Dr. Emilia McRoy, Doctor, and Coroner residing in Sea Isle, Scotland is settling into her daily routine and and making friends among the locals.

Emilia's invited to attend a friend's wedding at Morrigan Castle owned by Lord and Constable Ewan Campbell. It's a three-day party with a snow storm on the way trapping everyone inside. As friends and family mingle, Emilio explores the castle and finds a dead man in one of the turrets along with two of her friends being poisoned.

It's up to Emilio and Ewan to find the killer and protect those in the castle since no local police can travel because of the snow storm. There's a killer among them and everyone denies knowing the dead man. Those attending the wedding aren't what they seem and someone is determine to stop the wedding by any means including murder.




https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/6158298769

I loved the synopsis but found it very difficult to get engaged in the story or relate to the characters. I do not recommend this book.

“ Death at a Scottish Christmas ” by Lucy Connelly the 3rd instalment in the " A Scottish Isle Mystery" series. I love this series.

I really enjoyed visiting Sea Isle, Scotland again especially at Christmas, and seeing how Em has found her footing in the community on the island. Another thing I enjoy is the relationship between Em, Mara, Abigail, Angie and of course Ewen. I’m still hoping something romantic develops between Ewen and Em maybe in book four…

It was entertaining, full of twists and turns and I didn’t completely guess whodunnit until Em did.

I highly recommend this series to all my cozy loving friends and I can’t wait for book 4 to come out!

I requested and received an advanced readers copy from Crooked Lane and NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my OWN.

It is December in Sea Isle, Scotland, and Dr. Emilia McRoy is getting her first taste of the holidays in her new home. However, the death of a musical icon who performed with his group at the pub leads Emilia into another murder investigation.

Bram was a charismatic character who just happened to have an affair with Constable Ewan Campbell's fiancée many years ago. Ewan isn't happy to have him back in his hometown, but he didn't murder him despite the opinion of an imported cop.

As Emilia tries to look into the cause of death and Bram's medical records, she also has to deal with one of the other members of the band who is hysterical and who drugs herself into a coma. Then there is the band's manager who is looking for a way to capitalize on Bram's death to make money until he dies suspiciously himself.

Then Ewan is attacked and requires emergency surgery to prevent a brain bleed which is up to Emilia since a blizzard has rolled in preventing moving him to another hospital.

I enjoyed this mystery. It is the third in a series and I have been enjoying how Emilia is fitting in at her new community and making some close friends.

What a perfect kind of Christmas story- murder. The combination of mystery, murder, and the spirit of the holidays. The friendships, the country, and the characters bring to you to a place where one would want to go during the Christmas season. The bonus would be to help in discovering the murder.

I really like this series. The setting, the town, the characters are great. I feel as though I’m there also. I can’t help but feel sad though about the killer. #DeathataScottishChristmas #NetGalley

Lucy Connelly has written another wonderful book in the Scottish Isle Mystery series! There are so many things I love about this series, starting with smart, tough and serious protagonist Emilia, who seems to be finding more joy in life in each book. It’s great to have a character who is smart and works with the police (for the most part) and what great constable she has to work with! I also love the community in this series. It is exactly the kind of place I enjoy escaping to when I read a book. It’s small and cozy, people really care about each other, there are interesting characters and a wonderful Scottish setting. I did not figure out the mystery until the characters did and was very surprised. I love it when an author can truly keep me guessing until the end! Lucy Connelly has quickly become an author that any new books she writes go immediately on the top of my To-Be-Read list!

Thank you to NetGalley for allowing me to review this book. All opinions are my own.

I really enjoyed this third book in the Scottish Isle Mystery. The characters are engaging and the mystery kept you doing some guessing. I have really been enjoying this series and hope that it will continue for at least a few more stories.

#DeathataScottishChristmas #NetGalley

This was a cute cozy mystery that is part of a series but I did not have any problem reading this one even though I had not read the others. A American MD who now lives in Scotland as their local MD and also the coroner is on Christmas vacation when a very popular rock star dies . This one kept me guessing until the end . I look forward to reading more by this author.

This is a fast-paced and enjoyable mystery, which keeps you interested. Dr Emilia works in an idyllic Scottish village where she is also the coroner. When a band comes to town and the lead singer is murdered, she has to investigate. There are many twists and turns along the way and Em has to find out whether the killer was a band member or a crazy fan. I thought that the mystery was a bit amateur and I found some of the relationships in the book a bit confusing because I haven’t read the first two books.

However, I really liked the Christmassy setting and the descriptions of the events and festivals in the village. This book certainly makes you want to live in Scotland!

I received this free ebook from NetGalley in return for an honest review.

From a big city ER doctor to the doctor/coroner of the small community of Sea Isle Scotland, Dr Emilia McRoy is enjoying the change of pace and the feeling of belonging in this close-knit community. Taking a month’s vacation before she starts work, the last thing she expects is to find Bram, the leader of a worldwide famous band dead on the local beach. Having given a community performance the night before, the last thing anybody expected was to find him dead!
Suspects abound but since most are either band mates, friends or locals, along with a few groupies, narrowing the field becomes a battle of wits, not to mention someone trying by harm Emilia while she tries to solve the mysterious death. Has she come too close to the killer without even knowing it? With the help of her friends and the hunky if somewhat grumpy Constable Ewan Campbell Emilia helps find the answer while still enjoying the many traditions of the community during the Christmas season.
I enjoyed this mystery from the setting to the characters and look forward to more books from this author.

This is the first book in this series I have read & I appreciated that some background information was filled in without bogging down the book with it. It felt like just the right amount for me. I liked this book overall, but it did feel a bit twee to me at times. My two biggest frustrations with the book are the confusing timeline (repeated uses of "that night" in conversation when the event being discussed seemingly just happened the night before aka last night) & the lack of follow-up on some of the supposed clues we are given. For instance, there is a character who mentions feeling foggy and weird since arriving in town, the doctor thinks, hmm, better run some blood tests, and then WE NEVER HEAR ABOUT IT AGAIN! I also felt like we lacked sufficient understanding of how & why the crime was committed at the end. I personally want to understand the how & why, even in a cozy mystery. I wasn't quite satisfied with who the murderer ended up being.

So what did I enjoy? I enjoyed the setting & the town events that took place. It felt Christmas-y without being over the top. I mostly liked what I think are the main & recurring characters, though I agree with another review I saw that the closeness of the friendships seems a bit over the top for the amount of time they have known each other. While this series probably won't be my first choice for a cozy to read, I could see myself reading another.

Thanks to NetGalley & Crooked Lane Books for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Death at a Scottish Christmas, the third installment of the Scottish Isle mystery series by Lucy Connelly is a brilliantly crafted cozy mystery made all the more cozy by being set at Christmas in the small town of Sea Isle in the Scottish highlands.
Dr. Emilia McRoy is perhaps the most believable of amateur sleuths I've come across, as she actually has a right to be involved in investigations in her position as town coroner. With her fish-out-of-water portrayal as an American in a foreign land, is heartwarming, as is her relationship with the wide variety of patients and friends she has accumulated around her. The setting comes alive thanks to Connelly's skillful descriptions that not once come over as heavy, and the mystery of who killed the Scottish rock star and native son is complex and keeps you turning the pages.
The inclusion of various seasonal celebrations from different cultures is a nice touch, giving depth to this 'Christmas' mystery.
I am so glad that #NetGalley has introduced me to a new favourite #cozy author by providing me with the ARC of #DeathataScottishChristmas. I will definitely be looking to read more from this author!

Absolutely delightful cozy mystery. The holidays can be deadly when people gather together. Intrepid doctor has her hands full when the bodies start dropping and the temperature plummets. Curl up with a hot chocolate and a warm blanket for a cozy read of murder and music.

I enjoyed this fun Christmas mystery. Christmas books are one of my favorites and this one did not disappoint. It kept me guessing until the end on who did it. My one wish is that it had more Christmas in it. The Christmas portions seemed to bit just thrown in.

Like in the previous book, the Scottish décor really makes for a good piece of escapism. The Christmas atmosphere is sprinkled all over the book, it's quite subtle. I would have loved more Christmas spirit, but the investigation, a good one with much suspense, did take a lot of place. Overall, a good entertaining read. Looking forward to the next one.

theft, musicians, music-idol, cultural-differences, cultural-exploration, coroner, Scotland, local-law-enforcement, medical-doctor, medical-examiner, ex-pat, suspense, investigations, amateur-sleuth, relationships, friends, friendship, series, murder, not-TTS-enabled*****

Dr. Emilia McRoy, burned out working ER in the US but is now the MD and coroner for a small remote Scottish town which is the responsibility of Constable Ewan Campbell who is also a barrister and laird.
The murder is that of a member of a prominent band which happens immediately after their gig at the castle, but there are so many secrets and lies that the investigation gets tangled in knots. All of the characters are so clearly portrayed I could recognize them in the dark.
I requested and received a free temporary advance reader's copy uncorrected e-proof from Crooked Lane Books via NetGalley. THANK YOU but next time make in TTS enabled so it doesn't hurt to read!
#ScottishIsleMysteryBk3 Pub Date Oct 15, 2024

A great addition to an incredible series! Wonderful characters in an incredible setting. This book will keep you guessing until the end.

What a wonderful holiday! The insights into Doc's past are timed helpfully and quickly so as to not bog down the story or have a repeat reader skimming over them. I definitely want more of Sea Isle and hopefully, more of Ewan and Em finding their feelings for each other. A few times I forgot what Doc's name is (Em) because everyone, including, her dear friends addressed her as such.
The way the author writes dialog should be studied by other authors because I can "hear" the Scottish accent of most of the characters. The whole thing was a wonderful holiday who-done-it. I was totally engrossed in the story that I finished it in a day

Thank you to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for providing me with an eARC for this book!

Death at a Scottish Christmas is a murder mystery set in a small(?) Scottish village, and only the doctor cum coroner can put the pieces together to solve the whodunit. When a Scottish band comes home to Sea Isle to perform one last concert before heading off on a tour of the States, everyone seems to be excited. But when the lead singer of the band turns up dead the following morning, the whole town is on edge. Is there a killer amongst them?

I really wanted to give this book a higher rating, since I love all things Scottish, and have traveled there extensively. So there were a few things that threw me out of the story in regards to how Connelly writes the Scottish countryside. Especially with the mention of a cathedral in said "small" Scottish village. I can handle a bit of suspension of disbelief, but that was a stretch too far for me, as usually cathedrals are built in larger city centres (think Edinburgh, which has three (for Catholicism, Episopalianism, and Church of Scotland (though that's now referred to as a high kirk).

And it didn't make matters better that we had a thin mystery, with the inclusion of a brash DI who is intent on blaming the local constable of murder based on a never explained history that she has with him. I get having red herrings in mysteries, it's par for the course, but to just let that thread dangle without further explanation of what the beef was got annoying. I also think that I figured out who the killer was too early in the story, thought that it couldn't be that obvious, and then turned out to be correct. *sigh*

Also, another petty point - there are FAR more Scottish musical groups/singers than just the Proclaimers. There's Lewis Capaldi, The Eves, Barbara Dickson, and Texas, to name the few that come right to mind. If you're going to write about Scottish culture, maybe do some of that research that you claim to love and find out more about Scottish music?