A Kind of Grief

Scott’s solid sixth novel set in 1950s Scotland (after 2014’s The Low Road) revolves around enigmatic artist and herbalist Alice Ramsay, who lives in deliberate seclusion on an isolated Highlands estate and has been accused and acquitted of witchcraft. Scenting a story, freelance journalist Joanne Ross feels an immediate kinship with the older woman when she takes the three-hour drive to make an unannounced visit, but Alice severs all communication after Joanne inadvertently violates her privacy by leaking details of her life to the national press. When the artist is later found hanged in her barn, Joanne’s guilt drives her to probe the verdict of suicide. With her second husband, newspaper editor John McAllister, she buys some of Alice’s paintings and papers, among which appears to be coded information. Scott ably integrates the period’s Cold War intrigues into a story about the power of small communities both to sustain and to sabotage lives. Agent: Peter McGuigan, Foundry Literary + Media. (Oct.)