A Step So Grave

Agatha-winner McPherson’s exceptional 13th Dandy Gilver mystery (after 2017’s Dandy Gilver and a Spot of Toil and Trouble) puts a stylish spin on the traditional country house murder. In the winter of 1935, Edinburgh PI Dandy and her family travel to meet Mallory Dunnoch, Dandy’s son Donald’s fiancée, and Mallory’s family at Applecross, the Dunnochs’ estate in the Scottish Highlands. Oddly, Lady Lavinia, Mallory’s mother, is absent during their visit. When the spring thaw reveals Lady Lavinia’s body, Dandy returns to Applecross, accompanied by her fellow detective, Alec Osbourne, with his “sharper brain,” to investigate. That everyone at Applecross has a motive for wanting Lady Lavinia dead provides multiple red herrings, but who had the opportunity to kill her? Details of rugged Highland life are plentiful, with evocative descriptions of climate and scenery gracefully incorporated into an intricate plot worthy of Dorothy L. Sayers or Agatha Christie at her finest. McPherson reliably entertains. Agent: Lisa Moylett, CMM Literary (U.K.). (Nov.)