During the excitement of my BookBub Featured Deal, I needed something light and entertaining to read, and this second book in The Highland Horse Whisperer Mysteries series fitted the bill perfectly.

In the author’s own words:

“Like my amateur sleuth, Izzy, I’m a dressage-riding computer geek who loves coffee – but there the similarity ends. She is far smarter than me, and a lot younger! I hope you’ll join me in discovering where her curiosity leads to next…

Pretty much all my books are set in my native Scotland, and my mystery stories are no exception. You’ll meet colourful characters solving perplexing puzzles in the most glorious landscape imaginable. Throw in a castle or two, the occasional royal, and maybe even a delicious cake shop, and you’ll have the recipe for my new series.

I also write fantasy and clean romance/women’s fiction, as Roz Marshall: http://viewAuthor.at/RozMarshall
and Historical Romance telling the story of Mary Queen of Scots, as Belle McInnes: http://viewauthor.at/BelleMcInnes “

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You can see my review of Book #1, A Corpse at the Castle, HERE. and this is my review of book #2:

A Right Royal Revenge: A Scottish Cozy Mystery by R.B. Marshall
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Picking up right where the last book ended, Izzy’s horse training business is on the up, with a wealthy new customer booking her show jumper in for schooling. Only, when the horse arrives things seem a little ‘off’ with the owners and their regular show rider. And then Izzy gets another of her horse-whisperer visions, confirming that Darcy, their prize horse, has been treated less than kindly.
When Darcy’s owner asks Izzy to meet him after hours, wanting to employ her for her other skill – cyber investigations – she suspects he may be about to ask her to investigate his wife’s relationship with Darcy’s rider. But when Izzy arrives for the meeting, she finds her prospective employer dead at his desk.
With lots going on aside from the murder investigation – gossip, romance, salsa classes, strange police behaviour, the queen wanting to sell her prize stallion, and the excitement of the Highland Show – this book moves swiftly with never a dull moment, lots of quirky characters, and plenty of Scottish atmosphere. All the characters, both those from the last book and the new ones, are clearly defined people with their own agendas, and they behave like real people whose lives often don’t go where they want them to go.
The core mystery of the murder is well entwined with the rest of the story, and although I did guess the identity of the murderer before the end, I thoroughly enjoyed watching Izzy work it out and uncover the motivation. The end wraps things up nicely, while leading on towards the next instalment. I wonder how many dead bodies the Highlands can take!


View all my reviews