“Yes,
Adventure goes well with Scotland, but so does a little bit
of wicked, and I was about to find out truly how much.”
-- Delaney,
The Cracked Spine
The Cracked Spine is the first title in the Scottish
Bookshop series. It takes place in Edinburgh, Scotland. The
main character is thirty-year-old Delaney Nichols. She moves
from Kansas to Scotland after she accepts a job at The Cracked
Spine, a rare book and manuscript shop. Books speak to Delaney
in an unusual way. She hears the voices of characters in her
head, which makes her perfect for this particular shop.
A cabdriver named
Elias delivers Delaney to The Cracked Spine shop. Elias and
his wife are taken by Delaney and want to keep her safe. Elias
reminds her to be cunning when moving about Edinburgh. It’s
the first of many cryptic impressions Delaney gets after she
arrives. Delaney meets her fellow employees and her new boss,
Edwin MacAlister. Edwin may have that classic Cary Grant look
but he’s not very bright. Who gives a rare book to a
former drug addict for safe keeping?! Delaney seems surprised,
too, but stays professional. She’s a perceptive main
character who rolls with the flow, no matter how weird it
gets.
Delaney’s
first week is filled with books, an Art Auction, a handsome
Scotsman in a kilt, a murder investigation and two intense
police inspectors. And that’s just the first chapters.
The author keeps the pages turning with plenty of twist and
turns, supernatural mentions, and bits of humor. The Cracked
Spine is well written and very entertaining. I can’t
wait for my next visit to Edinburgh and The Cracked Spine.
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