Agatha Award Winner for Best Historical Novel: Something fishy is going on in this clever mystery with "an exciting climax" set in a tiny Scottish village (Publishers Weekly).
Winner, Lefty Award for Best Historical Mystery Novel
Finalist, Macavity/Sue Feder Memorial Award for Best Historical Mystery
On the rain-drenched, wind-battered Banffshire coast, dilapidated mansions cling to cliff tops and tiny fishing villages perch on ledges that would make a seagull think twice. It's nowhere for Dandy Gilver, a child of gentle Northamptonshire, to spend Christmas.
But when odd things start to turn up in barrels of fish—with a strong whiff of murder most foul—that's exactly where she finds herself. Enlisted to investigate, Dandy and her trusty cohort, Alec Osborne, are soon swept up in the fisherfolks' wedding season as well as the mystery. Between age-old traditions and brand-new horrors, Dandy must think the unthinkable to solve her most baffling case yet.
"A host of colorful characters . . . the setting of this cozy thriller is vividly detailed and full of creeping menace." —Kirkus Reviews
"Not since Maisie Dobbs first surfaced has there been a pluckier or more winning heroine." —Charles Finch, author of The Fleet Street Murders
"A dandy series." —The Boston Globe