Shadows of Death: A Dorothy Martin Mystery

Orkney, the group of islands just off the north Scottish coast, provides the setting for Dams’s enticing 14th Dorothy Martin mystery (after 2013s Murder at the Castle). While on holiday, Dorothy and her husband, retired chief constable Alan Nesbitt, attend the annual meeting of the Friends of Ancient Orkney. When flashy American Henry J. Carter, the sole funder of an excavation on one of the more remote islands, announces that he expects to unearth and sell Viking gold, Dorothy and Alan Nesbitt realize he has rubbed the archeologists and locals the wrong way. Less than 24 hours later, Carter turns up dead at the dig. An otherwise engaged police force allows Alan and Dorothy to poke around for answers, but scant evidence leads to no clear perpetrator and some false trails. Amid ample historical lore and gorgeous descriptions of scenery, Dorothy uses her amateur investigating skills to arrive at a clever solution. Agent: Kimberley Cameron, Kimberley Cameron Agency. (Jan.)