The stolen letter

Still savoring her honeymoon with her pub-owning husband, Kansas-born Delaney Nichols returns to her fantasy job in a quirky Edinburgh rare-books and manuscript store, the Cracked Spine. In a rush, she bumps into a woman, Mary Stewart, who, Delaney learns, believes she lived a past life as Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots. Mary was on her way to the bookstore, so they continue together, chatting. Mary invites Delaney, her husband, and a co-worker to her home for dinner. The next day, while Delaney and coworkers are discussing a threat to the very existence of the bookstore and its unorthodox attached warehouse, a car bomb goes off nearby, with the sole victim being Mary's husband, Henry. As Delaney works to learn the details of the city council's plan to condemn the bookstore, she learns that Henry was behind the action, pointing to a connection between the contents of the warehouse and Mary's historical being. While some aspects of the story line are fanciful, the history Delaney uncovers as she researches tapestries, old business licenses called Burgess Tickets, and Elizabethan-era furniture is fascinating and nicely woven into the tale.

Bestseller Shelton's whimsical fifth Scottish Bookshop mystery (after 2019's The Loch Ness Papers) finds Delaney Nichols back in Edinburgh from her honeymoon, eager to return to her job at the Cracked Spine, "the most wonderful bookstore in the entire world." On the street, she literally bumps into a woman who looks a lot like herself--the same frizzy red hair and lots of freckles. By chance, the woman, who introduces herself as Mary Stewart, was on her way to the Cracked Spine. At the bookshop, Mary reveals that she's the reincarnation of Mary, Queen of Scots. Delaney and Mary soon become friends. Meanwhile, the Edinburgh City Council threatens to close the bookshop for code violations. Eventually, other people who believe they have past lives end up playing supporting roles in the main action: Delaney's investigation of the death of Mary's husband, a member of the council, in a car bombing. Vivid descriptions of Edinburgh enhance the well-crafted plot. Cozy fans will look forward to the further adventures of smart and intuitive Delaney. Agent: Jessica Faust, Bookends Literary. (Apr.)

A bookseller is once again drawn into a historical murder mystery. No sooner has Delaney Nichols returned from her honeymoon (The Loch Ness Papers, 2019) than she runs into her doppelgänger outside the Cracked Spine bookshop where she works. Mary Stewart may look just like an older Delaney, but she considers herself a reincarnation of Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots. Intrigued, Delaney accepts Mary's invitation for her, her new husband, Tom, and Rosie, a longtime bookstore employee, to come to dinner. Meanwhile, a major problem has arisen for the bookstore because the Edinburgh council has informed Edwin, the owner, that it's failed a building code inspection. Everyone knows that the store's buildings, which include a warehouse stuffed with valuable treasures, including rare Mary Queen of Scots coins, are safe. There was never any inspection, and Edwin's more than willing to fix any problems, so no one knows why they were told the bookstore would have to close. Arriving at Mary's house, which is like a modern castle, Delaney, Tom, and Rosie meet her husband, Henry, who fails to mention that he's a city councilor--and who's gobsmacked by the resemblance between Delaney and his wife--and the other dinner guests: Mary's niece, Dina; her husband, Mikey; and Dr. Eloise Hansen and artist Gretchen Lovell, another couple. As they enjoy Henry's delicious dinner and Rosie's reminiscence of her passage on the Titanic in a past life, they can't see how dramatically their lives will soon be entwined. When Henry is killed by a car bomb the very next day, Delaney, who feels obligated to investigate, wonders what connections there might be between Henry and Mikey, who's also a city councilor, and the underhanded attempt to close The Cracked Spine. Unable to believe that two such nice men were part of a plan to ruin the bookstore, she starts digging for information, even using Tom's former girlfriend, a journalist with friends in high places, to save the store and catch the killer. As usual, the interesting historical tidbits, local color, and charming characters far outweigh the mundane mystery. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.