3.5 STARSIn Book one and two Mrs. Smart - the newspaper's office manager - is a background character. We do not find out much about her but she is reliable and holds the Highland Gazette together. The lack of detail of her life and her no nonsense attitude intrigued me and I was hoping in this book we would learn more.It has been a few months since the last novel and in this book the Highland Gazette is thoroughly rocked. First there is the death of Mrs. Smart and then Don McLeod is charged for her murder. The members of the Gazette are not sure how Don and Mrs. Smart are connected and why her murder has wrecked him so much.The reading of Mrs. Smart's will bring up more questions than helping the Gazette figure out who is Mrs. Smart's killer. As they dig deeper into the case the newspaper is falling apart. The new Canadian stranger in town working as a subeditor has Joanne in a lovestruck tizzy and MacAllister is too distraught over Don and Mrs. Smart to notice. Joanne also might have a way to get rid of Bill and save her new life. Time is of the essence but secrets are hard to shake loose and more than Don has everything to lose. The staff at the "Highland Gazette" are back. In this installment, Mrs. Smart, the office manager is found murdered on the steps of an abbey. Don MacLeod is arrested for the murder and imprisoned. McAllister and the other members of the Gazette staff all try to find out who was the murderer. Was it a stranger, or Mrs. Smart's husband, a former soldier who lost both legs in India. This is a good book with a good plot. I knew who did it but couldn't figure out how it was done. A very good read.
A quaint 1950's series. A real look into the plight of women as a sign of the times.
—RA29239w11
Interesting characters and plot; I will look for more from this author.
—Madeleinne
Excellent - interesting scene and characters.
—Lemonsown
