Grave of a Shetland Sailor
Grave of a Shetland Sailor (The Body in the Bracken)
Cass Lynch has been persuaded to spend Christmas in the Highlands with her friend DI Gavin Macrae, but their romantic walk by the loch is cut short when they find a skeleton among the bracken. Back home in Shetland, Cass hears about Ivor Hughson, who left his wife and failed business months ago, and hasn’t been heard of since. A near-disaster aboard Cass’s yacht suggests someone wants to stop her asking questions about his disappearance. Meanwhile, there are eerie reports of sightings of a njuggle, a Shetland water-horse which drowns curious passers-by. Soon it’s taking Cass all her wits to stay alive...
Praise for Grave of a Shetland Sailor (The Body in the Bracken)
“... the real joy of Marsali Taylor’s work is the richness of her portrayal of the Shetland background and inhabitants, and the effortless weaving in of Cass Lynch’s sailing background, which is intrinsic to her personality and the USP of this growing series. ... Cass Lynch is an unusual protagonist, a stand-out in an overcrowded genre.”
— Lynne Patrick, Mystery People
The head of Gavin’s loch with the narrows which he leads Cass through. The farm can just be glimpsed through the trees on the far right; I hope that some day he’ll persuade her to come and live with him in the cottage on the lower left.
Gavin’s family farm. It’s now a B&B, but in my young days it really was a farm, and my sister and I would walk from the cottage to get fresh milk. It tasted so good that not much of it made it back!
The Loch of Gonfirth, where Jeemie met the njuggle.
Looking from the water at Jeemie’s house, Grobsness.
This photo was taken looking west from just past the Loch o’ Gonfirth. The road to Grobsness winds off in the right of the photo. The thin arm of sea is the Røna, with Papa Stour in the far distance, and Vementry Isle and islet in the middle, and Muckle Roe on the right.
Sunset over Gonfirth Voe.
The start of the procession at Scalloway Fire Festival.
The burning galley.
Author Comment
Writing puzzle murder mysteries told in the first person by the detective is a real challenge (I didn’t realise this when I started). You need to give the reader the clues, but there would be no story if your detective then got the meaning of them straight away. Everything Cass sees and hears is reported accurately, but her own prejudices and experience can lead her reasoning astray – and I hope lead the readers astray too. There’s an obvious example in this book – expect to feel smug and smarter than her by about chapter 15.