The historic town of Edinburgh seems like the perfect location for Rose McLaren to set up shop, creating delectable muffins and biscuits. But three years later, a death that seemed like an accident brings Rose face to face with a darker and more sinister side of the city.
Despite several formidable warnings to stay out of things, finding a dead man on her bed is the final straw and Rose reconnects with an old ally from the other side of the fence.
In her debut as a sleuth, Rose learns that murder, close friends and past enemies all have a role to play in the mystery which she is determined to unravel and solve.
Genre: Mystery/Crime
Number of Pages: 148 pages
Date of Publication: 28/02/2021
Author/Illustrator/Publisher:
The author of the book is Liza Miles and Murder on Morrison is her first novel, following on from Love Bites a book of short stories about women.
Rating:4/5
Review:
This is a murder mystery that takes place in Edinburgh where I live so there are so many familiar places that get described. Our main character Rose who has had a very hard time with her losing vison in one of her eyes, having got out of a toxic relationship with her on/off boyfriend and having issues with drugs and alcohol. After serving her prison sentence for a crime she didn’t commit and opening her muffin and biscuit shop she is set to turn around her life for good until one day the body of a friend turned up dead at the front door of her shop and from there everything gets complicated.
The story involves strong topics like drugs, alcohol and murder so it can be a bit mature and gritty. There are quite a lot of different characters mentioned in the story and while they are well written, distinctive and played an important part in the plot, at times it can get a bit confusing. I liked how well the places and situations where described and also how the characters were linked to each other and their relationships portrayed. I did find that some of the dialogue was a bit formal and sometimes a bit old fashioned so I found I had to occasionally remind myself that the story was set in modern times. It’s not that the conversations between the characters wasn’t well written just that it felt a little out of place for the setting.
The plot is well structured and the scenes and locations fit perfectly with the story. I felt that sometimes the main character was too comfortable and confident with her efforts to solve the murders and to find out who was behind everything without being careful who knew she was investigating it or feeling any worry or uncertainty. Although the ending wasn’t what I was expected and it had a good twist I felt a little let down as I kind of wanted more closure for the characters involved.
Overall a good, short and entertaining mystery novel that kept me engaged and interested to find out about the story. I read Liza’s first book of short stories and I can see a huge progression and development in her writing and it is so nice to see the progress that writers make.
Availability: The book can be found on Amazon
Shelf Life 
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