Novel set in Inverness and environs (“Scotland was working her reliable magic”)
- Book: Love, Revenge and Buttered Scones
- Location: Inverness-shire
- Author: Bobbie Darbyshire
This is, in part, the story of the many faces of Angus Urquhart….Three people hop aboard the train in London that will take them to Inverness, each on a quest, and as the story unfolds so do the strands that bring their paths together.
From the title/cover of the book, Love, Revenge and Buttered Scones, I anticipated a cosy read along the homely lines of the M C Beaton Cotswold set Agatha Raisin series. But this is not a sleuthing novel, this is a book that charts developing relationships in the context of each character’s personal backstory and how individual stories develop as relationships evolve.
Henry spots his eccentric brother Peter on the very same train, fairly early on, and goes out of his way to avoid an encounter, he is focussed on his impending encounter with his favourite author, Marjorie Macpherson, who is due to give a talk at the Reading Room of the Inverness Library. Spaniard Elena wants to track down Angus Urquhart, in her eyes el malo, in order to settle old scores; and Peter is bound up in Gaelic verse, but has his own mission involving so-called Calum Calum.
Fiona works in the library in Inverness and is the catalyst for unfolding events, and eventually all the characters pile into a car and head up into the wilds of Scotland, the snow all around, each character still intent on their own line of enquiry. Surprising encounters and relationships feed the story as it unfolds and evolves.
This review first appeared on our blog and the author talks to us about writing and about locale
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