Paislee Shaw has agreed to share a table with her friends, Lydia, and Blaise at the fundraiser to support the Nairn Food Bank. Drama starts before Paislee arrives when the Queen Bee of the mom clique from the local elite school, Kirsten Buchanan puts their table at the back of the room next to the loo. The theatrics continue as Kirsten and her worker bees shoot barbs at Blaise who has decided their crowd is not for her. When Kirsten ends up dead after sampling a cookie, Kirsten’s friends are quick to point the finger at Blaise. Paislee puts away her knitting needles and dons her sleuthing cap in order to find the guilty party. Murder at a Scottish Social by Traci Hall is the third A Scottish Shire Mystery. It is best to read this series in order so that you can get to know the and understand their relationships. I thought the story contained good writing with a slower pacing. There is an interesting cast of Scottish characters. Paislee, Brody, Lydia, Gramps, and Wallace the dog are back along Detective Inspector Zeffer. We get to meet Blaise O’Connor, her husband, and son. I did have a hard time with the Scottish brogue. It was in the previous books, but it seemed more pronounced in this one. I had such a hard time deciphering the words that I got a migraine. The whodunit had several suspects, a red herring, and direct clues. If you catch the clues, you should find solving this mystery a cinch. Paislee did not do much sleuthing in this story. She was, though, on the receiving end of nasty potshots. I was turned off by the mean women group. Their nastiness was off-putting (and reminded me of high school). When not knitting or working at the shop, Paislee must deal with an issue regarding her son, Brody. Unfortunately, that means dealing with the problematic headmaster. Gramps, as always, provides humor. I liked how the author emphasized the need for the food bank in the community. The fundraiser was wonderful the way people came together to raise money for the cause (if you can overlook the cruel female clique). Murder at a Scottish Social is a Scottish whodunit with a cookie contest, a cruel clique, nasty nuts, an elusive Epi-pen, a pilfered piece, remarkable knitwear, and a dedicated detective. ( )

I wish I could knit as fast as Paislee Shaw. Of course, my quality of life doesn't depend on how fast my own needles can fly. I've enjoyed Traci Hall's Scottish Shire cozy series for its depiction of life in small-town Nairn, Scotland, for its knitting, and for its characters, especially the core group of Paislee, her grandfather Angus, and her ten-year-old son Brodie. My enjoyment of Murder at a Scottish Social was diminished, undoubtedly due to the presence of the group of acid-tongued divas at the charity event. I dislike people like this so much that I don't want to spend even a second of my time with fictional ones, let alone real ones.

I was more interested in the newest developments in Paislee's family life. How Grandpa Angus' search for his missing son was progressing and how Brodie was dealing with problems at school. I would much rather have spent time knitting and chatting with Paislee and letting those divas take care of themselves. Ah well.

If you're in the mood for a puzzling mystery that's steeped in small-town Scottish life and focused on a charming mother, son, grandfather, and pup, you should pick up one of Traci Hall's Scottish Shire mysteries. And if you find divas amusing, Murder at a Scottish Social will definitely be your cup of tea.

(Review copy courtesy of the publisher and Net Galley) ( )

Scotland, charity, pretentious, murder, murder-investigation, law-enforcement, amateur-sleuth, knitting, family, friendship, friction, rivalry, small-business, small-town, series*****

The victim was certainly a piece of work! But to be murdered by peanut anaphylaxis with neither of her Epi-Pens available? There was hope at first as our sleuth gave CPR and a Pen was retrieved from an office, but she died at hospital. Now the police detective and our sleuth do the due diligence in parallel to sort out all the suspects while the charity auction stumbles along. Loved it!
I requested and received a free ebook copy from Kensington Books via NetGalley. Thank you! ( )

Paislee Shaw lives in the small town of Nairn in Scotland, along with her son Brody and grandfather Angus. She owns Cashmere Crush, a yarn shop that supplies her with enough of a living to take care of the three of them. When she's asked by her new friend Blaise to help with the Nairn Food Bank, Paislee agrees, happy to help those less fortunate, by donating a rich cashmere sweater for auction, along with selling her own goods, with a portion of the sales going to the food bank. She's joined by her best friend Lydia, who has convinced her boss to donate a state-of-the-art item.

Blaise is worried about her entry into the cookie contest, because she's moving her child from Highland Academy, due to the woman who runs the social camp. When Paislee meets Kristin Buchanan, she feels her pointed barbs acutely, but manages to hold herself in check. After seeing what Kristin says to her "friends" Christina and Mari, and deliberate barbs to Blaise, she understands why Blaise wants to move her family elsewhere.

Kristin has won the contest ever since it began three years ago and has no doubts she will win again. But when she notices her cookies are plated differently, she pulls one of them from the wrapping and tastes it, immediately falling to the ground. When her husband Gerard is in distress, Paislee does what she can -- trying to give the woman CPR while the ambulance is called. But the police also arrive, and it's soon discovered that Kristin was murdered.

Paislee is determined to find out who killed Kristin, and why. There's no dearth of suspects, since Kristin's tongued-lashing was felt by everyone around her. Paislee also discovers that any one of them would have had a motive to do the woman in. Now she must depend upon her own instincts and the help of Lydia and Blaise to find out who killed Kirsten -- and if that person is going to kill again...

This is the third book in the series and I have read all of them. I do think that this one is the best, and it is certainly my favorite. I cannot say any more about the book, because it will give away the plot. I have said no more than what is in the blurb, but hopefully it will encourage others to read the book.

I do like the fact that Paislee has strong family feeling, and she is willing to work hard for everything she has. She also is becoming much fonder of Angus than in the previous books, and this is shown by her words and actions both. There are, of course, things I would like Paislee to change in her life, but I hope that eventually this will come about.

There are a couple of subplots that are also very interesting, and they added to the mystery instead of detracting from it. As to the mystery itself, it was completely enthralling, and the murderer was a surprise of itself. I did enjoy that immensely. Saying all that I have, I hope others will pick up this book. It is a very good mystery and worth the read. Highly recommended.

I received an advance copy from the publisher and NetGalley but this in no way influenced my review. ( )