss' attentions along with Dan (who won) a couple of installments ago. It's a great way to sit back and escape to a fun destination for a few moments, even if Moosetookalook is on its way to taking over Cabot Cove's spot as the "Murder Capital of Maine." ( )