This cozy mystery is just as much of a comfort read as the adorable cover promises. An excellent installment in the series.

I really loved this book in a new to my series and author. I can't wait to read the next one. The characters and location really add to the plot. This book keeps you guessing until the end

I've read two others in this series, and I'm rather ambivalent about it. My family long ago came from Scotland; I love bagpipes, so this must true, so I want to like the series. The little village in which Paislee lives sounds adorable and I'd love to visit. But I'm not exactly fond of Paislee, and as she's the main character, that's not a good thing. I find her a wee bit silly, which I've tried to excuse because the character is half my age. In this entry in the series, Paislee and her best friend Lydia have a new friend, Blaise. Blaise's husband is a golf pro and the wives of several of his clients have welcomed Blaise into their circle. But they are grown up high school mean girls, and Blaise is trying to ease herself out of their clutches without affecting her husband's career. The ringleader of the mean girls is killed at a charity event, and the first suspect is Blaise, so Paislee springs into action. I found the immediacy of the best friendship between the two women not developed enough to convince me of the sincerity of it, and that meant some of Paislee's actions and thoughts rang hollow. The unrelenting meanness of the surviving clique members to each other was depressing and I didn't care what happened to any of them because there was nothing sympathetic about any of them. There is still no additional information on the mystery surrounding Craig, Paislee's uncle; in fact, there are further indications that he may not even exist, which would mean Paislee's grandfather is delusional. This subplot has been dragging on long enough, Ms. Hall; it's now annoying some of us readers. Paislee acts completely contradictory at times: Brody can't have his own cell phone, but she doesn't even blink an eye when he drives a golf cart? The story is okay but not arresting, the characters are, as mentioned, unsympathetic, and several characters have very odd reactions to events that make no sense. And frankly, how fast can Paislee knit that she can replace the sweater inventory in her shop at the pace implied in the book? Not bad, but just kind of blah, so I'd give this book a C.

Murder at a Scottish Social was an enjoyable, if slow, read. It took me a while to get into this one. I haven't read the rest of the series, so I may have missed some character development, but was able to catch up fairly quickly. Overall, I don't know that I will seek out the rest of the series, considering I have trouble keeping up with my favorites. But the slow pace will appeal to some.

Thank you NetGalley and Kensington Books for this ARC.

Paislee is taking part in a fundraiser for the local food bank. Part of the fundraiser is a baking competition dominated by a cliquey mom group. When the queen bee is poisoned by her own cookie and dies, Paislee is determined to figure out what happened.

I'm really enjoying getting to know Paislee and her family. I love seeing her interact with her son. I'm loving her developing relationships with other people in the community. I love her as a character. I was taken completely by surprise at the end of this one. I had no idea the end was coming at all! I cannot wait to see what's next!

Wouldnae, tae, didnae, etc. started to grate on me. I know the author was using it to invoke the feeling of Scotland to add to the story, but I had to stop at 29%.

I had not read the previous two books and hadn't by 29% developed any liking for Paislee or interest in the story to continue.

I received my copy from Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

Paislee Shaw is happy to contribute a hand-knit cashmere sweater set for auction plus have a booth to sell merchandise from her shop, Cashmere Crush, at the Nairn Food Bank fundraiser. Her friend Blaise is sharing the booth and has entered her almond cookies in the annual contest. Of course, it’s always been won by Kirsten, but as they say, it’s an honor to be nominated.

What Paislee didn’t realize was mean girls from grade school and high school grow up to be mean women. As adults, they just have more power and money. Kirsten is the leader of the clique made up of school mothers.

The first day’s sales are a huge success and bidding is going well on the auction items. When it’s time for the cookie judging, Blaise is a nervous wreck. It doesn’t help that Kirsten makes a scene and accuses her personal chef of changing the presentation of her cookies, and are these even hers? To be sure there’s not been a switch, she licks the brown sugar topping and takes a bit—and gasping, falls to the floor.

Paislee administers CPR, but Kirsten is pronounced dead at the hospital, severe allergic reaction to peanuts in the cookie. She always carried an EpiPen, but it wasn’t to be found.

Kirsten has enemies starting with the chef, the women in her group, a lover no one knew she had, the list is long. Paislee wants nothing to do with the murder but is drawn in by Blaise and oddly, the DI assisting with the case. He usually warns her to stay out of any and all investigations.

On the home front, things are settling down nicely with her grandfather. Paislee hopes he’ll stay on to help with her son Brody, Wallace the Scottish terrier, and the shop. Brody’s best friend Edwyn is beginning to notice girls while Brody is still focused on football, leading to some disagreements. Business in the shop is brisk with all the tourists.

When evidence seems to point at Blaise, Paislee does manage to ask a few questions here and there—and maybe go on one excursion that turns out, um, okay. Well, they lost a missing suspect but did find his hiding place, so that’s something.

This is book three in the series, all reviewed here. Paislee is a likable character, sensible where family is concerned and a good businesswoman. Grandfather is mellowing. Brody and Wallace, well, who can resist a kid and his Scottie? This is a series I look forward to with characters you’d want as friends and a town you’d love to visit. The mysteries just add to the enjoyment with a continuing thread about Pailee’s missing uncle.

Murder at a Scottish Social is the third entry in this easy to read, cozy series. I enjoy the setting in Scotland, the crafts and the recurring characters. Among these are Paislee (who loves all things cashmere), her grandfather, her son, her best friend and, this being a cozy, her dog.

This time around Paislee becomes involved with a group of annoying moms. Think of your worst school gate memories. When one of them is murdered and Paislee’s good friend is suspected, our amateur sleuth gets to work. The victim had the “dirt” on many others so the list of suspects is long. Paislee has her work cut out but, of course, readers know that she will solve the case.

Cozy lovers, gives this series a try. It offers a pleasant diversion.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Kensington for this title. All opinions are my own.

There is something special about this cozy mystery serie that I really enjoy. I love the setting, and the town, and the yarn shop, but I especially love Paislee and all the different relationships and friendships she nutures. I also find it refreshing that the author doesn't find it necessary to set Paislee up in a romantic relationship, showing that women can be happy and complete and not involved with someone romantically.

Who killed the Queen Bee of a group of snobbish school moms with a cookie? That's what Paislee Shaw must do so she can get back to her yarn store as well as taking care of her son and grandfather... and let's not forget about her Scotty Wallace.

This was my second book that I have read in the series and it was just as enjoyable as the last book I read. I enjoyed escaping to Scotland and trying to the solve the mystery.

I enjoyed this recent visit to Nairn more than the last one (which I also liked) because I felt that it flowed better. There were still some slower areas within the story where it did drag a little in the middle but overall the story was interesting and the mystery kept me guessing. I was not a fan of the women highlighted here but you weren't supposed to be. I did like how much more her grandfather was in this story and how they were co-parenting her son. I will definitely continue with this series.

Paislee Shaw wants to give back. She has made a home for herself in Nairn, Scotland, with her son Brody and her grandfather. She has a knitting shop named Cashmere Crush, where she makes a living for herself and her family by selling items she’s knitted and local wool and cashmere yarns.

And when she was asked to be a part of the Nairn Food Bank Fund-Raiser at the newly reopened Social Club and Art Centre, Paislee jumped at the chance. She donated a beautiful cashmere sweater set to the auction, but she also set up several other knitted pieces to sell to those who are coming through the center, donating a portion of her sales to the food bank as well.

She’s sharing a table with her friend Blaise O’Conner, who had recently moved to Nairn. Her husband Shep is a golf pro, and their daughter is going to Highland Academy. Blaise is selling some of her homemade biscuits, which she plans to enter into the cookie competition. But winning will be difficult. Every year at the cookie competition, Kristen Buchanan always wins.

Kristen is the queen bee at Highland Academy. Her husband is also a golfer, so between that and the school, she and Blaise run in the same social circles. And Kristen and her two best friends, Mari and Christina, are like the mean girls in middle school. Blaise is trying to make friends with them, but since she’s not interested in playing the games (and her husband is more successful than Kristen’s), Blaise is having trouble getting close to anyone. But she likes Paislee and Paislee’s best friend Lydia, so she does have some allies in the town.

When it’s time for the competition, Kristen’s chef Fergus brings out the plates of cookies to the judges. Kristen looks at the shortbread cookies that she made and say that they don’t look quite right. She tries it and decides that it tastes okay. But then, a moment later, she starts choking. Immediately, people jump into action. Paislee tries to do CPR and Kristen’s friends try to find her EpiPen, in case she’s having an allergic reaction, but the EpiPen can’t be found. When the paramedics get to the scene, they try to do what they can to stop her allergic reaction, but it’s too late.

The police show up and start questioning everyone, trying to figure out what happened. Eventually they find out that someone had put ground up peanuts in the topping that was on Kirsten’s cookie, and with her EpiPen missing, her nut allergy acted fast to close her airway. Clearly, her death was intentional. And when one of Kristen’s friends find the missing EpiPen near Blaise’s table, suspicion falls on her.

Paislee doesn’t believe that Blaise had anything to do with Kristen’s death, but she has no evidence. So she and Lydia and Blaise try to get to the truth. There are a lot of loose ends. Kristen’s chef Fergus went missing after the event, and the women find out that he had just been fired that morning. An expensive gaming laptop had been stolen from the fund-raising auction. And when Kristen’s husband finds out that she’d had an affiar with Anders, the fund-raising chair, he showed up at the second day of the fund-raiser and kit Anders in the face.

There was no shortage of drama about the fundraiser, but Paislee has drama at home to distract her also. Her son has been getting into trouble at school and fighting with his best friend. Her grandfather is helping Paislee out with the shop and at home, but she worries that she’s putting too much on him. It’s the tourist season, so things are busy at her store. And then there are her conflicting feelings about the handsome Detective Inspector Zeffer.

But with all that going on, will Paislee and her friends be able to figure out who killed Kristen before they are targeted by the killer themselves?

Murder at a Scottish Social is the third book in Traci Hall’s Scottish Shire Mysteries. Following the adventures of knitter, yarn shop proprietor, and single mom Paislee, these mysteries feature the charming Scottish setting, warm friendships, and a strong sense of family.

I wanted to love this book. I am a big nerd for all things Scottish, and I love a well written cozy mystery. While I have never been coordinated enough to knit, I do enjoy crocheting (until my cat attacks the yarn), so I was really looking forward to this book. And it’s good. But there were moments when the heavy Scottish dialect used in the dialogue of every character weighed the story down some. And while I liked the storyline with her son and her grandfather, there were times that those scenes slowed down the momentum of solving the mystery. But I liked these characters a lot, and I thought the setting of Nairn was completely charming. I enjoyed my time there, and I look forward to going back again and spending more time with these characters.

Egalleys for Murder at a Scottish Social were provided by Kensington Books through NetGalley, with many thanks.

It is always refreshing when a series maintains its allure three books in. I started this series because I always like a new location and a new kind of protagonist. There have been quite a few series that I have abandoned after a book or two because the narrative did not continue to hold my interest. I think this series has a little more to go before it reaches that point. We have two major plotlines ongoing in the background of the individual mystery. We have the missing son and the love triangle that is not exactly anything concrete at this time.
This particular instalment was almost entirely devoid of the romantic conflict in Paislee's mind. She thought about it once or twice but did not linger on it amidst yet another death and the subsequent upheaval in everyone's lives.
In the previous instalment, another woman joined forces with Paislee and her best friend to form a formidable trio. In order to support this new friend amidst a very toxic environment, both Paislee and Lydia spend time and energy at a charity auction/sale. They come into close contact with the tiresome mommy group, who have been making life hard for Blaise. One of them does not survive that first night. What follows is the regular investigation with personal issues thrown in and family chipping in to add to the drama in the story. We have some hints as to the directions the aforementioned longer running plotlines may go, but nothing was confirmed.
I liked that I was not even trying to figure the killer out myself. I was just going along with the investigations and the clues that turned up during the elimination processes. The ending was a surprise, and there is something to look forward to in the next instalment.
I received an ARC thanks to NetGalley and the publishers, but the review is entirely based on my own reading experience of this and the previous works in the same series.

Every time I read a book in this series; I feel like I'm right there in Scotland. The characters are really well developed, and the storyline flows perfectly. I'm really enjoying Paislee and her very realistic struggle as a single parent. I had a lot of fun trying to solve the murder of the Queen Bee grown up mean girl.

I loved this story, the characters, the mystery, the Scottis accent used. It felt very authentic to Scotland. Loved the small towm vibe. Paisley is a strong woman who works hard for her and her son. A great circle of friends and even the enemies were interesting. Great!

This is book 3 in the Scottish Shire Mysteries. What makes this cozy series unique is that it takes place in the quaint and charming town of Nairn, Scotland. I love being transported to a different country through the descriptions and dialect of the characters!

I really enjoy the various relationships amongst the characters. My fav is between Paislee and her son. It's refreshing to see a realistic version of a mom/single parent in a cozy. I enjoyed the side story of seeing Brody work through some issues and struggles he is having at school and amongst friends. Grandpa cracks me up. He is the perfect definition of a curmudgeon and his snarky comments just make me smile. However, at the end of the day, he helps Paislee out quite a bit around her shop and at home.

The mystery part of this story was a perfect mix of Mean Girls meets Desperate Housewives. It takes place at a fundraiser where the victim and suspects are a group of cliquey women with enough drama to make you second guess all of your main suspect predictions along the way. I was pointing the finger at all of them at some point throughout the book.

I'm not sure if the author is pushing for a love triangle. If so, I'm on team DI Zeffer. I'm just not feeling any chemistry between Paislee and the headmaster. Since the start of the series, there has also been a second mystery going on regarding the disappearance of grandpa's son, Craigh. I keep hoping this storyline will become an entire book because I'm definitely intrigued by it. So far, we just collect very brief clues that cause quite a bit of speculation.

TW: Includes a character that is bulimic.

Paisley Shaw, owner of Cashmere Crush, once again finds herself at another murder scene. This time Queen Bee, Kristen Buchanan, the leader and mean girl of Inverness Social Circle is taken down, and out by a fatal peanut allergy. Someone's added peanut shavings to Kristen brown sugar shortbread cookies. As she lays on the ground gasping for air, her medicine is nowhere to be found, and Kristen dies. Who poisoned Kristen?

What follows are reveals from Kristen friends, regarding the information she had on all of them. Mari, fighting bulimia, and hiding the fact her husband has left her for another man, or Christina, her alcoholism, and how she carries around a water bottle filled with Vodka, Blaise who was raised in an orphanage has left the ladies group, and now hangs with Paislee, and her Sip, and Knit group. So who'd want Kristen dead?

Paislee, along with the the handsome D.I. Mack Zeffer work together to avoid charging the wrong person for murder, and protect Blaise, since she's a suspect.

Paislee Shaw has agreed to share a table with her friends, Lydia, and Blaise at the fundraiser to support the Nairn Food Bank. Drama starts before Paislee arrives when the Queen Bee of the mom clique from the local elite school, Kirsten Buchanan puts their table at the back of the room next to the loo. The theatrics continue as Kirsten and her worker bees shoot barbs at Blaise who has decided their crowd is not for her. When Kirsten ends up dead after sampling a cookie, Kirsten’s friends are quick to point the finger at Blaise. Paislee puts away her knitting needles and dons her sleuthing cap in order to find the guilty party. Murder at a Scottish Social by Traci Hall is the third A Scottish Shire Mystery. It is best to read this series in order so that you can get to know the and understand their relationships. I thought the story contained good writing with a slower pacing. There is an interesting cast of Scottish characters. Paislee, Brody, Lydia, Gramps, and Wallace the dog are back along Detective Inspector Zeffer. We get to meet Blaise O’Connor, her husband, and son. I did have a hard time with the Scottish brogue. It was in the previous books, but it seemed more pronounced in this one. I had such a hard time deciphering the words that I got a migraine. The whodunit had several suspects, a red herring, and direct clues. If you catch the clues, you should find solving this mystery a cinch. Paislee did not do much sleuthing in this story. She was, though, on the receiving end of nasty potshots. I was turned off by the mean women group. Their nastiness was off-putting (and reminded me of high school). When not knitting or working at the shop, Paislee must deal with an issue regarding her son, Brody. Unfortunately, that means dealing with the problematic headmaster. Gramps, as always, provides humor. I liked how the author emphasized the need for the food bank in the community. The fundraiser was wonderful the way people came together to raise money for the cause (if you can overlook the cruel female clique). Murder at a Scottish Social is a Scottish whodunit with a cookie contest, a cruel clique, nasty nuts, an elusive Epi-pen, a pilfered piece, remarkable knitwear, and a dedicated detective.

Murder at a Scottish Social is the third book in this cozy mystery series by Traci Hall. I have read and enjoyed all the books in this series. I love the setting of a small town in Nairn, Scotland. Paislee Shaw Is a single mom who runs the Cashmere Crush shop with the help of her grandpa. Her new friend Blaise asks for her help with the Nairn food bank so Paislee donates a hand made cashmere sweater to be auctioned off. At the fundraiser she meets Nasty Queen Bee Kristin Buchanan and her clique of mean girls. Kristin eats one of her own cookies at the fundraiser and dies from an acute peanut allergy. Kristins friends are quick to point the finger at Blaise so Paislee puts her investigative skills to work to try and clear her name and find the real killer. I look forward to the next book in this wonderful series.