What a great mix this proved to be -
Highland, historical, crime and mystery!
With two young ladies determined to show
How to solve mysteries is something they know.

The Scottish Ladies' Detective Agency is their dream,
But will solving cases be as easy as it can sometimes seem?
Finding cases is their first hurdle, too -
Without them they'll have nothing to do!

Their first case involves investigating a jewel thief
So Highland homes can safely party - that would be a relief.
Maud McIntyre and her maid, Daisy, go undercover
Hoping the perpetrator to discover.

With more cases linking together in unexpected ways,
And one needing solving in just a few days,
There are plenty of surprises and twists galore
As the intrepid duo the clues explore.

The disappearance of letters, a dog and a daughter, too,
There's also danger but they're not sure from who,
All add to the mysteries investigated by these two.
But there's danger as someone wants to stop what they do.

This is the start of a new series of delightful, cosy mystery books
At which I highly recommend you take more than a look!
For my complementary copy, I say thank you,
As I share with you this, my honest review.

I love cozy mysteries and books set in the Scottish Highlands, so I knew I was going to love this one.

Edinburgh, 1911: Maud McIntyre has set up her own detective agency with her former lady's maid, Daisy as her assistant. There's been a string of jewel robberies among the upper class and it's not long that the Duchess of Duddingston hires Maud to pose as a guest at her weekend party in order to deter or catch the thief. While undercover at the party, Maud and Daisy get to know the guests and staff and none of them seem suspicious. But on the second night, one of the guests is murdered and valuable diamond necklace has gone missing.

Maud was up to the task of catching a jewel thief, but murder? As she's hired for a couple more cases she realizes that they all may be connected to the murder? But how?

Thoughts: I loved the dynamic between Maud and Daisy. They've been around each other so long with Daisy having been her lady's maid that often times they don't even need to communicate since they know what each other is thinking. I love that even though Maud is a lady of means, she's a strong independent woman who would rather make her own way in the world instead of marrying and relying on a husband (as was the norm for this time.) I loved the real historical details such as impending war and the suffragette movement. I guessed the culprit rather early but that didn't keep me from enjoying the mystery.

I highly recommend to anyone who enjoys cozy mysteries with strong female detectives 🔎❤️

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for allowing me access to an eARC in exchange for my honest review.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for this Advanced Reader Copy and the opportunity to review “The Scottish Ladies’ Detective Agency.” All opinions and comments are my own.

Missing jewels, a dead viscountess, and overattentive noblemen -- it’s enough to turn any young Edinburgh lady’s head spinning, let alone an aspiring private detective. Luckily our Miss Maud McIntyre (and her associate Daisy Cameron) turn out to be of sterner stuff in “The Scottish Ladies’ Detective Agency.” More or less, of course; this is one of those cozy mysteries with a touch of the romantic that is all the rage nowadays.

Maud and Daisy have a lot to prove with their new endeavor, and they’ve been given a whopper of a case: keep an eye on the guests at the Countess of Duddingston’s weekend get-together as the ladies in attendance flaunt their jewels. So of course, there’s a theft, and in the process a murder. Got to get the story underway, after all.

What’s fun -- Maud’s reading of mystery books; you’ll get a lot of “the early days of mystery writing” as a homage, as she uses them as a source of inspiration for her investigation. What’s not so much fun -- the fashion parade. It’s getting a little old hat. That, and the “female protagonist is attacked and the young lord comes to her rescue.” Okay, it’s a way to introduce the character into the story for this and future use. Got it.

For time and place, so important in a historical mystery, there are little tidbits; of politics, mention of Mr. Asquith as the PM, and then woman’s suffrage, which in 1911, our timeframe, was becoming of more and more importance and consequence. Not until 1918 for some and then 1928 for all women (at least over the age of 21) came the right to vote. A hard-won contest. Our ladies are quite the proponents, of course.

Oh, should probably mention a missing girl, some missing letters, and some rather unpleasant people. Got to keep the story going, definitely. There’s a murderer out there, still. And Maud gets to explain it all in a drawing room scene!

The trope -- detective agency of “well-bred young ladies/unusual profession/needs clients” is certainly present in “The Scottish Ladies’ Detective Agency.” Luckily, author Lydia Travers handles it well. “The Scottish Ladies’ Detective Agency” is a light, serviceable story, with engaging characters in Maud and Daisy. There are more books coming.

A gentlewoman who choose to work as Detective with her own lady’s maid: when I read the blurb I liked the idea and was curious about Maud and Daisy.
When I met them I was glad to meet to two clever and unusual women who will be shunned for their gender and unusual work choice. Maud, a gentlewoman, is a suffragette and fights for social justice, Daisy is a very clever and vivacious woman.
They’re a lovely couple that will not stop at anything when they want to investigate.
There’s a lot of humour, there’s a lovely couple of MCs and there’s a solid mystery. I guessed the culprit but I didn’t guess why so I had a lot of fun in following the clues and trying to understand.
I want to meet this lovely couple soon as I binge read this novel in one afternoon.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to Bookouture for this arc, all opinions are mine

Edinburgh, 1911: When Maud McIntyre and her former lady’s maid, Daisy Cameron, form a detective agency, they never dream their first case will take place at a glamorous house in the Scottish Highlands. But when the Duchess of Duddingston, concerned that a notorious jewellery thief will target her lavish weekend party, employs Maud to go undercover as a guest to find the culprit. But when one of the house guests is discovered dead, Maud and Daisy realise they’re not only hunting precious gems, but a murderer. As Maud and Daisy investigate, they realise that a connection in Edinburgh might hold a vital clue that will help them solve the case. Travelling back to the city, Maud hopes that what she and Daisy uncover will help them piece together the mystery. But when Maud receives a telephone call from the Duchess requesting urgent assistance, she realises that the murderer didn’t have just one victim in mind.
A new author to me & a new series, which was a delightful read. I really liked Maud & Daisy & loved how they complemented each other. They soon have four cases to solve & to begin with thought this was too much but there are some links. Maud has built a host of disguises to help them with their enquiries. There’s humour & the pace ambles rather than runs. I listened to the audiobook as well as reading this enjoyable mystery. Helen McAlpine did a stellar job of the narration & I must admit she brought the book to life especially in the slower parts. There’s also a mild love interest with Lord Uraquart & I’m interested to see where this will lead in future books
My review is for a special copy I voluntarily read

I love that I get to read the first book of a series and this is a series I think I will enjoy.

Love Maud and her new detective agency that straight away gets a murder case to investigate. Set in 1911 in Edinburgh, Scotland this is a bit of fun, a lot of mystery and all the quirky characters you would expect. I enjoyed Daisy, the maid and Maud's sidekick in the agency.

A great way to start a new series and I think the length of the book is perfect, the characters are enjoyable and the story is very readable. I also loved the humour and found this a very easy read and very entertaining.

Thank you NetGalley and Bookouture for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book. I really enjoyed it and look forward to the next book in this series.

The Scottish Ladies’ Detective Agency – Lydia Travers
Set in Edinburgh in 1911, “The Scottish Ladies’ Detective Agency” follows Maud McIntyre and her former maid, Daisy, as they open up their detective agency. The women take their first case at a Duchess’s estate when she engages them to uncover who is behind a rash of jewelry thefts amongst the upper class. But when robbery escalates to murder, the stakes are raised.

During Maud and Daisy’s investigation, they take on a handful of smaller cases that seem to not only connect to each other, but possibly to the killer as well. When the duo starts to get threatening notes and physical attacks, they’ll need to hurry and solve their cases before it’s too late.

I love strong female leads, and a pair of women owning their own detective business in the early 1900s fits the bill. I also really appreciated Maud’s father who not only advocated for her education growing up, but supports her wholeheartedly in her professional endeavors. It’s a great reminder that feminism isn’t just for women – kind, supportive men are such important allies.

I really liked how this book had multiple mysteries going on at once and how the cases and the people involved were interconnected. There were lots of characters to keep track of, but I thought the author did a great job of describing them and presenting them in such a way that it was not hard to remember who was who. I love cozy mysteries, and I can’t wait to see what else this author has in store!

REVIEW:
Thanks to Netgalley and the Publisher for this ARC. I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
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I'm a fan of Amateur Sleuth genre when sleuthing actually happens, I felt like the 'detectives' did not do anything, all the cases got solved by chance and I was so disappointed. I didn't even have the chance to follow the cases and have suspects along with the FMCs.
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In this book, there were two detectives in the agency, and I'd gave preferred both of their POVs instead of only Maud's
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Although Maud was more of an 'extremely' amateur sleuth than a Detective, I still felt like she will get better with time, so I still have hope

Hi and welcome to spot on this Blog Tour, I hope you enjoy this review.

The story opens in Edinburgh 1911 with Maude two days into opening her Detective Agency with Daisy ( her ex Lady’s Maid) and they’ve got no clients!

Maude has to make it work because she’s put every penny she had into opening it so it has to work, well every penny her mother left to her.

Then an unexpected Duchess enters the office with a mystery to solve and the luck of Maud and Daisy has changed.

This is an enchanting story that I found so easy to read because Maud and Daisy are delightful and so easy to like.

You can tell the author knows her Scottish History because her knowledge leaps off of the pages.

For fans of a cozy historical mystery this is a MUST READ it’s the perfect Whodunit and I for one can’t wait for the next adventure.

This was such a fun read and an exciting start to a new historical setting series! The main characters, Maud and Dixie, start a detective business and are just very intelligent and great to follow along with. This was a fun and cozy read with that mystery element!

I received this from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

A delightful cosy mystery with an entertaining cast of characters. Set in 1911, Maud has invested all of the money that has been left to her by her mother into her very own detective agency. Eager to prove their capability as female detectives, Maud and her right-hand woman Daisy, accept the case presented to them by the Duchess of Duddingston, to identify the thief who has been stealing valuable jewellery from grand country houses and find the jewels.

I felt like I really got the characters, especially Daisy who is a really well written, typically funny, Scottish woman and I loved the contrast between her and Maud, while being totally believable that they were good friends. I loved the injection of the suffragette movement into the story and also Maud and Daisy’s comical disguises!

The twists and turns at Duddingston House and in the later cases made me want to keep reading and I’m very much looking forward to finding out what adventures they get up to in the next instalment in the series.

Many thanks to Bookouture and Net Galley for the ARC.

- I did notice that this is an uncorrected copy so I’m not sure if it was worth mentioning that I noticed 3 instances where it switched to the first person narrative for Maud but decided to add it here just incase. It’s not included in my review elsewhere.

My thanks to Bookouture for an eARC via NetGalley, of ‘The Scottish Ladies' Detective Agency’ by Lydia Travers. I was also invited to take part in the publication week blog tour.

I enjoy historical cosy mysteries and it’s lovely when a new series comes out, especially one as promising as this.

Edinburgh, 1911. Maud McIntyre has just set up a detective agency. She is assisted in this new venture by Daisy, her former lady’s maid who has become a close friend. This book sees these fledgling lady detectives investigating their first few cases.

The first case involves them going undercover at a stately home in the Scottish Highlands. There has been a recent series of jewellery thefts at posh house parties and the Duchess of Duddingston is concerned that the thief might target her upcoming lavish weekend party. However, the case quickly becomes more complicated when one of the house guests is discovered dead.

I won’t say more about that case in order to avoid spoilers. In addition, when Maud and Daisy return to Edinburgh they are hired to solve three other cases including finding a missing heiress, retrieving a cache of compromising letters, and locating a lost Pekingese. Regarding this last case, Maud comments to Daisy that “‘Missing pets are the bread and butter of detective agencies.” They then return to Duddingston House for the final denouement.

This was a delight from start to finish. Maud is a wonderful character and is very keen on following the adventures of various fictional detectives, including Sherlock Holmes. Indeed, she often takes cues from him in terms of their disguises and sleuthing techniques.

Lydia Travers also includes social issues linked to the period, including the Scottish government’s response to the Women’s Suffrage Movement. There’s also a number of comic incidents that had me giggling.

With respect to the audiobook, its narrator, Helen McAlpine, is an experienced voice actor working across a number of genres. In 2022 she won the Romantic Novelists’ Association’s Narrator of the Year.

Aside from bringing Maud and Daisy vividly to life, I was also impressed with her voicing of the novel’s minor characters and found her comic timing spot-on. I hope that if audiobooks are produced for future titles in the series that Helen McAlpine will be invited back as their narrator.

Overall, I felt that ‘The Scottish Ladies' Detective Agency’ was a highly promising start to this new series of Scottish historical cosy mysteries. I am already looking forward to Book 2, ‘Murder in the Scottish Highlands’, due out at the end of May.

This is an entertaining start to a delightful new series! Maud McIntyre and her former lady’s maid Daisy Cameron have opened a fledgling detective agency in Edinburgh in 1911. At first they get off to a slow start, particularly with clients seeking a Mr McIntyre and certain women aren’t capable of being private investigators. However, soon they have almost more cases than they can cope with including a jewellery thief, a missing bride to be, a missing dog and some missing love letters.

The jewellery thief is their biggest case and their most dangerous when an elderly woman is killed at a private house party attended by Maud and Daisy (posing as her Lady’s maid once again). However, Maud and Daisy are both smart and know how to look after themselves and watch out for each other. Told with a touch of humour, Maud and Daisy are wonderful characters and I love Maud’s wardrobe full of ingenious disguises that she’s put together to help in their work as a Scottish Holmes and Watson. I can't wait to see what adventures Maud and daisy have next!

Not sure about this one. I found Maud to be quite silly and am not impressed by her rich woman entitled behaviour. How is it ok to drug a woman and steal from her? I would probably read another in this series as I am a glutton for cosies and love settings in Scotland though. I received this as an advance copy from the author and NetGalley and the review reflects my personal opinion.

Thanks to the publishers and Netgalley for an advance copy of this book in exchange for a review.

Really enjoyed this first book in a series set in the early part of the 20th century in Edinburgh. Looking forward to reading more of Maud and Daisy's adventures.

When the book began with a reference to my home town I thought I would love this and I was right!

This was great fun to read and I'm definitely going to be picking up the next in the series.

The characters were funny, well written and you really felt like you got to know them over the course of the book.

It was a bit predictable in places but that really didn't bother me and didn't take away from my enjoyment of the book.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for a free eARC of the book.

It was 1911 in Edinburgh and Miss Maud McIntyre had just opened her own detective agency, in partnership with former lady's maid, Daisy Cameron. They were yet to have any clients when the Duchess of Duddingston hired them as she was holding a Saturday-to-Monday weekend party and her knowledge of jewel thieves at previous parties had her concerned about her own. So Maud and Daisy were to go to the Duddingston House estate as the Duchess' guests, along with the others who would be there. But would it be a long and boring waste of time for the two fledgling detectives?

When a scream was heard in the middle of the night, all the guests rushed from their rooms in their night attire, and when one of the guests was discovered deceased, as well as jewellry missing, Maud and Daisy knew they had a case on their hands - but they hadn't expected murder to be included! Would they discover the culprit before the end of the weekend?

What a delightful start to a new series! I thoroughly enjoyed The Scottish Ladies Detective Agency by debut author Lydia Travers and am very much looking forward to book 2, Murder in the Scottish Hills. Both Maud and Daisy are great characters, and their disguises are lots of fun. With a dry wit and plenty of laugh out loud moments, I have no hesitation in recommending this historical cosy mystery to fans of the genre.

With thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my digital ARC to read in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 stars rounded up because this was quite adorable.

A new cozy mystery series set in 1911 Scotland, features two plucky lady detectives solving crimes and causing shenanigans. This was such a cute and delightful debut novel and I loved the setting and all the historical elements.
This wasn’t a perfect book and the mystery (ies) definitely needed to be tightened up but overall I had a good time and snickered my way through it.
Maud has always loved detective novels and loves to fight injustice as a supporter of the many social issues of the day. She’s a young woman of means who chooses to open a detective agency with an inheritance from her mother. Her spirited former ladies maid, Daisy, joins her as her assistant in the endeavour and the two are so funny together. They use disguises, subterfuge, breaking and entering and some regular detective work to get the job done and prove that ladies can, in fact, excel at a ‘man’s job’.
There is a *slight* love interest in this with Lord Uraquart, but in this first book their relationship is more adversarial than loving; she thinks he’s good looking, but also can’t stand him, he’s interested in her but also doubts her abilities because of her gender.
So my two critiques of this book and why it doesn’t get full stars are as follows: firstly, the historical elements here were often times a bit ham-fisted in their insertion into the story, as if the author had all this knowledge and felt she had to use I every bit of it. The information overload and somewhat unsubtle way of adding it into the dialogue often impeded the flow of the story.
And second the villain was extremely obvious to me, I pin pointed them at the 20% mark and never wavered from my guess. I’m not going to explain how I knew as I think that might be spoilery, but needless to say, I just kept waiting for the leads to catch up and figure it out! Also there were four separate cases that the ladies were working on, I get it, they run an agency so would have several clients, but the middle of the book dragged as we were investigating stolen love letters, missing dogs and kidnapped young women. Some of those cases did tie together but it was a lot and I think it could have been edited out or down significantly.
But this was a great opener to the series and I’m excited to go read the next one, which I also have the arc for!

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture Publishing for the advanced copy of this book. The opinions are my own.

3.2 Stars
One Liner: A mixed read; decent but needs work

Edinburgh, 1911
Maud McIntyre and her lady’s maid, Daisy, start a detective agency. They are surprised and excited when the Duchess of Duddingston offers them their first case- to prevent a robbery at her house party or find the jewel thief looting the elite at parties.
The duo attends the house party undercover to end up with a dead body. The case is now of a murder! Though Maud solves the case, she isn’t sure about the culprit. Back in town, Maud and Daisy take up other cases which may or may not be connected to the Duddingston mystery. But Maud gets another call from the Duchess and knows things are far from over. Can she and Daisy find the real culprit this time?
The story comes in the third-person POV of Maud.

My Thoughts:
As a fan of historical cozy mysteries, I knew I had to read this book. The cover is cute too. The results are mixed, though.
Since it is the first book in the series, it takes time to introduce the characters and set the stage. I went in prepared to handle this.
The book is more of a three-in-one package as Maud and Daisy handle different cases one after another. The cases are connected in some way, so the common thread keeps things together (almost). I like this aspect as we get to see them try different methods to solve the cases.
Maud is quite capable though prone to coming up with not-so-good ideas in her excitement. Daisy seems more balanced, and I’d have liked to read her POV as well. It would have been better than Daisy relaying her conversations with others by voice-acting them. It’s fun the first time, but not much afterward. Gets too clunky and long-winded.
Lord Urquhart seems like a good guy (or as much good as he can be as a famous rake). His character arc is definitely better than the MC’s. There isn’t much about Daisy yet, so maybe that’s for the next books.
While I expected the book to highlight the limitations on women in those days, I didn’t guess the extent of space the suffrage movement occupied as much space. I wouldn’t have minded if it played an integral part in the mystery (Example: Death at Crookham Hall), but here it seems more like a foundation for the coming book. However, it gets a little excessive and takes the focus away from the central plot.
The book also has references to other novels and people, which at times, feel a little excessive. Let’s keep our focus on the characters instead. Trust me, you don’t want me to think of Sherlock (ahem) when reading another book. ;)
The climax was decent, nothing spectacular, but I don’t think the author was aiming for it, either. It’s shorter than the multi-page reveal in most cozy mysteries, so that’s a definite plus.

To summarize, The Scottish Ladies' Detective Agency is a decent start to the series but could do better with some tightening and another round of editing. The extras weigh down the book and distract readers from the cases.
Thank you, NetGalley and Bookouture, for the eARC. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.

***
P.S.: I checked a few other reviews after drafting mine and agree that the court scene wasn’t necessary. The characters are already established by then, and the scene doesn’t advance the plot.

So in this start to a new series Maud and her former maid decide they are going to be private detectives. They solved a case earlier and think that makes them qualified to do the work and have opened a place, but their first would be client thought they were men and didn't want to hire them, then they get lucky when a Duchess walks in also looking for a man, but thinks it's interesting that it's two females and decides to hire them.

There has been a lot of recent jewelry thefts and the Dutchess in throwing a party and doesn't want anything to happen to any of her guess things, so Maud and Daisy go undercover to see if they can figure out who might be the person stealing things before it happens and if not catch the person whodonit, but they get a murder as well as a theft.

Everyone's a suspect so it's a hard case for thier first official case and everything is riding on getting things right. The guest are all wealthy or at least have the appearance of wealth so why would they need to steal jewelry?

This is just one of the cases the ladies have as they are also hired to find a dog, a missing person and some scadalous letters.

I thought this was a decent start to a series even though it took longer than I would like for the murder to happen when I am reading a cozy mystery. I also thought it had a lot of things happening with all the different cases they were working on at the same time.

It's set during the time when Scotland was having their sufferage movement and at times I thought there was a little to much additude with the two main characters. I get the time period but for me it was a bit much, others will like it more than me. It's my only real gripe and it's my opinion.

I like how it wrapped up and how certain things came together and was satified with who the killer was and how it was solved. It was a decent mystery.

I will be looking forward to the next one in this series.