I do so love the Dandy Gilver mystery series. It's 1935 and Dandy's elder son, Donald, has found his future mate and it's time to meet the future in-laws. February is a frigid month and the entire family is off to Applecross, well north in the Scottish Highlands, which this time of year is only accessible via the angry sea waters of the Inner Sound. The amusement of that sea voyage alone was worth the price of the book.

The families meet. Donald's betrothed, Mallory, is at least 7 years his senior. That initially causes Dandy and husband Hugh to bristle. However, following the sudden death of the fellow mother-in-law to be, the day before her 50th birthday, Dandy can find no fault with dear Mallory, a young woman of inordinate reason and relative calm.

As it turns out, Lady Lavinia's demise was not a natural one and there's a murderer among them. Well surely, such a sordid business would cause the cancellation of the nuptials, but in all fairness, Donald can't jilt dear Mallory with her mother just recently dead. Dandy and her business partner Alec Osborne are on the case. They discover that a number of persons had motive to kill but the reader is held in suspense almost to the bitter end.

If historical fiction mysteries with a touch of humor appeal to you, then you won't want to miss this series and certainly not this book. ( )