I did not know when I accepted this book for review that it was part of a series. It is, as a matter of fact the fourth book featuring Muirteach MacPhee and his intelligent wife, Mariota. I will note that I didn’t feel any loss for not having read the books that came before. Ms. McDuffie effortlessly included anything from the previous books that needed to be explained.

In this tale Muirteach and Mariota are at court with his master, the Lord of the Isles. A trading vessel arrives with furs and falcons. Two of the birds are a rare and striking pure white in color and are very rare and desirable. The owner of the boat has brought his daughter and foster son along – they are jugglers and tumblers so they can entertain the court. Soon He is selling his wares and people are enthralled with the birds. But one day one of the falcons is found dead without a wing and the other has a broken wing.

Who would do such a thing?

But it only gets worse as the trader’s daughter is soon found dead. Now the question is who would kill a sweet, innocent girl? As Muirteach has experience with investigations his master asks him to help the King’s man find who did the murder. Soon he off following the clues but he finds himself distracted by things that threaten his investigation and his marriage.

It is always hard to write that one enjoys a murder mystery – after all, someone dies. Often times, more than one someone dies. But these characters are wonderful; very human, quite flawed and yet despite those flaws still very much in love.

This was a bit of a circular mystery which was good. I will admit that it caught me by surprise a couple of times which is always a delight in a mystery novel. The final denouement was a titch convoluted and it stretched the imagination but it did lead to fast turning of pages. I’ll happily go on another adventure with this pair again. ( )