Expected Publish Date: April 16, 2026 by Bookouture

The story begins with the annual Locharran Highland Games in Scotland where Ally McKinley, the villagers and many others are enjoying the competitions, and all the sudden, they hear a shot fired and an unpopular competitor, Archie Armstrong, is killed while in the middle of tossing the caber, and from there on, tensions are running high, many of the villagers are not empathetic to the mans death-which makes many of them a suspect to the murder-including a few members of Archie’s family members- and Ally must discover the killer to not only one murder but two before the killer strikes again!

I have now read two books in this series -not in order- and I’m enjoying reading them thus far. Dee MacDonald cleverly weaves a good murder mystery and her characters are well developed. Her whodunits are so well plotted, I’ve had and entertaining time trying to solve the crimes along-side Ally. I can’t wait to solve another crime alongside Ally!

Stephanie

Full Description of the Book:

When a fun day out in the Scottish Highlands turns fatal, there’s only one solution: call for Ally McKinley!

It’s the annual Locharran Highland Games and Ally McKinley has never seen her little village so busy or excited. Everyone’s enjoying the Scottish dancing, the bagpipes, and cheering the competitors on. But there’s a hitch in the proceedings when champion challenger Archie Armstrong drops dead in the middle of tossing the caber. Rushing to the scene, Ally is the first to spot that Archie’s death was no accident – this was murder!

Ally flings herself into a new investigation and soon discovers that more than one person may have had a murderous motive, including some of the current residents of her cosy little guesthouse. Patti, Archie’s glamourous wife, seems intent on acting like the perfect widow, but rumours of infidelity have been flying. Is her performance too good? Could her uncle, cranky gamekeeper Angus, have finally snapped, furious at Archie’s treatment of his niece? Or was it one of the frustrated local competitors, desperate to end Archie’s winning streak?

Determined to crack the case and fueled by more than one piece of her famous shortbread, Ally begins to narrow down her list of possible culprits, but is thrown for a loop when her chief suspect is found dead by the loch, a mysterious and threatening note clutched in their fingers. With a killer at large, can Ally finally uncover the truth? Or, as the sun sets over the highlands, will this game be her last?

Side Bar: There is some profanity in this story but not so much, it is scattered through the book.