Gay Marris’ 1970s murder mystery novel is out now, and it’s a book that will stay with me for some time.
Dr Ava Dickens heads to the Scottish Highlands to support her god son, who has inherited a large estate after the death of his parents in an accident. Both Ava and Alastair are from a more scientific background; Ava is a specialist in animal behaviour, Alastair a botanist. Recently married and grieving the loss of his parents, Alastair has the challenge of turning the estate into a luxury hotel, to cover the cost of maintaining an extensive property, and may be in over his head. And things start to look bleak when one of the guests is found dead…
I would describe this as a “quiet” novel – Ava leads the investigation as she would her science research, closely observing and interpreting what she sees. I do love a book that educates as well as entertains, and I found myself completely absorbed. Ava knows she’s a “boffin”, and is aware that people can be overloaded with information, but teaming up with Alastair’s other god parent, “Uncle Wick” who is an art history professor, she feels less afraid to share her knowledge, and thus shares her observations and interpretations with the reader.
Ava can seem quite detached at times, observing the hotel guests as she would any specimen she’s studying and its fascinating to see how her mind works. While she collects all the available data, a lot of the interpretation happens in snippets of dreams, counter to Ava’s normal logical approach.
The setting is vividly described, there’s a sense of isolation, and the mercurial Highland weather adds a layer of intensity to the proceedings.
Ava is a fascinating character, at times self assured and confident in her life and choices, but shows flashes of vulnerability. I only hope we will see more of her!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Dr. Gay Marris is a retired research scientist. Her career focused on insect ecology, parasites and honey bee health. Her first novel, The Curtain Twitcher’s Book of Murder, set in the suburbs of the deceptively dangerous suburbs of 1960s London, where she grew up and was shortlisted for the CWA John Creasey First Novel Prize. Her second novel, The Beasts of the Black Loch, is the first in the Natural History of Murder series. Gay now lives in York with her husband, a cat and a tortoise.
ABOUT THE BOOK
In 50,000 acres of remote Scottish mountains and moor sits Dorcha Hall: a former hunting lodge nestling amongst ancient forests, on the shores of the enigmatic ‘Black Loch’. At night, lights glow from within, smoke curls from its chimneys, and in the forgiving murk of the gloaming, it looks magical. In daylight, its mouldering plasterwork and failing plumbing present a less romantic reality.
Dr Ava Dickens has come to Dorcha to visit her godson, Alastair – a young man whose parents’ sudden death has taken him from a quiet life in academia to owning Loch Dorcha. He and his very new wife are convinced the only way to make the estate work is to run the Hall as a hotel. But Ava is a rigorous scientist, her specialty animal behaviour, and she is by no means certain that the evidence is indicative of a successful outcome.
When one of the hotel guests is found dead in his bed, having gulped down poisonous insect repellant rather than the whisky sitting next to it, Ava’s knowledge of the female Culicoides impunctatus – aka the Highland midge – leads her to doubt that it was an accident. And worse is to come.
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