The image of a plaid tea pot caught my eye on the cover of Murder in the Scottish Highlands. It is the first in the Ally McKinley Mystery series by Dee Macdonald. Ally, recently retired, has opened a guest house in an old, Scottish malthouse. She is settling in nicely, making friends with the locals and all ... and then (you know this is coming) ... a body is found, in her courtyard ... as she investigates (with the help of her Labrador puppy, Flora) she learns that the victim was claiming that he is the proper Earl of Locharran. Is he? Could he prove it? And then what would have happened?

Reading Hermit With Dog