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Scottish Bookshop Mystery #1
The Cracked Spine
A bold adventurer who wants to travel the world from a comfortable and safe spot behind a desk that has seen the likes of kings and queens, paupers and princes. A humble book and rare manuscript shop seeks a keenly intelligent investigator to assist us in our search for things thought lost, and in our quest to return lost items to their rightful owners.
Never an adventurer, no one was more surprised than Delaney Nichols when she packed her bags and moved halfway across the world to Edinburgh, Scotland to start a job at The Cracked Spine, a bookshop located in the heart of the city. Her new boss, Edwin MacAlister, has given her the opportunity of a lifetime, albeit a cryptic one, and Delaney can’t wait to take her spot behind the desk.
The Cracked Spine is filled with everything a book lover could want, each item as eclectic as the people who work there; the spirited and lovable Rosie, who always has tiny dog Hector in tow; Hamlet, a nineteen-year-old thespian with a colored past and bright future; and Edwin, who is just as enigmatic and mysterious as Delaney expected. An extra bonus is Tom the bartender from across the street, with his cobalt eyes, and a gentle brogue—and it doesn’t hurt that he looks awfully good in a kilt.
But before she can settle into her new life, a precious artifact goes missing, and Edwin’s sister is brutally murdered. Never did Delaney think that searching for things lost could mean a killer, but if she’s to keep her job, and protect her new friends, she’ll need to learn the truth behind this Scottish tragedy.
Never an adventurer, no one was more surprised than Delaney Nichols when she packed her bags and moved halfway across the world to Edinburgh, Scotland to start a job at The Cracked Spine, a bookshop located in the heart of the city. Her new boss, Edwin MacAlister, has given her the opportunity of a lifetime, albeit a cryptic one, and Delaney can’t wait to take her spot behind the desk.
The Cracked Spine is filled with everything a book lover could want, each item as eclectic as the people who work there; the spirited and lovable Rosie, who always has tiny dog Hector in tow; Hamlet, a nineteen-year-old thespian with a colored past and bright future; and Edwin, who is just as enigmatic and mysterious as Delaney expected. An extra bonus is Tom the bartender from across the street, with his cobalt eyes, and a gentle brogue—and it doesn’t hurt that he looks awfully good in a kilt.
But before she can settle into her new life, a precious artifact goes missing, and Edwin’s sister is brutally murdered. Never did Delaney think that searching for things lost could mean a killer, but if she’s to keep her job, and protect her new friends, she’ll need to learn the truth behind this Scottish tragedy.
294 pages, Hardcover
First published March 29, 2016
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,279 reviews
July 25, 2016
A mystery set in Edinburgh, a bucket list city for me, in a bookshop with a young American from Kansas as our sleuth. What could go wrong?
For starters, it isn't easily lumped into the "cozy" mystery genre, in my opinion. It has a cute token small dog (every cozy mystery has some small animal involved), a batty older well meaning secondary woman, the benefactor characters for the main character, and its main character embarking on some sort of personal journey or quest. All of which are pretty standard "cozy" mystery elements, from what I've read. I struggled though with understanding how the sleuth, Delaney Nichols, seemed to take it upon herself to try to solve a murder in a foreign country she knows very little about. She didn't solve mysteries in Kansas nor have any personal history as an amateur sleuth. So why now all of a sudden is she insinuating herself into the murder of her new boss's sister? It really really didn't logically follow for me and kind of ruined it. The bit where her boss belongs to a secret club that allows the purchase of priceless items was far fetched in how it was presented. I feel that a lot of the plot was far fetched in its presentation and didn't really meld together in a flowing storyline. To sum it up, I found this to be a "lurching story". It would pick up, slow down, pick up slow down, and then just get some odd component that left you wondering what is going on. And not in a good, keep'em guessing mystery sort of way. This one seemed to lack the finesse of a cozy mystery.
So what genre of mystery do I categorize this one? I don't know. A trying to make it to cozy but ending up at fairly comfy? The author really had elements that would all be things I enjoy in a book. A lost Folio of Shakespeare could have really been explored a bit deeper, her work researching her boss's collection could have been explored a little deeper, and overall, perhaps not having so many secondary characters as "helpers" to Delaney could have made for a more cohesive storyline.
It's a cute book, don't get me wrong. But not a favorite. Which is a blooming shame because I was really looking forward to a story with a mystery, a bookshop, and a setting in Scotland.
For starters, it isn't easily lumped into the "cozy" mystery genre, in my opinion. It has a cute token small dog (every cozy mystery has some small animal involved), a batty older well meaning secondary woman, the benefactor characters for the main character, and its main character embarking on some sort of personal journey or quest. All of which are pretty standard "cozy" mystery elements, from what I've read. I struggled though with understanding how the sleuth, Delaney Nichols, seemed to take it upon herself to try to solve a murder in a foreign country she knows very little about. She didn't solve mysteries in Kansas nor have any personal history as an amateur sleuth. So why now all of a sudden is she insinuating herself into the murder of her new boss's sister? It really really didn't logically follow for me and kind of ruined it. The bit where her boss belongs to a secret club that allows the purchase of priceless items was far fetched in how it was presented. I feel that a lot of the plot was far fetched in its presentation and didn't really meld together in a flowing storyline. To sum it up, I found this to be a "lurching story". It would pick up, slow down, pick up slow down, and then just get some odd component that left you wondering what is going on. And not in a good, keep'em guessing mystery sort of way. This one seemed to lack the finesse of a cozy mystery.
So what genre of mystery do I categorize this one? I don't know. A trying to make it to cozy but ending up at fairly comfy? The author really had elements that would all be things I enjoy in a book. A lost Folio of Shakespeare could have really been explored a bit deeper, her work researching her boss's collection could have been explored a little deeper, and overall, perhaps not having so many secondary characters as "helpers" to Delaney could have made for a more cohesive storyline.
It's a cute book, don't get me wrong. But not a favorite. Which is a blooming shame because I was really looking forward to a story with a mystery, a bookshop, and a setting in Scotland.
April 19, 2021
Delaney made the change of a lifetime - she picked herself up from Kansas and plopped herself back down in Edinburgh, Scotland.
I often say that we should only be judged on two things: if we’re kind, and if we read books.”
She was hired, sight unseen, to work at the Cracked Spine - a rare books shop and almost immediately the boss's sister died.
And then a very rare book goes missing and the suspects keep piling up.
Delaney will have to rely on her sleuthing skills to find out the murderer - before it's too late!
Ehhhh... it was too perfect (and not in a good way).
As with many cozy mysteries, we are thrown into many implausible situations and the believability comes into question right away.
Her cabbie just so happens to have the hookup to the cutest Scottish cottage in all the land? What are the odds? (Oh wait, it's a cozy, so the odds are actually 100%).
The guy she bumps into is super-duper hot but has a slightly murderous undertones (which makes her question his motives).
There's a batty old woman who will say what she wants when she wants. There's a cute dog with a dignified name. Everyone is surprisingly unfazed by the murder after a chapter, etc, etc.
This one was entertaining at times, it just seemed to rely too heavily on cliches and coincidences.
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April 16, 2018
I'm not really a fan of cozies, and much less those written by Americans and set in Scotland and Ireland. It's a sales gimmick, because writers know American readers like books set in those places. This author decided to write a series set in Scotland, knowing next to nothing about the country. Then she made one trip there. As much as this sets this book up to be unsatisfactory, it was the plot and character development that did it in.
The plot was flimsy and hard to follow. A wealthy antiquarian bookstore owner hires a young American from Kansas to work for him. Why? Scotland must have plenty of qualified people to do the work he needed. This book was published in 2016, 400 years since the death of Shakespeare, and the year the First Folio toured the US. This plot has the bookstore owner discovering a copy of the First Folio that disappears. Really? Then there's a murder. But the details of who the suspects are unconvincing, and the idea that this young woman from Kansas is investigating the disappearance of the folio and the murder is completely ludicrous.
Because it's a cozy, there has to be a romance. A handsome man in a kilt is immediately smitten by the young American woman. Why? Nothing about her leads the reader to expect his infatuation. It's not as though American tourists and visitors are scarce on the ground.
I raced through the second half of this book just to get done, and I won't be reading more of this series. With a plot this weakly constructed, and characters who are very flat, it didn't really matter that the author knows almost nothing about Scotland. She really doesn't know how to build a good story.
The plot was flimsy and hard to follow. A wealthy antiquarian bookstore owner hires a young American from Kansas to work for him. Why? Scotland must have plenty of qualified people to do the work he needed. This book was published in 2016, 400 years since the death of Shakespeare, and the year the First Folio toured the US. This plot has the bookstore owner discovering a copy of the First Folio that disappears. Really? Then there's a murder. But the details of who the suspects are unconvincing, and the idea that this young woman from Kansas is investigating the disappearance of the folio and the murder is completely ludicrous.
Because it's a cozy, there has to be a romance. A handsome man in a kilt is immediately smitten by the young American woman. Why? Nothing about her leads the reader to expect his infatuation. It's not as though American tourists and visitors are scarce on the ground.
I raced through the second half of this book just to get done, and I won't be reading more of this series. With a plot this weakly constructed, and characters who are very flat, it didn't really matter that the author knows almost nothing about Scotland. She really doesn't know how to build a good story.
June 10, 2023
I needed this cozy after my previous 2 reads. Delaney Nichols has lost her job at a museum in Wichita, KS and sees an ad for a job in a book and rare manuscript shop in Scotland. She decides to take the leap but before she can get down to work, the sister of the bookstore owner is discovered murdered, and a rare manuscript is missing. Delaney inserts herself in the investigation and soon is swept up in the lives of those in the bookstore and beyond as she seeks to ferret out the who, what, & why of this murder. The first in the series. If you need a little escape to an area of Edinburgh, there is more to this bookstore than first meets the eye and I look forward to learning more about it & the delightful people who inhabit the environs.
January 31, 2016
I received this via Goodreads First Reads Giveaway in exchange for an honest review.
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A lovely cozy mystery that felt mismatched to me.... some of the motivations seemed odd/off to me and I never felt like I got to know any of the characters very well. We spend some time with them and I did love the idea of these people, but it felt like I was being kept at a distance.
Delaney's motives for taking the job I understood but never bought completely, but who hasn't dreamed of running off (so to speak) to somewhere completely different for a new life from time to time?:)
While the death of the one character was sad, I had trouble feeling anything for the circumstances. Many times, while I admired Delaney wanting to help her "Scottish family" (as she calls them), I wanted to shake her for going off on her own and investigating.
I did love her "bookish voices" but it was never more elaborated on in light of the the other goings-on (understandable but still would have loved to know more about it).
The pieces do come together in the end but it felt "too little, too late" for me... I wasn't bored and I did have some fun, but this won't be one I'll be re-visiting. I may read the second one when it comes out but it won't be top priority for me.
I'm semi-new to the "cozy mystery" genre but I'm enjoying myself so far :) (Nidah is too blame :-P)
Would recommend, it's a nice book to have a lazy day with.
Happy reading!
2.5 to three stars
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A lovely cozy mystery that felt mismatched to me.... some of the motivations seemed odd/off to me and I never felt like I got to know any of the characters very well. We spend some time with them and I did love the idea of these people, but it felt like I was being kept at a distance.
Delaney's motives for taking the job I understood but never bought completely, but who hasn't dreamed of running off (so to speak) to somewhere completely different for a new life from time to time?:)
While the death of the one character was sad, I had trouble feeling anything for the circumstances. Many times, while I admired Delaney wanting to help her "Scottish family" (as she calls them), I wanted to shake her for going off on her own and investigating.
I did love her "bookish voices" but it was never more elaborated on in light of the the other goings-on (understandable but still would have loved to know more about it).
The pieces do come together in the end but it felt "too little, too late" for me... I wasn't bored and I did have some fun, but this won't be one I'll be re-visiting. I may read the second one when it comes out but it won't be top priority for me.
I'm semi-new to the "cozy mystery" genre but I'm enjoying myself so far :) (Nidah is too blame :-P)
Would recommend, it's a nice book to have a lazy day with.
Happy reading!
2.5 to three stars
December 7, 2016
Delaney Nicholas takes a job at the Cracked Spine Bookshop in Edinburgh after losing her job at a museum in Wichita, Kansas. She packs her bags and is on her way almost immediately. She has no plans or information but just the possibility of an exciting adventure.
As with many cozy mysteries, believability often takes a back seat in the story. The cab driver at the airport befriends her and rents her a small cottage that local residents would give their eyeteeth for. Her fellow employees are eccentric, the characters on the book's pages speak to her and her boss is both very rich and a mystery.
Almost immediately her bosses much younger sister is murdered and Delaney is hot on the trail. She is really pushy and slightly annoying but everyone seems to love her and puts her rudeness down to being an American. I mean who wouldn't be offended by questions about their love life when they first meet someone?
Still it's a fun romp through Edinburgh and the other characters are more pleasant than Delaney.
The author has this one annoying tick of writing "to" as tae and ken as "know" all the way through the book. We get it. The Scots have an accent to us but I think it should up in more than two words. Sigh.
As with many cozy mysteries, believability often takes a back seat in the story. The cab driver at the airport befriends her and rents her a small cottage that local residents would give their eyeteeth for. Her fellow employees are eccentric, the characters on the book's pages speak to her and her boss is both very rich and a mystery.
Almost immediately her bosses much younger sister is murdered and Delaney is hot on the trail. She is really pushy and slightly annoying but everyone seems to love her and puts her rudeness down to being an American. I mean who wouldn't be offended by questions about their love life when they first meet someone?
Still it's a fun romp through Edinburgh and the other characters are more pleasant than Delaney.
The author has this one annoying tick of writing "to" as tae and ken as "know" all the way through the book. We get it. The Scots have an accent to us but I think it should up in more than two words. Sigh.
May 29, 2017
I was a bit disappointed in this one. It was a cozy mystery set in a bookshop in Scotland... How was there any way this could go wrong? Let me summarize.
Delaney is that American. She's pushy and inconsiderate and is not put off by making others uncomfortable. Everyone in Scotland was too polite. I just wanted someone, anyone, to tell her to mind her own flippin' business.
Speaking of minding one's business, why did Delaney feel the need to solve this murder? She'd been in Scotland for about 24 hours when it happened. She did not know the victim, and she had only spent about 6 hours with the people who did. Almost immediately she starts interrogating them. She notices when this upsets them, but does she stop? Why would she? She has a job to do! Oh wait, she's not a detective. She just has no buy-in, and certainly nothing to justify inserting herself into these situations. Then she's dragging others into dangerous situations and jumping in when clearly it makes people uncomfortable. These people literally just lost someone they loved. They did not deserve to have Delaney unleashed on them on top of that.
The other thing that made me literally can't was Delaney's superpower. She thinks up quotes from books that match various situations she is in, but somehow it's borderline paranormal. While most of us will match a song, movie or book quote to a situation, Delaney believes the characters from the book are talking to her. And she zones out when this happens, so she has to be careful so others don't discover her secret. But she tells every other person in this. Oh, and the voices in her head tell her where she left things. Supposedly they could tell her where to find things other people lost, but her powers went mysteriously silent in these situations. Meanwhile I'm just sitting here running through the DSM diagnostic criteria for schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and ADD.
It just felt like this book was not sure what it wanted to be, so it tried to be everything at once. I did enjoy the other characters in this book despite Delaney. I'm debating whether I'll read the next one once it comes out in paperback in the hopes that some of these issues are resolved. But this series may just not be for me.
Delaney is that American. She's pushy and inconsiderate and is not put off by making others uncomfortable. Everyone in Scotland was too polite. I just wanted someone, anyone, to tell her to mind her own flippin' business.
Speaking of minding one's business, why did Delaney feel the need to solve this murder? She'd been in Scotland for about 24 hours when it happened. She did not know the victim, and she had only spent about 6 hours with the people who did. Almost immediately she starts interrogating them. She notices when this upsets them, but does she stop? Why would she? She has a job to do! Oh wait, she's not a detective. She just has no buy-in, and certainly nothing to justify inserting herself into these situations. Then she's dragging others into dangerous situations and jumping in when clearly it makes people uncomfortable. These people literally just lost someone they loved. They did not deserve to have Delaney unleashed on them on top of that.
The other thing that made me literally can't was Delaney's superpower. She thinks up quotes from books that match various situations she is in, but somehow it's borderline paranormal. While most of us will match a song, movie or book quote to a situation, Delaney believes the characters from the book are talking to her. And she zones out when this happens, so she has to be careful so others don't discover her secret. But she tells every other person in this. Oh, and the voices in her head tell her where she left things. Supposedly they could tell her where to find things other people lost, but her powers went mysteriously silent in these situations. Meanwhile I'm just sitting here running through the DSM diagnostic criteria for schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and ADD.
It just felt like this book was not sure what it wanted to be, so it tried to be everything at once. I did enjoy the other characters in this book despite Delaney. I'm debating whether I'll read the next one once it comes out in paperback in the hopes that some of these issues are resolved. But this series may just not be for me.
October 29, 2015
I received a copy of The Cracked Spine from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. It took me less than two days to finish reading it on my Kindle, and I've reviewed it, in brief, on my blog. I'm hoping to make this review somewhat more thorough for the Goodreads crowd.
This book bothered me for several reasons. I'm going to break this review down into sections to make it easier to read and engage with (for anyone who's interested).
Why does Delany hear voices? Delaney (the protagonist of the story) hears the voices of characters from the books that she's read. Unlike most of us (who might occasionally recall a line from a book or a movie), she hears them the way that a psychotic might hear voices. Except that it's more than that: These voices give her psychic power that enables her to find things which are lost.
Alright: I can see how that might be relevant to finding the lost thing in the novel (a copy of Shakespeare's First Folio). Except that when she needs her voices the most, they fall silent, unable to help her to trace the missing item.
This either makes the voices superfluous and unnecessary to the story (and a bit disturbing, let's face it), or it was a convenient way to make the story longer because the voices couldn't help her to find the Folio.
The dialog gave me a headache. Literally and sincerely, reading this book left me with a headache due to my attempts to translate the author's attempt at Scottish/Scots accent into the dialog on the page. It was difficult to read and decipher and it took me probably an added hour of reading time just to get through this throughout the novel.
Most readers are capable of using their imaginations to work out accents in stories such as this. It's annoying for many of us, and to my knowledge its absence doesn't bother the rest of us.
Descriptions were irrelevant and excessive. Nothing about the descriptions of the inside of the Patisserie enhanced my reading experience at all. Nor did the repeated efforts the author made to impress upon the reader what it feels like to ride in a car driving on the "wrong" side of the road. The book could have been cut by at least a third if these additional descriptions hadn't been crammed in every which way, and I believe that third could have been replaced with more interesting story development.
The end of the book felt rushed. When I glanced down at the % I'd read and realized that at 92%, we were just reaching the climax, I felt uncomfortable that things wouldn't wrap up all the way. While Shelton did manage to conclude the book without a cliffhanger, I felt let down that she didn't do more with the climax. It was to quick and too short. Not what I had hoped for from a mystery novel at all.
To me, it seemed that she was just trying to get the book over with, and while I've come to expect this from some self-published books I've read, Shelton could have done better than this, as could her editor.
Shelton included too much unnecessary information. At the very beginning, Rosie tells a story of witnessing a man being hit by a car. While this story comes to its conclusion in time, it seems entirely superfluous and unnecessary. Why include these details at all? They did nothing to enhance the story, and little to enhance the characters.
On that note, I'd have liked the primary romance to come a bit sooner. I realize I'm reading a cozy mystery and not a romance novel, but most of these mysteries are written with women in mind and include some kind of romance. If you're going to include it, make sure that it's not rushed and that you've attended to it properly. I liked the love interest and would have liked to see more development between him and Delaney (though his character was well-developed in just a few words, proving that Shelton is capable of doing it the right way (in my not-so-humble opinion, of course).
I will probably read the next book in this series because I liked the characters, but if that one doesn't pan out, I will probably abandon the author's work entirely. She has some things to work on if she wants to keep me as a reader.
This book bothered me for several reasons. I'm going to break this review down into sections to make it easier to read and engage with (for anyone who's interested).
Why does Delany hear voices? Delaney (the protagonist of the story) hears the voices of characters from the books that she's read. Unlike most of us (who might occasionally recall a line from a book or a movie), she hears them the way that a psychotic might hear voices. Except that it's more than that: These voices give her psychic power that enables her to find things which are lost.
Alright: I can see how that might be relevant to finding the lost thing in the novel (a copy of Shakespeare's First Folio). Except that when she needs her voices the most, they fall silent, unable to help her to trace the missing item.
This either makes the voices superfluous and unnecessary to the story (and a bit disturbing, let's face it), or it was a convenient way to make the story longer because the voices couldn't help her to find the Folio.
The dialog gave me a headache. Literally and sincerely, reading this book left me with a headache due to my attempts to translate the author's attempt at Scottish/Scots accent into the dialog on the page. It was difficult to read and decipher and it took me probably an added hour of reading time just to get through this throughout the novel.
Most readers are capable of using their imaginations to work out accents in stories such as this. It's annoying for many of us, and to my knowledge its absence doesn't bother the rest of us.
Descriptions were irrelevant and excessive. Nothing about the descriptions of the inside of the Patisserie enhanced my reading experience at all. Nor did the repeated efforts the author made to impress upon the reader what it feels like to ride in a car driving on the "wrong" side of the road. The book could have been cut by at least a third if these additional descriptions hadn't been crammed in every which way, and I believe that third could have been replaced with more interesting story development.
The end of the book felt rushed. When I glanced down at the % I'd read and realized that at 92%, we were just reaching the climax, I felt uncomfortable that things wouldn't wrap up all the way. While Shelton did manage to conclude the book without a cliffhanger, I felt let down that she didn't do more with the climax. It was to quick and too short. Not what I had hoped for from a mystery novel at all.
To me, it seemed that she was just trying to get the book over with, and while I've come to expect this from some self-published books I've read, Shelton could have done better than this, as could her editor.
Shelton included too much unnecessary information. At the very beginning, Rosie tells a story of witnessing a man being hit by a car. While this story comes to its conclusion in time, it seems entirely superfluous and unnecessary. Why include these details at all? They did nothing to enhance the story, and little to enhance the characters.
On that note, I'd have liked the primary romance to come a bit sooner. I realize I'm reading a cozy mystery and not a romance novel, but most of these mysteries are written with women in mind and include some kind of romance. If you're going to include it, make sure that it's not rushed and that you've attended to it properly. I liked the love interest and would have liked to see more development between him and Delaney (though his character was well-developed in just a few words, proving that Shelton is capable of doing it the right way (in my not-so-humble opinion, of course).
I will probably read the next book in this series because I liked the characters, but if that one doesn't pan out, I will probably abandon the author's work entirely. She has some things to work on if she wants to keep me as a reader.
October 2, 2015
Dollycas’s Thoughts
I am in awe of Delaney Nichols. She answers an unusual ad and within days is leaving Kansas behind and is off to Edinburgh, Scotland and The Cracked Spine. The Cracked Spine is an “humble book and rare manuscript shop”. Truly though it is an amazing place full of nooks, secret spaces, library ladders and books, so many wonderful books.
Edwin MacAlister owns the place and the man responsible for hiring “Delaney from Kansas in America”. He also employs young Hamlet, an aspiring actor with a troubled past, and Rosie, who takes her little dog everywhere she goes. We also meet Elias, the taxi driver, who picked up Delaney at the airport. He introduces her to his wife and they all quickly become friends. We also met Tom, a handsome bartender at a local pub.
Before Edwin can even share all the plans he has for Delaney in her new position tragedy strikes. His sister, Jenny, is murdered and a previously undiscovered First Folio of Shakespeare’s Plays disappears. With a little help from her new friends Delaney finds herself traveling all over the city tracking down clues trying to find the folio and a killer. This is definitely something Delaney can’t write home about or she may be back in Kansas faster than she can click her heels together.
I knew Paige Shelton was a fantastic storyteller from her Farmer’s Market Mysteries and Country Cooking School Mysteries so it is no surprise that I love, love, love, this story. Complete with the Scottish accents, words, and phrases these characters come alive in these pages. She also paints a clear picture of The Cracked Spine itself and the beautiful city with its castles, alleyway and stores and shops. I was laughing out loud as she fought to get used to the traffic and the cars “on-the-other-side-of-the-road thing”.
The missing folio and the murder may or may not connected so the suspects were very widespread. Could she have been killed by someone she knew? Someone who had nothing to with The Cracked Spine? Or was it a collector that would do anything to obtain Shakespeare’s plays?
Through Shelton’s writing I was able to completely escape to Scotland right along with Delaney and all the new people she meets. Delaney is a strong woman ready for an adventure and I am delighted to accompany her on her journey. What a impressive debut for this series! This story is a pure treasure!
I am in awe of Delaney Nichols. She answers an unusual ad and within days is leaving Kansas behind and is off to Edinburgh, Scotland and The Cracked Spine. The Cracked Spine is an “humble book and rare manuscript shop”. Truly though it is an amazing place full of nooks, secret spaces, library ladders and books, so many wonderful books.
Edwin MacAlister owns the place and the man responsible for hiring “Delaney from Kansas in America”. He also employs young Hamlet, an aspiring actor with a troubled past, and Rosie, who takes her little dog everywhere she goes. We also meet Elias, the taxi driver, who picked up Delaney at the airport. He introduces her to his wife and they all quickly become friends. We also met Tom, a handsome bartender at a local pub.
Before Edwin can even share all the plans he has for Delaney in her new position tragedy strikes. His sister, Jenny, is murdered and a previously undiscovered First Folio of Shakespeare’s Plays disappears. With a little help from her new friends Delaney finds herself traveling all over the city tracking down clues trying to find the folio and a killer. This is definitely something Delaney can’t write home about or she may be back in Kansas faster than she can click her heels together.
I knew Paige Shelton was a fantastic storyteller from her Farmer’s Market Mysteries and Country Cooking School Mysteries so it is no surprise that I love, love, love, this story. Complete with the Scottish accents, words, and phrases these characters come alive in these pages. She also paints a clear picture of The Cracked Spine itself and the beautiful city with its castles, alleyway and stores and shops. I was laughing out loud as she fought to get used to the traffic and the cars “on-the-other-side-of-the-road thing”.
The missing folio and the murder may or may not connected so the suspects were very widespread. Could she have been killed by someone she knew? Someone who had nothing to with The Cracked Spine? Or was it a collector that would do anything to obtain Shakespeare’s plays?
Through Shelton’s writing I was able to completely escape to Scotland right along with Delaney and all the new people she meets. Delaney is a strong woman ready for an adventure and I am delighted to accompany her on her journey. What a impressive debut for this series! This story is a pure treasure!
March 13, 2016
Are you ready to be swept into an adventure abroad that will invigorate your imagination? Open this book and enter a far-away land with Delaney Nichols as she moves from Kansas to Scotland taking a job at The Cracked Spine--a rare book and manuscript shop located in Edinburgh.
Welcomed by a friendly cab driver, Elias; then by two shop employees, Hamlet and Rosie, who's always accompanied by her cute Yorkie, Hector; Delaney's new life has begun. She has a quirky 'talent' that helps her when she's around books. Her employer, Edwin MacAlister, is aristocratic, vastly wealthy, and quite mysterious. He plans to teach Delaney the process of his business of procuring and collecting valuables which she finds both intriguing and confusing. Edwin is part of a group whose dealings are very secretive. Shortly after Delaney's arrival in Scotland, Edwin's sister, Jenny, is found brutally murdered. Left in her keeping was a priceless first Folio of Shakespeare's work, and now it's missing. Many of Jenny's friends are shady characters. Edwin's circle acts suspicious of Jenny and her actions while the Folio was in her possession. Delaney doesn't know anyone all that well, but determinedly puts her trust in Elias and his wife, Aggie, and her co-workers, to help her assist Edwin track down his sister's killer and locate the rare Folio.
As I read this story, I traveled to a foreign country, alongside Delaney, to work at a dream job surrounded by books. I found mystery and adventure, and warm, welcoming new friends. This story comes alive with Scottish accents that are not to difficult to understand. It slows the reading a little, but the story is so enchanting I wanted to read slower so I could savor all the small details.
I received a complimentary ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Welcomed by a friendly cab driver, Elias; then by two shop employees, Hamlet and Rosie, who's always accompanied by her cute Yorkie, Hector; Delaney's new life has begun. She has a quirky 'talent' that helps her when she's around books. Her employer, Edwin MacAlister, is aristocratic, vastly wealthy, and quite mysterious. He plans to teach Delaney the process of his business of procuring and collecting valuables which she finds both intriguing and confusing. Edwin is part of a group whose dealings are very secretive. Shortly after Delaney's arrival in Scotland, Edwin's sister, Jenny, is found brutally murdered. Left in her keeping was a priceless first Folio of Shakespeare's work, and now it's missing. Many of Jenny's friends are shady characters. Edwin's circle acts suspicious of Jenny and her actions while the Folio was in her possession. Delaney doesn't know anyone all that well, but determinedly puts her trust in Elias and his wife, Aggie, and her co-workers, to help her assist Edwin track down his sister's killer and locate the rare Folio.
As I read this story, I traveled to a foreign country, alongside Delaney, to work at a dream job surrounded by books. I found mystery and adventure, and warm, welcoming new friends. This story comes alive with Scottish accents that are not to difficult to understand. It slows the reading a little, but the story is so enchanting I wanted to read slower so I could savor all the small details.
I received a complimentary ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
June 18, 2024
4/5 🌟
3/5 ❤️🩹
2/5 🥰
0/5 🌶️
4/5 🔎
3/5 😰😱
3/5 🎭😂
2/5 🎭😭
0/5 👻
0/5 🔬
3/5 🔫
2/5 🏥
4/5 ✍🏼
0/5 🥱
⚠️⛔️TRIGGERS:⛔️⚠️
Drug Use
Drug Abuse
Addiction
Violence
Grief
Murder
Blood
🗯️💬BOOK BLURB:💬🗯️
Wanted: A bold adventurer who wants to travel the world from a comfortable and safe spot behind a desk that has seen the likes of kings and queens, paupers and princes. A humble book and rare manuscript shop seeks a keenly intelligent investigator to assist us in our search for things thought lost, and in our quest to return lost items to their rightful owners.
Never an adventurer, no one was more surprised than Delaney Nichols when she packed her bags and moved halfway across the world to Edinburgh, Scotland to start a job at The Cracked Spine, a bookshop located in the heart of the city. Her new boss, Edwin MacAlister, has given her the opportunity of a lifetime, albeit a cryptic one, and Delaney can't wait to take her spot behind the desk.
The Cracked Spine is filled with everything a book lover could want, each item as eclectic as the people who work there; the spirited and lovable Rosie, who always has tiny dog Hector in tow; Hamlet, a nineteen-year-old thespian with a colored past and bright future; and Edwin, who is just as enigmatic and mysterious as Delaney expected. An extra bonus is Tom the bartender from across the street, with his cobalt eyes, and a gentle brogue--and it doesn't hurt that he looks awfully good in a kilt.
But before she can settle into her new life, a precious artifact goes missing, and Edwin's sister is brutally murdered. Never did Delaney think that searching for things lost could mean a killer, but if she's to keep her job, and protect her new friends, she'll need to learn the truth behind this Scottish tragedy.
🌎📖OVERALL REVIEWS📖🌎
Courtesy of Storygraph
COMMUNITY REVIEWS
SUMMARY OF 718 REVIEWS
Moods
mysterious 90%
lighthearted 52%
adventurous 32%
funny 11%
relaxing 11%
tense 11%
emotional 7%
challenging 4%
dark 4%
informative 4%
hopeful 2%
inspiring 1%
reflective 1%
sad 1%
Pace
medium 51%
fast 30%
slow 18%
Plot- or character-driven?
A mix: 54% | Plot: 37% | Character: 5% | N/A: 3%
Strong character development?
No: 62% | Yes: 24% | It's complicated: 11% | N/A: 1%
Loveable characters?
Yes: 68% | No: 15% | It's complicated: 14% | N/A: 1%
Diverse cast of characters?
No: 71% | Yes: 23% | It's complicated: 3% | N/A: 1%
Flaws of characters a main focus?
No: 78% | It's complicated: 10% | Yes: 10% | N/A: 2%
Average rating
3.28 ⭐️
🤔🧐🤯MY THOUGHTS:🤯🧐🤔
This was a very entertaining story. Delaney is an adorable transplant that you can’t help but like. Her curiosity and desire for knowing the truth reminds me of myself. Even to the point that that curiosity gets in her a wee bit of trouble from time to time. Thankfully her acquired Scottish family is always looking out for her and trying to protect her. That alone endears each of them to you. Then we throw in a little romance and the book has a little bit of everything making it a nice read for many people.
RATING KEY:
🌟 Stars - based on the overall plot and theme or idea of the book
❤️🩹 Emotions - based on how emotional I got while reading
🥰 Romance - based on how well I got invested in the love story aspect
🌶️ Spice - based on how the sex scenes were portrayed and written as well as the number of sex scenes
🔎 Mystery - based on how well it kept me guessing who, how and why
😰 Scared🫣/Anxious😱 - based on how scared or anxious the book made me while reading
🎭 Comedy😂/Tragedy😭
-based on if I laughed or if there was a tragic event and how it affected me. I will mark the Masks with either a C or T to indicate Comedy or Tragedy
👻 Spooky😵💫/Creepy🧟♀️ -based on if this had any occult or paranormal themes and if those elements creeped me out or gave me anxiety!
🔬 Sci-Fi -based on the Science Fiction in the book as well as the Dystopian elements or any science.
🔫 Action/Thriller -based on if I thought this was more of a spy action type of thriller or just had a decent amount of action.
🏥 Medical Content -based on the amount and the accuracy of any medical content or if the book is supposed to be a medical style thriller.
✍🏼 Writing Style -based on if I enjoyed the writing style or not and how the author portrayed the world, characters, concept, plot etc.
🥱 Boredom -based on if I was bored if it held my interest or if I’d rather be doing something else 😴
🙅🏻♀️ DNF -based on if the book is just stupid, boring, childish, overly ridiculous etc.
3/5 ❤️🩹
2/5 🥰
0/5 🌶️
4/5 🔎
3/5 😰😱
3/5 🎭😂
2/5 🎭😭
0/5 👻
0/5 🔬
3/5 🔫
2/5 🏥
4/5 ✍🏼
0/5 🥱
⚠️⛔️TRIGGERS:⛔️⚠️
Drug Use
Drug Abuse
Addiction
Violence
Grief
Murder
Blood
🗯️💬BOOK BLURB:💬🗯️
Wanted: A bold adventurer who wants to travel the world from a comfortable and safe spot behind a desk that has seen the likes of kings and queens, paupers and princes. A humble book and rare manuscript shop seeks a keenly intelligent investigator to assist us in our search for things thought lost, and in our quest to return lost items to their rightful owners.
Never an adventurer, no one was more surprised than Delaney Nichols when she packed her bags and moved halfway across the world to Edinburgh, Scotland to start a job at The Cracked Spine, a bookshop located in the heart of the city. Her new boss, Edwin MacAlister, has given her the opportunity of a lifetime, albeit a cryptic one, and Delaney can't wait to take her spot behind the desk.
The Cracked Spine is filled with everything a book lover could want, each item as eclectic as the people who work there; the spirited and lovable Rosie, who always has tiny dog Hector in tow; Hamlet, a nineteen-year-old thespian with a colored past and bright future; and Edwin, who is just as enigmatic and mysterious as Delaney expected. An extra bonus is Tom the bartender from across the street, with his cobalt eyes, and a gentle brogue--and it doesn't hurt that he looks awfully good in a kilt.
But before she can settle into her new life, a precious artifact goes missing, and Edwin's sister is brutally murdered. Never did Delaney think that searching for things lost could mean a killer, but if she's to keep her job, and protect her new friends, she'll need to learn the truth behind this Scottish tragedy.
🌎📖OVERALL REVIEWS📖🌎
Courtesy of Storygraph
COMMUNITY REVIEWS
SUMMARY OF 718 REVIEWS
Moods
mysterious 90%
lighthearted 52%
adventurous 32%
funny 11%
relaxing 11%
tense 11%
emotional 7%
challenging 4%
dark 4%
informative 4%
hopeful 2%
inspiring 1%
reflective 1%
sad 1%
Pace
medium 51%
fast 30%
slow 18%
Plot- or character-driven?
A mix: 54% | Plot: 37% | Character: 5% | N/A: 3%
Strong character development?
No: 62% | Yes: 24% | It's complicated: 11% | N/A: 1%
Loveable characters?
Yes: 68% | No: 15% | It's complicated: 14% | N/A: 1%
Diverse cast of characters?
No: 71% | Yes: 23% | It's complicated: 3% | N/A: 1%
Flaws of characters a main focus?
No: 78% | It's complicated: 10% | Yes: 10% | N/A: 2%
Average rating
3.28 ⭐️
🤔🧐🤯MY THOUGHTS:🤯🧐🤔
This was a very entertaining story. Delaney is an adorable transplant that you can’t help but like. Her curiosity and desire for knowing the truth reminds me of myself. Even to the point that that curiosity gets in her a wee bit of trouble from time to time. Thankfully her acquired Scottish family is always looking out for her and trying to protect her. That alone endears each of them to you. Then we throw in a little romance and the book has a little bit of everything making it a nice read for many people.
RATING KEY:
🌟 Stars - based on the overall plot and theme or idea of the book
❤️🩹 Emotions - based on how emotional I got while reading
🥰 Romance - based on how well I got invested in the love story aspect
🌶️ Spice - based on how the sex scenes were portrayed and written as well as the number of sex scenes
🔎 Mystery - based on how well it kept me guessing who, how and why
😰 Scared🫣/Anxious😱 - based on how scared or anxious the book made me while reading
🎭 Comedy😂/Tragedy😭
-based on if I laughed or if there was a tragic event and how it affected me. I will mark the Masks with either a C or T to indicate Comedy or Tragedy
👻 Spooky😵💫/Creepy🧟♀️ -based on if this had any occult or paranormal themes and if those elements creeped me out or gave me anxiety!
🔬 Sci-Fi -based on the Science Fiction in the book as well as the Dystopian elements or any science.
🔫 Action/Thriller -based on if I thought this was more of a spy action type of thriller or just had a decent amount of action.
🏥 Medical Content -based on the amount and the accuracy of any medical content or if the book is supposed to be a medical style thriller.
✍🏼 Writing Style -based on if I enjoyed the writing style or not and how the author portrayed the world, characters, concept, plot etc.
🥱 Boredom -based on if I was bored if it held my interest or if I’d rather be doing something else 😴
🙅🏻♀️ DNF -based on if the book is just stupid, boring, childish, overly ridiculous etc.
June 24, 2020
Quite enjoyed the audio book of this first in series.
Shelved as 'dnf'
May 10, 2016DNF at 50%
Got halfway through before deciding not to continue. I thought some things-the premise, setting, mystery, secondary characters-were fine. My problem was Delaney and her infinite questions. Boy does she ask SO MANY QUESTIONS. Not just for info on the murder, but for everything. It was like every conversation she had with someone was more of an interrogation. It was this characteristic that was the basis for solving Jenny's murder. I prefer if the protagonist has an actual reason to take on investigating. Delaney's reason was that she was noisy. A great start to a series that unfortunately got ruined by its leading lady.
Got halfway through before deciding not to continue. I thought some things-the premise, setting, mystery, secondary characters-were fine. My problem was Delaney and her infinite questions. Boy does she ask SO MANY QUESTIONS. Not just for info on the murder, but for everything. It was like every conversation she had with someone was more of an interrogation. It was this characteristic that was the basis for solving Jenny's murder. I prefer if the protagonist has an actual reason to take on investigating. Delaney's reason was that she was noisy. A great start to a series that unfortunately got ruined by its leading lady.
March 8, 2023
A decent cozy mystery and start to a new series but not a new favorite. But think I'm going to continue on with the series as I found it to be interesting.
January 15, 2020
3 ½ stars
This was an intriguing start to this cozy mystery series. The main character aside from being so likable also has a
I’ll be reading more in this series as the series wide mysteries are something that now I have to know more about.
Cozies Reading Challenge
This was an intriguing start to this cozy mystery series. The main character aside from being so likable also has a
I’ll be reading more in this series as the series wide mysteries are something that now I have to know more about.
Cozies Reading Challenge
January 29, 2020
As an American living in Edinburgh this book got a few things wrong or events that they make normal would almost 100% never happen....
March 25, 2017
Delaney Nichols from Kansas (in America) packs up everything and moves to Edinburgh, Scotland when she loses her museum job due to budget cuts. Delaney takes a job at a bookstore-not just any bookstore- but one with a desk that has seen kings and queens and paupers and princes! The adventure is greater than any she's ever had- unless you count adventures lost in the pages of books. Delaney is a reader. Not just any reader, a discerning reader who hears the voices of "bookish" people inside her head. In Edinburgh, Delaney finds more than she bargained for in Edinburgh, from a kind, fatherly cab driver driving on the "wrong" side of the road (for us Yanks anyway) to The Crooked Spine. Her boss, Edwin MacAlister, is a collector of rare books, manuscripts, prints, maps and ephemera -right up Delaney's alley- and he is also the absent-minded professor type. Delaney loves the quaint shop and her new co-workers, Hamlet, a teenage thespian and Rosie, an older woman with an adorable pooch named Hector. When Edwin's sister Jenny is murdered, it throws the shop into a tailspin. Everyone knew Jenny and her drug problem, including Edwin's wealthy book collector friends. It's rumored Edwin left Jenny in possession of a rare Shakespeare First Folio but it seems to be missing and since the provenance is a bit murky, Edwin declines to tell the police about it. Delaney can't allow that priceless artifact to stay missing, but more importantly, when Hamlet becomes a suspect, Delaney can't allow any of her new family to get hurt. She must puzzle out the clues on her own to spare Edwin's feelings but somehow hint to the police how they should do their job. Is she up for the task?
First, let me say how much I LOVE The Cracked Spine. I probably wouldn't be brave enough to move across the ocean to Edinburgh to work there, but it's my kind of place. I want to move in!! Obviously, I can see why Delaney jumped at the chance to work there, except the job ad was a bit vague and she never did find out what her duties were supposed to be. I just love the idea of being around all those rare items!
The mystery was so intriguing, I couldn't put the book down. I read very late on a work night and picked the book up again when I came home the next day. I wasn't entirely surprised by who and why. The setting is amazing. I felt like I was right there in Edinburgh with Delaney, seeing and experiencing everything new and wonderful and strange for the first time. I fell in love with the architecture and history just as Delaney did.
I loved the quirky characters in the story too but find this story is not quite cozy enough for me. I didn't like how the mystery centered around Jenny, a 50-something (former or habitual?) drug addict. That made it a little more gritty than I would have liked but the store is so charming, I'd love to read more mysteries set there if they center around the shop more than some random person Delaney has never met.
My education and career path has been so similar to Delaney's and my heart broke the museum and for Delaney when her museum budget got cut, but everything happens for a reason and this job was meant to be. I was surprised, and initially skeptical, about Delaney's bookish voices, but the more I thought about it, the more amazing it sounded until I wished I had that gift. I certainly imagine how characters would think and act but it's not the same thing. It makes her quirky for sure but that's what makes her an appealing heroine. She does kind of lose points with me for doing everything by gut instinct and for investigating the mystery, almost to her peril. She is intelligent, more than most cozy mystery heroines and is good at logic and puzzles which lead her straight to the killer, of course.
Everyone in Edinburgh seems so nice and friendly. I love Elias, the cab driver, though his wife Aggie is a bit too involved in Delaney's life like a mother. Elias and Aggie are warm and friendly and are so kind to Delaney. Edwin is a bit of a mystery. He's many things to many people. Edwin is absentminded, a bit naive and crazy rich. His friends are crazy rich too and no one seems to realize it, which makes Edwin appealing. He just is rich and that's it. He spends his money on his collections and that's enough to make me want to be his friend!
I liked the aptly named Hamlet right away. I was surprised about his checkered past because he didn't seem like a juvenile delinquent. His story shows another side of Edwin that people don't often see, which is nice. I did not want Hamlet to be a murderer or a victim because I liked him so much. I wasn't crazy about Rosie. She's hard to read and could be a drama queen. I loved her little dog and poor Delaney needed to cuddle with Hector quite a bit. I hope he visits her after the events of the end of the novel.
The final quirky character is Tom, the sexy bartender who looks good in a kilt. I didn't like the attraction at first sight plot device and Tom's backstory is told all at once making him less mysterious. He seems like a nice man and he says he's attracted to Delaney's outspokenness so I suppose I support the relationship.
I will, of course, be reading book 1.5 and any others that follow, mainly to see what treasures Delaney unearths and to figure out Edwin's own unique cataloging system.
First, let me say how much I LOVE The Cracked Spine. I probably wouldn't be brave enough to move across the ocean to Edinburgh to work there, but it's my kind of place. I want to move in!! Obviously, I can see why Delaney jumped at the chance to work there, except the job ad was a bit vague and she never did find out what her duties were supposed to be. I just love the idea of being around all those rare items!
The mystery was so intriguing, I couldn't put the book down. I read very late on a work night and picked the book up again when I came home the next day. I wasn't entirely surprised by who and why. The setting is amazing. I felt like I was right there in Edinburgh with Delaney, seeing and experiencing everything new and wonderful and strange for the first time. I fell in love with the architecture and history just as Delaney did.
I loved the quirky characters in the story too but find this story is not quite cozy enough for me. I didn't like how the mystery centered around Jenny, a 50-something (former or habitual?) drug addict. That made it a little more gritty than I would have liked but the store is so charming, I'd love to read more mysteries set there if they center around the shop more than some random person Delaney has never met.
My education and career path has been so similar to Delaney's and my heart broke the museum and for Delaney when her museum budget got cut, but everything happens for a reason and this job was meant to be. I was surprised, and initially skeptical, about Delaney's bookish voices, but the more I thought about it, the more amazing it sounded until I wished I had that gift. I certainly imagine how characters would think and act but it's not the same thing. It makes her quirky for sure but that's what makes her an appealing heroine. She does kind of lose points with me for doing everything by gut instinct and for investigating the mystery, almost to her peril. She is intelligent, more than most cozy mystery heroines and is good at logic and puzzles which lead her straight to the killer, of course.
Everyone in Edinburgh seems so nice and friendly. I love Elias, the cab driver, though his wife Aggie is a bit too involved in Delaney's life like a mother. Elias and Aggie are warm and friendly and are so kind to Delaney. Edwin is a bit of a mystery. He's many things to many people. Edwin is absentminded, a bit naive and crazy rich. His friends are crazy rich too and no one seems to realize it, which makes Edwin appealing. He just is rich and that's it. He spends his money on his collections and that's enough to make me want to be his friend!
I liked the aptly named Hamlet right away. I was surprised about his checkered past because he didn't seem like a juvenile delinquent. His story shows another side of Edwin that people don't often see, which is nice. I did not want Hamlet to be a murderer or a victim because I liked him so much. I wasn't crazy about Rosie. She's hard to read and could be a drama queen. I loved her little dog and poor Delaney needed to cuddle with Hector quite a bit. I hope he visits her after the events of the end of the novel.
The final quirky character is Tom, the sexy bartender who looks good in a kilt. I didn't like the attraction at first sight plot device and Tom's backstory is told all at once making him less mysterious. He seems like a nice man and he says he's attracted to Delaney's outspokenness so I suppose I support the relationship.
I will, of course, be reading book 1.5 and any others that follow, mainly to see what treasures Delaney unearths and to figure out Edwin's own unique cataloging system.
March 19, 2023
I really enjoyed this Scottish Cozy Mystery! 4 to 4.5 stars. A new favorite series to dive into! Full of scottish dialect, cozy family and bookish vibes and great characters - this was an AMANDA book! We see the descriptions of Scotland so beautiful painted, it makes me really want to be there. One thing I liked about this, while the beginning is a slow start, Paige Shelton really introduces us to the characters and setting in such a unique way. I felt like we really get to know them. Loved seeing a little romance too included, that's always a must have for me in Cozy Mysteries and loved that.
This story is all about American Delaney Nichols. She answers an ad to work at The Cracked Spine Bookstore in Edinburgh, Scotland. She packs up and leaves Kansas so fast - and it's quite the journey. The bookstore is one I would LOVE to visit in real life from everything I read. The owner, Edwin MacAlister, hires her to be apart of the bookstore team with young Hamlet, Rosie and their little dog. From the moment Delaney meets her cab driver, Elisas, just the hospitality from him alone, I knew I was going to love these sweet characters who feel like home. Delaney sparks up a small romance with Tom, a handsome scotsman who works across the street from the bookstore as a bartender. The mystery kicks off when Edwin's sister Jenny is murdered and a "First Folio of Shakespeare's Plays" disappears.... His sister has a history of drugs, so they're not sure if it's a drug deal gone bad or if someone knew about the folio and killed her after stealing it.... Delaney feels instantly connected to this family, friends and city and starts to help them track down the clues to the killer.
This was such a great start to this series. Super excited to read the next one!
This story is all about American Delaney Nichols. She answers an ad to work at The Cracked Spine Bookstore in Edinburgh, Scotland. She packs up and leaves Kansas so fast - and it's quite the journey. The bookstore is one I would LOVE to visit in real life from everything I read. The owner, Edwin MacAlister, hires her to be apart of the bookstore team with young Hamlet, Rosie and their little dog. From the moment Delaney meets her cab driver, Elisas, just the hospitality from him alone, I knew I was going to love these sweet characters who feel like home. Delaney sparks up a small romance with Tom, a handsome scotsman who works across the street from the bookstore as a bartender. The mystery kicks off when Edwin's sister Jenny is murdered and a "First Folio of Shakespeare's Plays" disappears.... His sister has a history of drugs, so they're not sure if it's a drug deal gone bad or if someone knew about the folio and killed her after stealing it.... Delaney feels instantly connected to this family, friends and city and starts to help them track down the clues to the killer.
This was such a great start to this series. Super excited to read the next one!
April 5, 2016
I was eager to read The Cracked Spine as it is the start of a new cozy series by Paige Shelton. I enjoy the author's other series. I imagine many readers have wondered what it would be like to start a new life in a new area doing a job that intrigues them. In the Cracked Spine, we can go on an armchair adventure with Delaney without leaving home.
After being downsized from her job in a Kansas museum, Delaney leaps at the opportunity of applying for a job at a book store in Edinburgh Scotland. She is hired and soon starts her new life in Edinburgh. The driving on the other side of the road seems to be the major change for her brain to get use to. She learns new words and tries new food.
She doesn't get time to adapt and settle into her new job as her employer's sister is murdered close to the time of her arrival. Delaney finds that many people are keeping secrets. She wants to find out who killed the sister and the reason for it. She puts herself in danger.
By the end of the book, Delaney has established quite a new extensive family who I look forward to reading about in upcoming books. Cozy mysteries that develop a strong family system, seem to become a strong series. I had not figured out who the murderer was until the author chose to expose the person. So if you want to travel to Scotland and go on an adventure with Delaney, this book will take you there.
After being downsized from her job in a Kansas museum, Delaney leaps at the opportunity of applying for a job at a book store in Edinburgh Scotland. She is hired and soon starts her new life in Edinburgh. The driving on the other side of the road seems to be the major change for her brain to get use to. She learns new words and tries new food.
She doesn't get time to adapt and settle into her new job as her employer's sister is murdered close to the time of her arrival. Delaney finds that many people are keeping secrets. She wants to find out who killed the sister and the reason for it. She puts herself in danger.
By the end of the book, Delaney has established quite a new extensive family who I look forward to reading about in upcoming books. Cozy mysteries that develop a strong family system, seem to become a strong series. I had not figured out who the murderer was until the author chose to expose the person. So if you want to travel to Scotland and go on an adventure with Delaney, this book will take you there.
November 18, 2020
Oooooo, THIS is a going to be a good series!!!! SO many red herrings. SO many interesting characters. A charming pub owner who is devilishly handsome AND wear kilts!!! Yes please. ;-) AND it is a bookshop. In Scotland. Yes. Freaking. Please.
I really like Delaney as a MC; she is fun and hilarious and has just enough small town in her to make you really like her. Kansas is not somewhere I'd pick to live [and am grateful that isn't where my parent's decided we all should live - though every time she talks about the Kansas wheat fields, all I can hear is the John Denver song where he sings about growing up around the Kansas wheat fields] and I admire her spunk in picking up and moving to Scotland without knowing a soul [I did that when I was 23 - moved to NYC and I knew no one] for a job. So awesome.
The narrator is very good in this as well; she does Scottish accents very well and it made listening to this book very enjoyable.
I am really looking forward to book 2 in this series.
I really like Delaney as a MC; she is fun and hilarious and has just enough small town in her to make you really like her. Kansas is not somewhere I'd pick to live [and am grateful that isn't where my parent's decided we all should live - though every time she talks about the Kansas wheat fields, all I can hear is the John Denver song where he sings about growing up around the Kansas wheat fields] and I admire her spunk in picking up and moving to Scotland without knowing a soul [I did that when I was 23 - moved to NYC and I knew no one] for a job. So awesome.
The narrator is very good in this as well; she does Scottish accents very well and it made listening to this book very enjoyable.
I am really looking forward to book 2 in this series.
January 3, 2016
A rare tome you’ll truly treasure!
THE CRACKED SPINE is one of the most delightful mysteries I’ve read in 2015. I finished it on Dec. 31, and I can’t think of a better way to finish out the year.
I was immediately enamored with the characters in this captivating tale. Protagonist, Delaney Nichols is one of my new cozy heroes. Along with her new “family” Edwin, Hamlet, Rosie, Tom, and more, I can’t remember tie better spent with fictional friends.
Author Paige Shelton has brought to her new series the same excellent writing that has enchanted readers of her Farmers’ Market, and Southern Cooking School mysteries, the same masterful skill at creating a plot that all readers look for in a mystery, and the same sense of fun.
Rather you’re already a fan or a new reader of author Shelton, you are in for a real page turning treat with THE CRACKED SPINE!
THE CRACKED SPINE is one of the most delightful mysteries I’ve read in 2015. I finished it on Dec. 31, and I can’t think of a better way to finish out the year.
I was immediately enamored with the characters in this captivating tale. Protagonist, Delaney Nichols is one of my new cozy heroes. Along with her new “family” Edwin, Hamlet, Rosie, Tom, and more, I can’t remember tie better spent with fictional friends.
Author Paige Shelton has brought to her new series the same excellent writing that has enchanted readers of her Farmers’ Market, and Southern Cooking School mysteries, the same masterful skill at creating a plot that all readers look for in a mystery, and the same sense of fun.
Rather you’re already a fan or a new reader of author Shelton, you are in for a real page turning treat with THE CRACKED SPINE!
April 1, 2016
This was a little too serious to be a bonafide cozy mystery, and it was too slow moving. The lead character has an interesting ability. I would have liked the author to explore that more. I loved the view of modern-day Edinburgh and the intriguing secondary characters.
Reviewed for Affaire de Coeur Magazine. http://affairedecoeur.com.
Reviewed for Affaire de Coeur Magazine. http://affairedecoeur.com.
December 2, 2015
From the cover, I was expecting a typical cozy mystery with an amateur sleuth chasing down the clues and eventually solving the crime. What I got was an amateur sleuth finding pretty much only one clue, asking a few questions and miraculously solving the crime. Nothing really flowed right.
I don't buy the motivation behind Delaney leaving the US for Scotland, the club Edwin is a part of seems like it should be a bigger part of the story but doesn't amount to much, Rosie witnessing an accident and then ending up flirting with the victim doesn't tie into anything, Delaney hearing voices from the books around her is an interesting side plot but nothing is made of it and I could go on and on but it's all more of the same.
I was hoping for a whole lot more from the book but at the end of it all I enjoyed the characters so much, I just might read the next book in the series. If it wasn't for side characters like Elias, Tom and even little Hector I wouldn't bother. I hope the storyline flows much better in the next book of the series. If the subplot isn't going to be fully flushed out, I hope Shelton leaves it out so it doesn't distract from what is enjoyable in the storyline.
I recommend this to anyone who likes cozy mysteries with more emphasis on good characters rather than a believable plot.
I don't buy the motivation behind Delaney leaving the US for Scotland, the club Edwin is a part of seems like it should be a bigger part of the story but doesn't amount to much, Rosie witnessing an accident and then ending up flirting with the victim doesn't tie into anything, Delaney hearing voices from the books around her is an interesting side plot but nothing is made of it and I could go on and on but it's all more of the same.
I was hoping for a whole lot more from the book but at the end of it all I enjoyed the characters so much, I just might read the next book in the series. If it wasn't for side characters like Elias, Tom and even little Hector I wouldn't bother. I hope the storyline flows much better in the next book of the series. If the subplot isn't going to be fully flushed out, I hope Shelton leaves it out so it doesn't distract from what is enjoyable in the storyline.
I recommend this to anyone who likes cozy mysteries with more emphasis on good characters rather than a believable plot.
September 12, 2018
Pretty good mystery series about an American archivist who moves to Edinburgh to work in a very unusual bookstore. I'm having a bit of trouble suspending my disbelief at the amateur sleuth angle in this series and am concerned about spraining an eyeball from all the eye rolling I've been doing.
October 15, 2024
Book adventure in Scotland with some mystery and romance? Say less and sign me up.
March 20, 2016
*I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review from Minotaur and Netgalley. All thoughts and opinions stated in this review are entirely my own.*
A new series from a well established author, The Cracked Spine was a wonderful series debut filled with suspense, mystery, and laugh out loud moments.
The entire premise of this story is entertaining: getting fired ad then answering an add to go work in a bookstore halfway around the world? That may sound crazy to some, but that’s exactly what the MC, Delaney did.
Delaney was an excellent MC, she was strong when it called for it, but she also showed she was human. I loved the fact that she couldn’t understand everything that was being said when she first arrived because of the Scottish brogue. I think that often we forget that the US and UK both speak english, but some words and phrases are extremely different from one another. I also loved the rest of the characters, Hamlet, Rosie, Edwin, Elias, and Aggie. They were all wonderful and there are some questions the author plants about them in the book that are never answered. It really makes me want to read the next book!
The mystery was very good. The ending took a turn that I honestly did not see coming. Honestly, the only bad thing about this book was the fact that it was slow. I felt that the entire book was simply hard to get into. It may have been suffering from first book syndrome, or it may have been my mood, however it was terribly slow at points and it couldn’t keep my attention at others.
Overall this was a wonderful book. I honestly think that I think it was slow simply because of the mood I was in when I read this over the last week. However, because it was slow I deducted a star. On to the next book!
A new series from a well established author, The Cracked Spine was a wonderful series debut filled with suspense, mystery, and laugh out loud moments.
The entire premise of this story is entertaining: getting fired ad then answering an add to go work in a bookstore halfway around the world? That may sound crazy to some, but that’s exactly what the MC, Delaney did.
Delaney was an excellent MC, she was strong when it called for it, but she also showed she was human. I loved the fact that she couldn’t understand everything that was being said when she first arrived because of the Scottish brogue. I think that often we forget that the US and UK both speak english, but some words and phrases are extremely different from one another. I also loved the rest of the characters, Hamlet, Rosie, Edwin, Elias, and Aggie. They were all wonderful and there are some questions the author plants about them in the book that are never answered. It really makes me want to read the next book!
The mystery was very good. The ending took a turn that I honestly did not see coming. Honestly, the only bad thing about this book was the fact that it was slow. I felt that the entire book was simply hard to get into. It may have been suffering from first book syndrome, or it may have been my mood, however it was terribly slow at points and it couldn’t keep my attention at others.
Overall this was a wonderful book. I honestly think that I think it was slow simply because of the mood I was in when I read this over the last week. However, because it was slow I deducted a star. On to the next book!
August 20, 2022
After I read this book, I immediately bought the next few in the series. I’ve been to Edinburgh, and Shelton describes the Grassmarket area to a tee. It brought me straight back and I want to keep going! And yes, the mystery is also great. As are the characters. Looking forward to reading more!
November 16, 2022
This book held so much potential, and delivered none. Since it is a cozy, its one of my favorite genres. The story is set in Scotland in a bookshop-also favorites. However, it is also boring. So very boring. The characters, the plot, all of it was lack luster.
September 19, 2019
This short book was rather a slog for me. I kept putting it down for stretches. I had picked up the book mainly because it was set in Scotland and because it seemed as if it would center around interesting and rare books. Ah well, better luck next time.
The main character is rather annoying and immature beyond what her youth would explain. I personally would love her job at the bookshop, however, she rarely actually works or is at the bookshop, taking many repetitive and nosey trips around Edinburgh to investigate the murder of her new boss's sister. A very weird trait of being able "to hear" characters in books who "talk" to her is introduced and then abandoned. If the author had wanted to show an encyclopedic knowledge of books or intense love of books, this could have been accomplished in a much more elegant way.
Most of Delaney's introduction to Edinburgh seems very implausible and not very authentic. A kind-hearted cab driver not only takes a fatherly interest in her but also gives her somewhere to live as well as becoming a surprisingly willing chauffeur for the girl. The idiomatic dialogue, which seems written by someone who has visited Scotland on holiday but never lived there, is distracting. Also, the descriptions of Edinburgh seem more out of a guide book than out of actual experience. It left me wondering exactly how much the author really knows about Scotland. From the acknowledgments, it seems like most of the knowledge was second-hand or gleaned through brief travel.
Delaney spends a good deal of the book following and discussing her wild theories of who the murderer is, apparently figuring that her incessant badgering will make the murderer spontaneously confess. Guess what? That tired old nugget of cozies actually happens.
The ending, which is what I had hoped would save the book, came out of almost nowhere and was rather unsatisfying. The characters all seem to lack the appropriate motives to explain any of their actions as Delaney randomly suspects (and hounds) pretty much everyone she meets.
Intertwined in all this are strange diversions out to possible romantic encounters for the various characters which seem, like all of Delaney's relationships, unusually fast to form as well as unusually generous in nature.
I am sure, as there are many other books in this series, that some of the less rewarding aspects of this book were ironed out in future installments. That being said, I will not be reading any of them.
The main character is rather annoying and immature beyond what her youth would explain. I personally would love her job at the bookshop, however, she rarely actually works or is at the bookshop, taking many repetitive and nosey trips around Edinburgh to investigate the murder of her new boss's sister. A very weird trait of being able "to hear" characters in books who "talk" to her is introduced and then abandoned. If the author had wanted to show an encyclopedic knowledge of books or intense love of books, this could have been accomplished in a much more elegant way.
Most of Delaney's introduction to Edinburgh seems very implausible and not very authentic. A kind-hearted cab driver not only takes a fatherly interest in her but also gives her somewhere to live as well as becoming a surprisingly willing chauffeur for the girl. The idiomatic dialogue, which seems written by someone who has visited Scotland on holiday but never lived there, is distracting. Also, the descriptions of Edinburgh seem more out of a guide book than out of actual experience. It left me wondering exactly how much the author really knows about Scotland. From the acknowledgments, it seems like most of the knowledge was second-hand or gleaned through brief travel.
Delaney spends a good deal of the book following and discussing her wild theories of who the murderer is, apparently figuring that her incessant badgering will make the murderer spontaneously confess. Guess what? That tired old nugget of cozies actually happens.
The ending, which is what I had hoped would save the book, came out of almost nowhere and was rather unsatisfying. The characters all seem to lack the appropriate motives to explain any of their actions as Delaney randomly suspects (and hounds) pretty much everyone she meets.
Intertwined in all this are strange diversions out to possible romantic encounters for the various characters which seem, like all of Delaney's relationships, unusually fast to form as well as unusually generous in nature.
I am sure, as there are many other books in this series, that some of the less rewarding aspects of this book were ironed out in future installments. That being said, I will not be reading any of them.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 30, 2016
The Cracked Spine is the first book in the Scottish Bookshop Mystery series.
Paige Shelton has another wonderful series started with A Cracked Spine.
Delaney Nichols has lost her job and she is open for an adventure at this time in her life. When she spots an advertisement for a bookstore in Edinburgh, Scotland, she feels this is the answer to her dreams and she soon finds herself in Edinburgh. Delany has the power to have books talk to her and knows she will fit in at the bookstore.
Arriving in Edinburgh, she secures a taxi driven by Elias and he is well aware of the bookstore and promptly delivers her there. Elias and his wife will soon become good friends and help Delaney to settle into her life in Edinburgh. When she arrives, the owner of the bookstore is off to a meeting, but she meets with Rosie, a delightful older lady and Hamlet, a university student and part-time actor, her co-workers. Shortly after beginning her new job, the bookstore owner, Edwin MacAlister, informs the his employees of his sister's, Jenny, brutal murder. She has had a past history of drug abuse, she was thought to have kicked her drug habit. Edwin had been trying to get her involved in his business and had entrusted a very valuable first folio of Shakespeare’s.
What with Delaney love for books and to help Edwin get closure with his sister's death, she sets off to do her own sleuthing to find Jenny's killer. She enlists Elias' help in her travels through Edinburgh.
The book has a very interesting and enjoyable cast of characters and provides the reader with an interesting look at the Old Town of Edinburgh.
I'm looking forward to the next book in the series to learn more about Edwin's business. A good deal of Edwin's time was spent going to what seemed to be rather “secret” meetings, but at the same time involved The Cracked Spine. Also looking forward to learning more about Rosie and Hamlet, too. Also will be waiting to see if a romantic interest will continue to develop between Delaney and Tom Flecher, the handsome kilt clad Scotsman who owns Delaney's Wee Pub.
Looking forward to my next visit to The Cracked Spine and Old Edinburgh.
Paige Shelton has another wonderful series started with A Cracked Spine.
Delaney Nichols has lost her job and she is open for an adventure at this time in her life. When she spots an advertisement for a bookstore in Edinburgh, Scotland, she feels this is the answer to her dreams and she soon finds herself in Edinburgh. Delany has the power to have books talk to her and knows she will fit in at the bookstore.
Arriving in Edinburgh, she secures a taxi driven by Elias and he is well aware of the bookstore and promptly delivers her there. Elias and his wife will soon become good friends and help Delaney to settle into her life in Edinburgh. When she arrives, the owner of the bookstore is off to a meeting, but she meets with Rosie, a delightful older lady and Hamlet, a university student and part-time actor, her co-workers. Shortly after beginning her new job, the bookstore owner, Edwin MacAlister, informs the his employees of his sister's, Jenny, brutal murder. She has had a past history of drug abuse, she was thought to have kicked her drug habit. Edwin had been trying to get her involved in his business and had entrusted a very valuable first folio of Shakespeare’s.
What with Delaney love for books and to help Edwin get closure with his sister's death, she sets off to do her own sleuthing to find Jenny's killer. She enlists Elias' help in her travels through Edinburgh.
The book has a very interesting and enjoyable cast of characters and provides the reader with an interesting look at the Old Town of Edinburgh.
I'm looking forward to the next book in the series to learn more about Edwin's business. A good deal of Edwin's time was spent going to what seemed to be rather “secret” meetings, but at the same time involved The Cracked Spine. Also looking forward to learning more about Rosie and Hamlet, too. Also will be waiting to see if a romantic interest will continue to develop between Delaney and Tom Flecher, the handsome kilt clad Scotsman who owns Delaney's Wee Pub.
Looking forward to my next visit to The Cracked Spine and Old Edinburgh.
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