The Corpse Wore Tartan

In Dunnett's bland fourth Liss MacCrimmon cozy (after 2009's A Wee Christmas Homicide), a major snowstorm disrupts the Scottish Heritage Appreciation Society's annual Burns Night Supper, stranding the participants, including Liss, co-owner of the Scottish Emporium, and the staff of the Spruces, the Moosetookalook, Maine, hotel hosting the event. Before the snow gets too heavy, police officers Sherri Willett and Pete Campbell arrive at the Spruces to look into the theft of SHAS member Phil MacMillan's clan crest brooch, but they soon have a murder to deal with when someone slashes Phil's throat. In time-honored Agatha Christie fashion, the blizzard provides an inviting, insular crime scene bristling with suspects. While Liss and boyfriend Dan make a cute investigating couple as they race to catch a kilt-loving killer, Dunnett's vanilla prose and the unconvincing, underdeveloped plot produce a mystery as crumbly as a stale, underbaked scone. (Nov.)