Dorothy Martin and her husband, ex-police chief Alan Nesbitt, travel to the Orkney Islands for a holiday, but almost as soon as they arrive they find themselves in the midst of an unpleasant argument. There are Neolithic sites scattered throughout the islands and the archeological dig at one of them is being financed by an extremely wealthy, extremely arrogant American who insists on interfering with the work of the professionals in order to uncover spectacular treasures that he believes are to be found. When that individual turns up dead at the excavation site, ostensibly due to an accident but very quickly seen to be murder, there is no dearth of possible suspects, given how deeply he has offended the locals. But with a terrorism scare occurring at around the same time, the local police have no time to investigate and it is therefore up to Dorothy and Alan to search out the clues…. I enjoy this cozy series, although it is not of the highest caliber, because I like Dorothy and her relationships to others and because most of the books take place in different parts of the British Isles, turning each book into a bit of a travelogue in addition to being a mystery. I usually figure out the solution to the crime well before Dorothy does, but I don’t mind that - if you do, probably these books are not for you. A pleasant diversion, basically; mildly recommended. ( )

In Shadows of Death Alan takes Dorothy and Watson to the Orkney islands in Scotland to visit an archeological dig. A jerk who likes to throw his metaphorical weight around (which is pretty weighty because he's rich), throws it around once too often.

The real killer is busy strewing red herrings. To Watson falls the honor of locating the first one. Some nice descriptions of tourist spots are sandwiched in with the hunt. Dorothy falls under suspicion for one of the evil doings, which makes for an unpleasant situation. Of course her name is cleared.

There's a malicious tale-bearer who put me in mind of William Blake's lines, 'A truth that's told with bad intent / Beats all the lies you can invent.' Don't bother hoping that she'll be one of the murder victims.

Even she pales against a monstrous woman, the kind who makes me think that the commandment about honoring one's mother and father could have used a qualifier. Too bad her offspring wasn't taken from her during childhood.

It's another good entry in a good series.

Notes:

In the acknowledgements Ms. Dams tells us that Andrew Appleby the character has his name, occupation, personality, and appearance -- but not thought, word, nor deed -- from a real Andrew Appleby, with permission.

Presumably Roadkill the real cat of Stromness' permission was not sought in the creation of the fictional Roadkill. (Though I confess the thought makes me smile.)

Chapter 1:

a. Dorothy is reading an Alexander McCall Smith book.

b. Alan and his first wife, Helen, visited Orkney when their children were teenagers.

c. There's a Harry Potter pun based on the fact that the Loch of Harray is pronounced 'Harry'.

Chapter 2:

a. Andrew's wife, Sigrid, is at her weekly mah-jongg tournament.

b. See book three, Holy Terror in the Hebrides, for when Dorothy was in Iona.

Chapter 3: See book 11, The Evil That Men Do, for Watson and the Cotswolds.

Chapter 4:

a. Caspar Milquetoast came from H. T. Webster's comic strip, 'The Timid Soul'. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Caspar_Milquetoast_Christmas_card.jpg

b. There's mention of Schliemann's destruction of what was probably Troy and why the remains he thought were Troy couldn't be.

Chapter 5:

a. Although Dorothy is going to claim that Alan has spent all his life in Sherebury in book 16, The Gentle Art of Murder, here Alan says he was brought up in Newlyn and that he's been messing about in boats since he could walk.

b. At the end of the chapter Dorothy refers to Alan as 'Daddy' while she's talking to Watson.

Chapter 7: Dorothy quotes one of Professor Henry Higgins' songs from Lerner's classic musical, 'My Fair Lady' (the one where he wonders why women can't be more like men).

Chapter 8:

a. Both 'Sleeping Beauty' and 'Madame Butterfly' get mentioned.

b. Dorothy calls her sleep her 'Rip Van Winkle routine' after Washington Irving's classic story.

c. See book six, Killing Cassidy, for the murder case back in Dorothy's home town.

Chapter 11: Dorothy admits to reading crime novels, mostly from the Golden Age. She loves Miss Marple, Lord Peter, and the rest.

Chapter 12:

a. Dorothy describes her religion as middle-of-the-road Christianity. She tends to believe in ghosts in medieval churches and homes of England, but considers spiritualism 'a gigantic scam'. She's not interested in astrology, palmistry, or Tarot.

b. See the Book of Genesis, chapter 22, verses 1-19 for the story of Abraham, Isaac, and the ram.

Chapter 16:

a. Have His Carcase by Dorothy Sayers is mentioned.

b. Alan explains the Churchill barriers to Dorothy.

Chapter 17:

a. Alan is introduced as a retired copper and Dorothy as Miss Marple. Alan calls Dorothy a combination of Sherlock Holmes and Peter Wimsey, with himself as Constable Plod (a character in Enid Blyton's Noddy series).

b. Why no mention of the adulterous husband possibly bringing home a sexually transmitted disease and infecting his wife? Shouldn't that aspect of adultery be kept in mind?

Chapter 19: Mrs. Tredgold must not know many pagans considering what she says about them to Dorothy. Is her view colored by Mrs. Norquist?

Chapter 20:

a. Alan uses 'pernickety,' instead of 'persnickety'. Both versions are valid.

b. Lewis Carroll's Alice and Cervantes' [Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra] Don Quixote are mentioned.

Chapter 22: Look here for the story of the Italian Chapel.

Chapter 26: There's another Harry Potter reference.

Chapter 27:

a. 'All the king's men' is a reference to the Humpty Dumpty nursery rhyme.

b. Dorothy mentions a character in an old mystery series to whom 'the human race is glass-fronted'.

Chapter 28:

a. Dorothy's mother was an Anderson with an 'o', so Swedish, not Norwegian.

b. 'She Who Must Be Obeyed' is used. (H. Rider Haggard wrote the popular and influential She and its sequel, Ayesha, also known as The Return of She, which is where the phrase comes from. Horace Rumpole, the barrister from the TV series 'Rumpole of the Bailey,' referred to his wife, Hilda, as 'She Who Must Be Obeyed'. If I remember correctly, that led to the phrase being put on a T-shirt. Mom was given one as a gift.)

Chapter 30: Columbo the old TV show detective is mentioned. So is Shakespeare (well, a Shakespearean actor)

Dog Lovers: Watson, Dorothy and Alan's mostly-spaniel mutt, is back and quite helpful.

Cat lovers: Although Sam the Siamese-British Blue and Emmy the British Blue-tabby get left behind, there's a cat called 'Roadkill' who is the lord of his street. ( )

Dorothy and her husband Alan Nesbitt journey to Orkney Island, Scotland for this who-done-it. In a form of a locked-room mystery, the island acts as the room after an archaeologist is found bludgeoned to death at the site of a huge dig on a smaller island. When a terrorist threat is made toward a nearby industrial site, the police are diverted there, leaving Dorothy and Alan pretty much in charge of the murder investigation, along with their dog Winston. The story moves along at a fairly brisk clip and gives a good glimpse into the island's people and their lifestyle. Dorothy comments numerous times how she longs to return there and see more of the scenery and sites so I have to wonder if at least one more book will be set in this locale. Another winner for author Dams. ( )

Dorothy & Alan are once again vacationing. This time it is on the Orkney Islands. The benefactor of an archaeological dig on a remote island is found dead at the site. Alan is asked to assist in the investigation as the local constabulary are tied up with a terrorist threat. It's a small pool of suspects. Alan and Dorothy realize that someone is planting red herrings to try to deter them from the investigation. One key person goes missing. No one knows for sure if he's dead or alive. They also get assistance from the vicar's wife. While the mystery is pretty good, it didn't quite work for me on the plausibility level. I would love for the author to let Dorothy and Alan stay at home in Sherebury for the next installment in this series. It's beginning to seem like they never stay at home, and I do miss the locals there. This review is based on an electronic copy received through the publisher from NetGalley with the expectation of a review. ( )