First published 2024
Detective Chief Inspector Euan McIntosh arrives at Castle Kinloch to find literary celebrity Brett Saffron Presley dead in his tower study. The remote Scottish castle sits on a Highland island, where Presley hosted writers seeking glamorous retreats. Three American novelists remain as guests and prime suspects. Kat de Noir writes erotica, Cassie Pringle authors cozy mysteries while raising six children, and Emma Endicott crafts historical fiction from her New England background. The women claim friendship and a collaborative writing project brought them together. McIntosh doubts their stories about knowing Presley. Their accounts of the fatal night contradict each other. Presley missed the castle's traditional ceilidh dancing, choosing instead a mysterious meeting that ended in death. The detective must untangle the relationships between these writers and discover what really drew them to Castle Kinloch.
Genres: mystery, crime, thriller, detective
Vibes: suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, unreliable-narrator
Setting: Castle Kinloch, Highland, Scotland, New England
Period: Contemporary
592 pages · Paperback · William Morrow Large Print