A Small Death in the Great Glen

By A.D. Scott

Book Overview

A gripping and atmospheric novel of suspense, set in the Scottish Highlands in the 1950s, featuring a small-town newspaper staff.In the Highlands of 1950s Scotland, a boy is found dead in a canal lock. Two young girls tell such a fanciful story of his disappearance that no one believes them. The local newspaper staff--including Joanne Ross, the part-time typist embroiled in an abusive marriage, and her boss, a seasoned journalist determined to revamp the paper--set out to uncover and investigate the crime. Suspicion falls on several townspeople, all of whom profess their innocence. Alongside these characters are the people of the town and neighboring glens; a refugee Polish sailor; an Italian family whose caf boasts the first known cappuccino machine in the north of Scotland; and a corrupt town clerk subverting the planning laws to line his own pocket. Together, these very different Scots harbor deep and troubling secrets underneath their polished and respectable veneers--revelations that may prevent the crime from being solved and may keep the town firmly in the clutches of its shadowy past.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1439154937
• ISBN13: 9781439154939
• Release Date: August 2010
• Publisher: Atria Books
• Length: 416 Pages
• Weight: 0.85 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 5.2" x 8.2"

Customer Reviews

too long

I wish I could give this book 4 stars, but I can't. You could cut 50 pages out of the book (at least) and get a good book. Too many pages spent on descriptions of a wedding, foods, and scenery. It is well written; the author writes about Scotland in the 50's and you feel you are there. This is a murder mystery in a small town told from multiple points of view, which is fine, but the main character's story gets a bit lost because of it. I felt this also made her character growth feel rushed or maybe not fleshed out more. I did appreciate the book not going into sordid details about the child's murder.