The atmospheric Edinburgh streets form the setting for this mystery novel. When four literary tour attendees arrive at the Cracked Spine bookshop, Delaney takes charge of leading the tour since Edwin, the bookshop owner, is absent. What starts out as an exciting adventure into the famous local sights and scenes turns into a mysterious time of mayhem. The hotel where the guests are staying seems to be the hub of illegal activities, and Delaney ends up in the middle of trying to solve the mysteries that seem to be growing and growing. Identity theft, a suspected suicide, and people who are not what they appear abound in this cozy mystery.

Although part of a series, enough background information is provided to introduce readers new to the series to the characters and settings. Readers familiar with The Cracked Spine series will revisit old friends here.The addition of tour guide facts for each of the visited tour sites adds authenticity to the story, although these might seem extraneous to some readers.

This is a clean novel without swear words, overt or descriptive violence, or intimacy scenes. I received this novel from the publisher and from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. The opinions expressed here are entirely my own.

What an enjoyable book! Reading this one made me feel like I was in Scotland! I also really enjoyed the mystery and the overall plot of it..

Oh this is a good one! Edwin has an emergency and he could not handle his tour he had set up for 4 people. So he asked Delaney to take is place. Each stop on the tour is connected to a book reference. The four people on the tour are from different places and different stories. And the twists and turns begin. What a story! Totally enjoyed it.

When Delaney is tasked with leading a literary tour around Edinburgh, she has no idea death is on the itinerary. Was it an accident? Or murder?

What a fun and well-written cozy mystery. I enjoyed the interesting characters and the intriguing storyline. Really made me want to visit Edinburgh. Ummm...but without the murders.

Many thanks to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for an advance copy of this book. My thoughts and opinions are my own and without bias or favor or expectation.

Every time I read one of the A Scottish Bookshop mystery novels I wish I could visit this store and these characters. The characters all compliment each other well and they are all welcoming and friendly. I love how Delaney finds herself in the middle of all of these mysteries each and every time. There were a lot of twists in this novel, with the tour group, the murder, the disappearances, and the money. I am glad the group was able to solve the mystery and I hope we see some of the tour group characters again in a future book.

Fateful Words by Paige Shelton
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This is an installment in a cozy mystery series set in Scotland. Delaney works in a bookstore in Edinburgh. During a tour she is giving a local inn manager jumps off the roof to his death. Or was he pushed?
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This was a fun cozy mystery where I didn’t need to read the previos books to keep up.

The highlights for me were firstly, Scotland. I have been wanting to go to Scotland for years and reading this book I could imagine touring Edinburgh in awe.
They mystery was good and not too easy to figure out but also not too complicated to cause confusion. It was balanced nicely.

3.5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 This was fun to read but I didn’t enjoy it as much as the author’s Alaska Wild series.

It is always wonderful to discover a new series, and when I know there are seven finished books I can still read I'm especially excited.

In this story, Delaney is asked at the last minute to take over a literary tour of Edinburgh. I too enjoyed the tour, and I liked how it fit into the mystery. I also love how the books mentioned fit so well into the story! I just wish the tour actually existed - I'd so want to do it.

The mystery was pretty good, but as with most cozies the enjoyment is more from the setting and characters. Delaney and her husband Tom are great, and I also liked the Australian who did not see the point of books. But my favorite part was the city itself - I loved learning more about Edinburgh.

I absolutely love this series and this latest installment was perfect. It had everything I've come to love with this series, a little mystery, a little intrigue, and a lot of Scotland. This series makes me want to fly to Edinburgh immediately and search out my own little bookstore to work in and my own Scottish bar owner to marry. I will definitely keep reading the next books in this series.

This book is worth reading for the fun, engaging literally tour of Edinburgh alone. The addition of a multi-layer mystery, a murder, local food, charismatic characters ( making for plenty of suspects), a cute miniature Yorkie, and a charming bookstore makes for the perfect, satisfying cozy. This is the the first book in the series that I've read and it was fine as a stand alone. However, I loved Delaney, Tom, Edwin and the others so much that I will look forward to reading the rest in the series and hope there are more to come. I highly recommend this book to all my cozy lover friends. .I was provided a free e-ARC of Fateful Words St Martin’s Press, through Netgalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own. . #Netgalley #StMartinsPress #PaigeShelton #FatefulWords

Delaney has been tasked with being a guide for her bosses yearly literary tour this year while he is out of town. She is happy to do so but the first evening of the tour the manager at the inn where the group.is staying is killed. Things go from bad to worse when one of the tour members disappears soon after.the death. Delaney knows she has a very short time to figure out who the killer is because the tour must go on. Follow along as she delves into the mystery, can she solve the crime before something worse happens or will she bring a killer to justice.

Delaney Nichols loves her job at The Cracked Spine Bookshop in Edinburgh, Scotland. Currently her boss Edwin is off on some secret business. Normally that wouldn't be a problem, Rosie and Delaney can handle the bookstore, but this is the week of Edwin's yearly literary tour around Edinburgh and his invited guests have already arrived. Delaney has to take over. Edwin's tours are legendary and while Delaney can't measure up she will give it her all to give them a great time in Edinburgh.

The first day of the tour went pretty well but after dinner trouble breaks out at the inn where the group is staying. The manager has fallen or was pushed off the roof, an employee has been attacked and one of the members of the group has disappeared.

Delaney has another real-life mystery on her hands and she and her husband Tom team up to do their best to solve it. As usual, a typical Delaney mystery with many twists and turned. Enjoys this as much as her previous books.
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the advanced copy.

This is one of the best books in the Scottish Bookshop Mysteries series! Delaney and her friends are back, she’s giving Edinburgh literary tours as well as solving a murder. Was he pushed or did he jump?. The whodunnit was cleverly written! I’d love to take the tour Delaney gave. 4 stars.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed as in this review are completely my own.

**I need to preface this review with this - the narrator for this series is just awful and I so wish they could find someone who could, you know, actually speak with a Scottish accent [that isn't stilted and awkward and at times, very unconvincing]. Listening to two books in this series back-to-back has been just awful [not the stories, those have been wonderful and more on that later] and it DOES affect the whole book overall, no matter how you try to turn that off. But when you have crappy eyes and have no choice but to listen to an audiobook, you often have to take what you get, but I will tell you now, I certainly DO NOT have to be happy about it. Thankfully, the story was good enough to almost cancel out the horrible narration. Almost.**

This was a really good addition to the series and I am so glad I got to read it so close to reading the previous book. There is a lot going on in this one, but it never felt confusing to me [I really enjoyed the tour group characters - each bring something to the story and they were a fun, if brief, addition] and it certainly covers a topic that is in the news so much these days. I knew who the killer was early on, but it didn't take away from the whole story for me and there were aspects of the overall story that I just didn't get until the reveal [though some of that is still confusing to me]. I absolutely loved Delaney's ability to think on her feet and it comes in handy during the reveal. The tour was very cool and I loved the stuff that we learned along the way and I REALLY loved how Tom was a big part of this story - it was nice to see him and Delaney together, working and sleuthing. I do think that anything I disliked about the book came simply from the horrible narrator and not really worth mentioning [well, the clunkyness of the reveal and how it is a touch confusing is worth mentioning, even briefly] and I am already looking forward to the next one.

WELL DONE!!!! ♥

Thank you to NetGalley, Paige Shelton, and St. Martin's Press/Minotaur Books for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is book 8 in the Scottish Bookshop series. Delaney is filling in for Edward on the yearly Literary tour around Edinboro but doesn't count on a murder. n a race against the clock, Delaney sets out on the expedition of her life, following clues around Edinburgh to get to the bottom of this mystery. Exploring sights from Greyfriars Bobby to the Royal Mile to the Sir Walter Scott Monument, she'll have to put the pieces together quickly, or the bookstore's survival could be on the line...as well as her own. Can be read as a standalone.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press, Minotaur Books for accepting my request to read and review Fateful Words (A Scottish Bookshop Mystery.).

Published: 04/04/23

At first glance, the cover caught my eye. This represents clean, quaint, possibly a lot of characters and personalities story. This is a cozy mystery. When I have emotionally tough reads going, I like a cozy or two in my arsenal. Shelton unwittingly stepped up to the plate.

This was a little too unrealistic for me. However, I enjoyed the scenery. I wasn't fond of the characters. But,I enjoyed the couple's dynamic. Is it reasonable for an American woman to marry a Scottish man, and take over a bookshop? Possibly -- however the storyline never felt comfortable. I loved the storyline of trying to get a movie/TV watcher to read a book. Without spoiling, I am an eclectic reader who doesn't read what she sees. As I sit here and laugh, I laughed while reading and thought, oh how clever, Author Shelton. This beating around the tidbit is what makes a cozy memorable, the personal touches and the dynamics of repetitive characters.

The mystery was too over-the-top, Respectfully, this is a dainty church lady cozy mystery, not a young Alec Baldwin Hunting Clancy's Red October mystery (see the pretty cover). And it felt like the story was trying too hard and missed.

Overall, it wasn't my favorite, I had a laugh and am left with a memory. If the cover entices you, you are familiar with cozy's, go for it.

Delaney Nichols is not sure what to do. She was hired by Edwin MacAlister to organize his eccentric collections and help out in his bookshop. Although she’s a transplant to Edinburgh, she’s settled in and has made Scotland her home. She is slowly going through Edwin’s warehouse, cataloging and getting appraisals for, say, his collection of eyeglasses and monocles. And while Delaney is doing that, Edwin has to leave town suddenly.

Normally, it would be fine if Edwin needed to travel, but this is his tour. Four people are coming to town especially to go on Edwin’s tour. He chose only four people every year, based on emails and letters. He is the only one who has ever led the tour. And now, Delaney has to take it over. She has a day to familiarize herself with Edwin’s materials and tour notes and to learn what she can about the four members of the tour.

Kevin is a older woman who owns a bookshop in London. Gunter is from Berlin and deals in old manuscripts. Meera is a university student from Dublin. And Luka is an Australian who challenged Edwin to make him a reader. He said that if Edwin could get him interested in reading, then he would make a large donation to Edwin’s favorite charity. Of course, he could not resist that. But now, it’s up to Delaney to try to win him over.

Before the tour can even get going, they all meet for dinner and Delaney offers them the chance to come back for another tour with Edwin himself, but they all agree they want to go ahead with the tour now. With Delaney. But they can’t even get past drinks the first night before things go badly at the inn. A woman is attacked out front, and a man jumps from the roof.

The police take over the investigation, and Darcy’s group decides to go ahead with the tour. So between walks on the Royal Mile and places that may have inspired locations in the Harry Potter books, Delaney tries to figure out what happened at the inn. A trip to the roof shows her how difficult it would be to jump from the roof, so she starts to think that he must have been helped off the roof. Then one of the tour group disappears. And another woman with ties to the inn is attacked.

Delaney thinks that these must be related somehow, but she can’t figure out how to piece it all together. She keeps going with the tour, showing some of her favorite places in her new town, Delaney also keeps her eyes and ears open, asking questions when she can and keeping her inspector friend updated with everything she finds. But will she be able to put together the pieces and figure out what’s going on, or will someone get away with murder?

Fateful Words is the eighth book in Paige Shelton’s charming Scottish Bookshop Mystery series. It’s an intriguing crime story woven with a lot of stories and facts about Edinburgh, complete with St. Giles’ Cathedral, Deacon Brodie’s Tavern, and the school that inspired Hogwarts. There are geographical ties to Sir Walter Scott, Robert Louis Stevenson, and The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie. But there are also great characters and a little bit of magic along with a smart mystery and true friendship.

I loved Fateful Words. The mystery was difficult to piece together, and the writing was deliciously easy to read. I love Scotland, so I adore the setting, especially with the tour of historical places and the ties to famous books and authors. I haven’t read all the books in this series, so now I know that I have to go back and read more. This works well as a murder mystery, but it’s also good for planning a trip to Edinburgh, or even just staying home and dreaming about going on Edwin’s tour for yourself.

Egalleys for Fateful Words were provided by Minotaur Books through NetGalley, with many thanks.

I had a difficult time with this book. It started out so slow, I had a hard time reading it once things started to happen.
I am of the mind I will read an author I've never read because one never knows if my new favorite author is just around the corner.
I can appreciate the author's books, but I think the writing style of this author just isn't for me.
I found the book slow moving, and it just didn't keep my attention.

This was my first dip into the long running "Scottish Bookshop" series by Paige Shelton. It was fun to tour Edinburgh with bookshop worker Delaney and her group of tourist visitors. The mystery kept me guessing, and the supporting characters were interesting. I look forward to reading more from the backlist.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Bookseller Delaney Nichols is very much enjoying life as a newlywed in Edinburgh, Scotland. Her handsome husband Tom owns a pub just across the way from where she assists at The Cracked Spine, a local institution headed by the rich and eccentric Edwin MacAlister. Delaney is happy to work on cataloging the many treasures Edwin has accumulated in his lifetime, housed now in the warehouse attached to the bookstore, and to help out in the store as needed. But not even her can-do attitude can overcome how nonplussed she is when a brand new task is asked of her.

Edwin has to abruptly leave town for a while, leaving her in charge of the annual literary tour he leads for a small group of hand-selected participants:

QUOTE
But that was the rub–it wasn’t just a tour. I could have googled and handled a simple tour just fine. No, Edwin didn’t do things on any sort of normal scale. His guests were treated to a week or so of immersion into parts of the city of Edinburgh and some of its contributions to literature and film. There was too much to be comprehensive, but Edwin loved books and movies and he loved Edinburgh. He would take his favorites from each of those loves and create a memorable journey for his guests–and they were always his guests. He paid for everything.

He was so good at it–maybe one of the best from the accolades I’d heard–and he’d done it for decades.
END QUOTE

Delaney loves her adopted hometown and its literary history, and is enthusiastic about doing it justice. She knows, however, that enthusiasm is no substitute for Edwin’s vast wealth of knowledge and showmanship. The last thing she wants to do is disappoint the latest batch of tour participants, who’ve flown in from all over the world to take part, often after a lengthy correspondence with her boss about their mutual interest in books.

Her four guests are understanding enough about Edwin’s absence, especially since he’s already offered to run the tour for them again the following year. But tragedy strikes their very first night, when the manager of the hotel where they’re staying suffers a fatal fall off of the hotel’s roof. When one of the tour guests goes missing soon after, leaving a trail of puzzles in her wake, Delaney will have to put all her investigative skills to the test to figure out what’s going on, and how everything, including Edwin’s mysterious absence, is connected to a deadly plot playing out in her beloved city.

In endeavors like this, she’s usually helped by the literary voices inside her head, quoting from books she’s previously read. This time around they’re mostly quiet, though when she finds herself tailing a suspect, one finally comes to her aid:

QUOTE
Was I going to try to follow [the suspect] inside?

No, of course I wasn’t going to do that. It was weird that I was following him in the first place.

Except, was it?

<i>Even if you’re on the right track, you will get run over if you just sit there.</i>

There they were! A bookish voice was speaking up. They’d been so quiet that I couldn’t help but pay attention to this one. My intuition was finally sensing something. It was Will Rogers who spoke, and I always liked hearing his voice in my head.
END QUOTE

As always, the bookish voices give sage advice. But will that be enough when she finds herself in mortal peril, with no one to rely on but herself?

This was another absorbing installment of the Scottish Bookshop mystery series, as Delaney leads her tour group – and by extension us readers – around one of the most delightful and storied cities in Europe. After reading these books, I always feel both that I’ve had a mini-vacation and that I desperately need a real life getaway to the Scottish city. These novels are some of the best advertisements for Edinburgh I’ve ever read.

The mystery itself was also very of the times, deftly spinning a web of conspiracy and counter-conspiracy as The Cracked Spine becomes unwittingly caught up in a ring of very modern criminals. Deftly balancing history with the intrigues of 21st century living, Fateful Words is a thrilling mini-vacation for cozy crime lovers looking for a bookish escapist read.

I loved seeing Delaney back at it again when she finds herself caught up in a mystery when she has to take a tour group when her boss is away. But when things go awry; Delaney had to figure out who is behind these strange things happening. I loved going along with Delaney and finding out the mystery alongside her.