This is the first book I have read in this series and I was looking forward to reading it as it takes place in the Scottish highlands. Lady Emily and her family are excited to embark on a family vacation at
carnefarn Castle. The boys soon discover the body of the gamekeeper.

I enjoyed Lady Emily investigating the murder and slowly putting all the pieces together. I really got a kick out of the kids and the crocodile.

It was entertaining and quick read.

A brilliant mystery set in the Scottish Highlands in 1905, intertwines with a story set in the same area during the witch hunts of the 1600’s. Colin and Emily Hargreaves have been invited to their friend’s, Jeremey the Duke of Bainbridge’s, Highland estate. Not too far into their stay, their precocious children find the body of a murdered gamekeeper. Not ones to sit back and let just any body investigate, Colin and Emily take it upon themselves to find out who really killed the gamekeeper. Setting out to investigate clues, they come upon a number of suspects who may have had a motive to kill. Several are keeping secrets, that if uncovered, could jeopardize the investigation, and cause a murderer to roam free. In 1676, the village surrounding Cairnfarn castle is riddled with rumors of witch hunts and trials in the neighboring district. Lady McCallister, who is now widowed and is forced to leave the castle with only her slave girl in attendance, moves into the Cairnfarn village. When odd things begin to happen around their new home, Lady McCallister is charged with witchcraft, the punishment being death. She must race to clear her name with the help of the only girl that she has been able to trust, before it is too late. Back in 1905, Lady Emily comes across clues from the past that might help her discover who the killer is before they strike again. “A Cold Highland Wind” is the latest novel in the Lady Emily Mystery Series by Tasha Alexander. While not my favorite of her novels, this one had love, treachery, betrayal, a crocodile (!), and the beauty of the Scottish Highlands all wrapped up into a cozy mystery that will transport readers to another time and place. I thank NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC of this book. I am not required to give a positive review. All opinions within this review are my own.

Book: A Cold Highland Wind
Author: Tasha Alexander
Series: Lady Emily Ashton Mysteries, #17
Publisher: Minotaur Books
Print Length: 304
Overall Rating: 5/5 Stars
Blog Rating: 5/5 Saltire Flag

Cairnfarn, Scotland 1905

This mystery is set in the Scottish Highlands where Lady Emily and her family which consists of her husband Colin Hargreaves and their three sons. They go on a holiday at Cairnfarn Castle,an estate owned by their close friend Jeremy who happens to also be the Duke of Bainbridge. Unfortunately a horrific murder occurs to Jeremy’s gameskeeper, Angus Sinclair, his dead body is found on land near the loch! What is even worse is that the Hargreave’s sons discover the body!

Furthermore, instead of a relaxing vacation the Hargreaves will be investigating this murder. It turns out there is a long list of reasons and many secrets this deceased man was hiding and had many enemies! For example he deserted his betrothed and there was another man who was jealous of him who loved the woman he was betrothed to!

Also another plot and clues is brilliantly weaved into this novel which is also in Scotland but in 1676. In this story Lady MacAllister whose husband was the Laird is now a widow of Cairnfarn Castle. Her only friend is a moorish slave girl who secretly uses black magic and witchcraft and yet Lady MacAlister is accused of witchcraft and the punishment is death! Which is not true but how can she prove her innocence?

Now Lady Emily can see a connection between the witch trial of the and the murder of Angus Sinclair where she follows all the clues which involves an affair and many mysteries involving dark magic here in the beautiful highlands of Alba. Will Lady Emily find the answer and solve this murder or be clueless without any answers? Read and find out in this fast moving Scottish mystery.

Disclaimer: I received an advance readers copy from the publisher. I voluntarily agreed to do an honest, fair, review and blog through netgalley. This reviewer always follows Amazon’s guidelines to help other reviewers. All words, thoughts and ideas are my own.

This was one of the most engaging installments in the whole Lady Emily series, thanks in no small part to the comedic bits of three precocious children and two great-aunts. And I’m not big on kids, so to say they were good additions to the story really means something.

Set in Scotland, this is a get-right-down-to-business kind of mystery, with multiple intriguing characters and setups that reminded me of an Agatha Christie. There are also alternating chapters with a throwback storyline from the 1600s that isn’t connected to the mystery at hand but does help provide a sense of place. This technique has come to be a regular feature in the Lady Emily stories, but I appreciated that it didn’t have the usual star-crossed lovers; it tread somewhat new ground and was the better for it. The whole book moved along at an enjoyable pace, and I found it quite easy to stay engaged with the plot. I also like it that Lady Emily has developed a little more subtlety in her revolutionary ways. Recommended for lovers of cozy mysteries!

This seventeenth addition to author Tasha Alexander's <i>Lady Emily Mystery</i> series sweeps the reader off to the Highlands of Scotland as our plucky heroine and her family visit their dear friend Jeremy Sheffield, Duke of Bainbridge. Among his holdings is Cairnfarn Castle, deep in the Scottish Highlands and with it, a history wrought with subterfuge and witch trials. It is the making for wonderful adventures for the three young Hargreaves sons. All is well until the body of Bainbridge's gamekeeper is found by the loch after a folicksome ceilidh at the castle. Knowing that Hargreaves and Lady Emily have experience with investigations, Jeremy seek their assistance in finding out what happened to gamekeeper Angus Sinclair. And so the story begins.

Author Tasha Alexander writes an exquisite narrative capturing two stories set two centuries apart, with a narrow thread which connects them. Both are centered in the Highland village of Cairnfarn and the respective dukes' castle. The author has captured well the fear and shenanigans centered on suspected 17th century witches - accusations made against women just because they're different. Conversely, she captures well the social landscape of a small village where everyone knows everybody's business. Gossip and eavesdropping are common activities. Again, small people are just that. Aside from the solving of the murder mystery, I personally found the chaste interactions with the young sons absolutely delightful. Their minds are open to myths, legends, nature and storytelling and their hearts remain pure. Eventually, the two stories are connected across the two hundred and twenty nine year divide and the stories draw to a satisfactory conclusion.

I am grateful to Minotaur Books for having provided a complimentary copy of this book. Their generosity, however, has not influenced this review - the words of which are mine alone.

Publisher: Minotaur Books
Publication Date: October 3, 2023
ISBN: 978-1250872333
No. of pages: 304

I thoroughly enjoyed reading A Cold Highland Wind: A Lady Emily Mystery by Tasha Alexander. I give it five stars.

I don't know why the story of the witch trial which took place in the past was included. It had no relivance to the murder of the gamekeeper. I skimmed all of them. The main story was interesting but I figured out the solution early on in the narrative. Not the best entry in this series.

Another solid entry into the Lady Emily series with most of the regular cast: Colin, Jeremy, the boys, and Cedric the alligator. The secondary story of a witch hunt in the 1690s is a little bit of a red herring as it doesn't have a solid link to the murder that occurs at Jeremy's Scottish estate, but it is interesting nevertheless.

I am sorry that I cannot give this story or 4 or 5 due to my love of this series, I wish I could. There is a story that runs parallel to the Lady Emily, Colin Hargreaves murder mystery, this story has nothing to do with the present at all, except these people lived over two hundred years apart in the same area, and being that it involved a Moorish Slave and her obtuse mistress, then I guess it ticks off the modern literary world boxes. I could understand if a clue from the past was prevelant in the present story, someone knowing the story handed down looks for the books, treasure, jewelry, whatever, a murder to stop the thief, I can see that, a correlation between the two, but there isn't. The Hargreaves boys are cute, I loved the Great Aunts, love Jeremy, otherwise known as The Duke of Bainbridge who is hosting the family, including a pet crocodile, in his Scottish Castle, Cairngorn. Once again Lady Emily's recalcitrant personality is on display, pushing Colin to the rear once again. I bought these books as they were published and was so in love with strong, dependable, protective Colin, who has now been relegated to the back of the line, and this is disappointing for me, I prefer my males to be Alpha Male. I have been given this Arc by #Netgalley and #Minatour and I appreciate your kindness. My review is honest and my own opinion, I appreciate seeing different points of view, it's what make reading an entertaining endeavour.
Thank you.
carolintallahassee

Lady Emily finds herself with her family in the Scottish Highlands in this latest installment of Tasha Alexander's popular mystery series. She, Colin and her boys are hoping to spend a quiet holiday visiting a family friend, but instead find themselves embroiled in a murder involving mistaken identity, village intrigue, and scandal. Almost everyone is telling lies, and it is up to Emily and Colin to determine which ones matter, and which secrets are motivitating the killer to act.

I give this book a solid four stars. The cast of characters is particularly entertaining (I love the Great Aunts,) and there is a secondary story set in 1676 which provides some historic background and additional local details. I have read and enjoyed other books in this series, but it is not necessary to have done so to appreciate this one.

I received an advance copy of this book from NetGalley and the publishers in exchange for my honest opinion.

Dual storyline takes the reader to Scotland in the 1600s in the thick of the witch trials and back to the 1900s with Lady Emily and her family also in Scotland. When the boys discover a dead body, everyone in the village is surprised when local son Angus Sinclair is found brutally murdered. What turns the investigation upside down is the discovery that Angus Sinclair is not the native son everyone remembers, but someone impersonating him. In the 1600s newly widowed Lady MacAllister is thrown out of her home by her greedy brother-in-law. The two stories not really connect, but they make for a very enjoyable book. Another excellent entry into this delightful series.

I love this series and this entry was no exception. Cold Highland Wind is a wonderful installment in a long running series but also reads great on its own.
If you love sottish settings and mystery you will love A Cold Highland Wind.

A Cold Highland Wind is a wonderful installment in a long running series but also reads splendidly as a stand alone.
I loved the writing style and setting. Pacing was a little wonky in the mid story but it evened out wonderfully.
Readers who love sottish settings and mystery will find a delightful treat in A Cold Highland Wind by Tasha Alex.

The Scotland highlands have never felt so dangerous! Interweaving the stories of Colin and Lady Emily with a tale of a former servant tangled up in the witch trials of the 1600s. One of the mysteries wrapped up a little too neatly at the end for me, but I still love the characters and will follow their journey wherever it may go!

"A Cold Highland Wind" is a mystery set in 1905 in Scotland. There's also a secondary story going on in 1676 that tells details of a past event referred to in the main story. This book is the 17th in a series. You can understand this book without reading the previous ones, and this story didn't spoil the mysteries or major events of the previous books.

Historical and setting details were woven into the story without slowing the pacing. The main characters were engaging and reacted realistically to events. Emily and Colin had to identify the victim, which wasn't as easy as it initially seemed. Emily asked good questions, followed up on clues, and considered possible scenarios until she figured out what was going on. I started suspecting whodunit only a little bit before Emily did, so whodunit was guessable from the clues.

There were no sex scenes, though married sex was implied. There were only a few uses of bad language. Overall, I'd recommend this enjoyable novel.

Another solid installment in this long-running series. I greatly enjoyed seeing Scotland through Lady Emily's eyes.

This book was absolutely amazing. I loved this book so much. I love this series and I can't wait for more to come out and I can see what other adventures we will go on together.
I just reviewed A Cold Highland Wind by Tasha Alexander. #NetGalley
[NetGalley URL]

I loved this latest - and 17th - installment in Tasha Alexander’s series featuring feisty, whip smart Lady Emily. Set in the Scottish Highlands this time ‘round, the novel focuses primarily on the efforts of Lady Emily and her hunky, liberated hubby to solve a murder mystery while revealing women’s plights and championing women’s rights in word and in deed in 1905. Their twin sons, ward Tom and Duke Jeremy all make frequent appearances in this book, as (hilariously) does the boys’ pet crocodile, Cedric. Jeremy’s great aunts, who reside in the medieval wing of the family Highlands castle, are utterly delightful characters and deserve special mention. With crisp and intelligent prose and propulsive plotting, Alexander has created a strong sense of place and time and expertly woven in many a history lesson as well as witty and entertaining dialogue, a large cast of interesting secondary characters, and a good amount of tartan plaid.

A second storyline is set in the same village in 1676, the era of Scottish witch hunts, and additionally touches on themes of slavery and freedom in including a Moorish woman heinously kidnapped from Tunisia, enslaved and then gifted to a Scottish laird’s wife. While not as well developed as the main storyline, it compliments and provides important historical context for the Lady Emily thread.

Highly recommended to all Lady Emily “regulars” and other fans of intelligent, well researched historical mysteries featuring strong women protagonists. I’ve read every book in this series and look forward to Lady Emily’s latest adventures each year. Many thanks to Minotaur Books and NetGalley for the privilege of a complimentary ARC. Opinions are my own.

1905, Cairnfarn, Scotland.

Lady Emily Hargreaves and her husband Colin, with their three precocious sons (and one crocodile) in tow, descend upon the Highland estate of Emily’s childhood friend Jeremy, the Duke of Bainbridge. Expecting a relaxed family holiday to introduce the boys to Jeremy’s menagerie, the Hargreaves are instead thrown headlong into a murder investigation after their sons stumble upon the body of Cairnfarn Castle’s gamekeeper.

Emily and Colin soon learn the gamekeeper had secrets of his own to hide, and they set out to piece together the puzzle surrounding his death. Was it an affair of the heart motivating his killer, as more than one village girl was in love with him? Or was it driven by the past he fled in Edinburgh? The vicar and his young wife, the newly installed female doctor, Cairnfarn residents, and village herbalist — all paint different portraits of the victim, further muddying the waters.

Entwined in the modern narrative is a parallel story of Cairnfarn in the late 1600s, when the fervor of the witch hunt was rampant throughout Europe and the British Isles. Tasnim, dubbed Tansy, is a young Moorish woman kidnapped from her family and forced into a life of slavery and then servitude as a ‘free’ woman far from home in Scotland. Unable to leave her mistress Rossalyn after her complete reversal of fortune, Tasnim finds herself living in a tiny cottage in the village, learning to survive in yet another role in which she’s been cast. When the suspicion of witchcraft hits close to home, Tasnim worries she’ll be an easy target as a foreigner, yet things play out in an unexpected way.

I love this series. This entry was no exception. I did guess major aspects of the plot resolution, but that did not detract much from my enjoyment of the story.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read and review this book.