THE POISON PEN

An ancient artifact may be the motive for murder.

Several weeks after the death of Queen Elizabeth II, Delaney Nichols is still feeling sad, but an unexpectedly diverting adventure begins when her boss, Edwin MacAlister—owner of the Cracked Spine bookstore in Edinburgh—asks her to research a rare and valuable object that an old friend recently discovered on her property. When Delaney’s friend Elias drives her to the estate of Jolie Lannister, a large gothic mansion reminiscent of horror films, she’s shocked by the clutter inside. Jolie’s lawyer, Bowie Berry, is there with an auctioneer she hired on her own initiative to inventory the house and possibly sell some of the contents. The object in question, which Jolie has kept hidden in a garden shed, seems to be a medieval Crusader sword covered in grime and rust. Near it they find the body of auction house assistant Alban Dunning, killed with a garden rake. Delaney texts Inspector Winters, the friend she’s worked with on several murder cases, and soon her expertise and desire to help Jolie have her deeply involved. The sword is eventually taken to the Scottish government’s Treasure Trove Unit, whose new director at first accuses Edwin of stealing the sword but eventually allows Delaney to clean and examine it. On top of all this, there’s the possibility that Jolie is the biological daughter of the Duke of Windsor, the abdicated king, and may have a claim to the throne. So many questions without answers have Delaney and her friends working full-out to find the truth.

Historical information and an interesting cast of characters make up for the easily solved mystery.