The 7th book in the Scottish Bookshop Mysteries is as fresh and fun as the first. Love how the characters have evolved especially Delaney Nichols. A good solid mystery that keeps your interest going. Would love to visit this bookstore for real. Keep this series going please! Thanks #netgalley and #stmartinspress for the eARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are mine.

The Burning Pages by Paige Shelton is a moderately entertaining cozy that suffers from weak plotting.
The seventh entry in the Scottish Bookshop Mysteries, The Burning Pages features amateur sleuth Delaney Nichols caught up, yet again, in a murder investigation. The premise for the story is based on the Scottish custom of the Burns Night dinner, a celebration of the poet Robert Burns.

While the novel begins interestingly enough, with Delaney responding to a mysterious invitation to a Burns Night dinner hosted by a small and somewhat secretive Burns society, it quickly becomes mired in problems that are mostly the result of weak plotting. Delaney is also struggling to decide what to do with a mysterious birth certificate she found in the bookshop’s warehouse, and it quickly becomes apparent that there may be a connection between the birth certificate and the mystery of the Burns night dinner. This is just one of the many events in the novel that seem to occur simply because the author wants them to, or because they’re expedient for the plot. The explanation for *why* Delaney has been invited to the dinner, the explanation for why the birth certificate has been concealed, the explanation for the connections between various suspects—these are all explained with a kind of meandering logic that doesn’t make any sense to this reader. Coincidence also features heavily in the book; Delaney is prompted by what she calls ‘bookish voices,’ which are connected in the story to a type of psychic ability; she also relies heavily on her intuition, which seems to be a code word for the author needing her to do something else. Nowhere is coincidence more clearly at work than in Delaney ‘stumbling’ onto a psychic who happens to be related to the people named in the birth certificate.

Even the significance of certain events seems to have been arbitrarily decided by the author. For example, Delaney is invited to the Burns dinner because her current employer is an estranged friend of another guest at the dinner. Presumably, this is supposed to produce some sort of reconciliation (I have no idea why—it’s unclear why someone’s employee might be a proxy in this situation). But equally inexplicable is how upset Delaney is at the ‘ruse.’

This book may be a good fit for fans of the series or for people who consume a vast number of cozy mysteries and are looking for another to fill the roster.

This was the first book I read in this well-established series. Overall, it kept me guessing who the culprit was and I liked that very much. I was really surprised. Where I had a difficult time with the book was relating to Delaney and her gift. - she has a strong intuition or sight but it added nothing to the story except for book quotations from the authors. I also had a hard time relating to her being the one doing the detecting and sharing all the clues with the sheriff. I read a lot of cozies, and know it's a common theme to have the protagonist solve the crime, but for me this book made her the private investigator. I don't know that I would speak to a complete stranger the way people in the story did.

The story was good, the mystery was well thought out and I was able to read it as a stand-alone.

The Burning Pages by Paige Shelton seemed to be a bit slower than the other books in the series but it still kept my interest with good characters and a chance to learn more about Scotland and Robert Burns.

Really enjoy this series. The characters are well-portrayed, and who doesn't like a bookshop mystery? This has plenty of twists and turns, Robert Burns, arson, fractured relationships and murder. Delaney's intuition comes to the rescue.

I love this series each one gets better.
One winter's night, bookseller Delaney Nichols and her coworker Hamlet are invited to a Burns Night dinner, a traditional Scottish celebration of the poet Robert Burns. She's perplexed by the invitation, but intrigued. The dinner takes place at Burns House itself, a tiny cottage not far from the Cracked Spine bookshop but well hidden. There, it becomes clear that Delaney and Hamlet were summoned in an attempt to make amends between Edwin, Delaney's boss, and one of the other invitees, who suspected Edwin for burning down his own bookshop twenty years ago after a professional disagreement.
But after the dinner, there’s another fire. The Burns House itself is burned to the ground, and this time there’s a body among the ruins. When Hamlet is accused of the crime, Delaney rushes to prove his innocence, only to discover that he might actually have a plausible motive...
I love Delaney and her curiosity. I can’t wait until the next!
#theburningpages#netgalley

bookseller, Scotland, arson, amateur-sleuth, expats, cosy-mystery, murder, murder-investigation, mysteries, family, family-dynamics, friendship, law-enforcement, lawyers, Robert Burns

If you are new to the series, you will read that Delaney (she's not in Kansas anymore) is a bookseller and that her new husband, Tom, is a barkeeper and that they have a lot of interesting friends and relatives. This is a nice cosy with engaging characters, plot twists, red herrings, and SCOTLAND. This time there is a mysterious birth certificate, arson (twice), murder, and more. Keeping this short to avoid any spoilers, but I loved it!
I requested and received a free ebook copy from St. Martin's Press/Minotaur Books via NetGalley. Thank you!

Delaney Nichols is invited to a group dedicate to Robert Burns. Not quite feeling right about the strange invitation, she takes her friend Hamlet with her. When she finds out why she was invited, she and Hamlet leave. Later that night she finds that the building was burned to the ground and one of the group members was found dead in the fire. It's when Hamlet is a suspect and then goes missing that she begins digging around to find out who set the fire and why, especially since she knows that Hamlet would never kill anyone.

As Delaney sleuths, she finds that there's more to the story as something is up with Hamlet and she seems to have fires that follow her at some of the places she goes to get information. The closer Delaney gets, the killer seems to want to stop her, but will the killer stop her once and for all?

I love this series and cannot get enough of it. It's the closest I'll get to Scotland these days and it surely lets me escape from things for a time when I delve in. A solid whodunit, great characters, and excellent writing make for one fabulous cozy series.

The Burning Pages an entertaining and satisfying addition to the popular Scottish bookshop series. Paige Shelton is a writer I enjoy tremendously. Her books flow so naturally that her mysteries, while intricately woven, are also imminently readable. This one kept me guessing too. Delaney Nichols, originally from Kansas, is loving her idyllic new life in Edinburgh, Scotland. Still, she finds herself embroiled in a murder/arson investigation and must solve these and other much older mysteries tied to it to save her friend, Hamlet. Supported by a charming cast of Scottish characters in a beautiful (and bookish) setting, and overflowing with Robert Burns references, this one was hard to put down. I'm a sucker for books set in Scotland anyway, and I genuinely enjoyed this one so much. It was just the coziest of cozy mysteries. Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the chance to read this ARC.

The Burning Pages is the 7th in this delightful mystery series set in Scotland. Delaney is mysteriously invited to a Burns night dinner, which is a celebration of the poet Robert Burns. She is not comfortable going alone so she decides to take Hamlet as her plus one. All does not go well as one member of the group leaves in a huff when he learns Delaney and Hamlet work for Edwin at the bookshop. After dinner there is a fire in the tiny cottage where the dinner took place. The cottage is burned to the ground and a body is found among the ashes. All fingers point to Hamlet as he was the last to see the victim alive and he appears to have a motive. But Delaney knows Hamlet is innocent and works hard to prove his innocence.

The Burning Pages is the 7th book of the Scottish Bookshop Mysteries. I have read this series from the beginning with The Cracked Spine. This story takes place in Edinburgh, Scotland. Delaney Nichols is the main character of the story along with all the others that were in the book from the beginning as well as the supporting characters that add to the story. Delaney works as manager of the bookstore owned by Edwin MacAlister along with Rose and Hamlet who work there. She is married to Tom who owns a pub in the neighborhood. She is invited to attend a dinner at the Robert Burns supper club by Clarinda Creston who is a solicitor. Delaney has asked if she could bring a guest. She brings Hamlet, a young boy who works at the bookstore. There are two parts of this story, the first being the supper club and it's members and the second, Hamlet's family history. The dinner did not go as planned and Delaney and Hamlet leave abruptly. Later that evening the cottage that they had dinner in burns to the ground and one of their members, Neil Watterton is found in the ashes. The police question all that attended the party and are very interested in Hamlet. When Delaney goes to work she discovers that Hamlet has not shown up for work. She and the others that work at the store are quite concerned. This is where the book takes Delaney in two directions trying to find Hamlet and who killed Neil Watterton. The book twists and turns with suspense and intrigue and leads the reader to the surprise conclusion.

I enjoyed this book and look forward to finding out what adventure Delancey, Edwin, Rose and Hamlet participate in.

Thank you NetGalley, Minotaur Books and St. Martins Publishing Group for this ARC.

I enjoy this series and I think Paige Shelton is a great author. I’m a sucker for a
Scottish setting, and anything to do with books, so the Scottish Bookshop series had me from the start. As usual, the mystery doesn’t disappoint it is interesting and well-researched. I look forward to more Scottish/bookish adventures for Delaney and friends.

There is a lot going on in this book. There seem to be multiple mysteries and you aren't if they are related or just chance. It does move through pretty quickly to a conclusion with no weak moments. Since Delany's brother is in town, I would have liked more story with them interacting to humanize her. This is a good installment in the Scottish bookstore theme. you can tell there has been a lot of research done and it helps to bring the story along.

Thank you #Netgalley for the advance reader copy of The Burning Pages by Paige Shelton in exchange for an honest review. Delaney Nichols is invited to a House of Burns dinner on Robert Burns birthday. She works at the Cracked Spine in Edinburgh. Delaney wonders why she was invited. A man is killed when the house is burned after dinner. Paige Shelton is a great author. I have read many of her stories. It was fun to go for a book trip to Edinburgh.

I have turned to cozy mysteries more and more this year, and Paige Shelton’s Scottish Bookshop series is one of my favorites. I enjoy the way Shelton has developed the characters by putting each of them at the center of the mystery. In this entry, we learn the backstory for Hamlet, Delaney’s co-worker at the bookshop. Wealso learn a bit more about Rosie, Edwin, and Delaney’s brother Wyatt.

As usual, the mystery is interesting and well-researched, keeping my attention to the end. I recommend this series frequently and will continue to do so.

I got a different feeling about this book. It just seemed different and not just because Delaney's brother, Wyatt, is visiting. Perhaps because one of the secondary characters is finally getting more attention, but strangely enough, it's not really him but his parents. Also, the characters seemed to be acting differently from past books. It just felt off.

Not sure when Delaney's "special gift" started. I didn't recall it from the earliest books and found it intrusive and "off" early on. Strangely, as well, in that it shows up very briefly here and didn't really do anything to move along the plot.

Ultimately, I still enjoyed the book.

This book was sent to me by Netgalley for review electronically. I enjoyed the Scottish setting, the characters, and the Robert Burns' references...the characters are mostly likable...the story is about a bookstore...a burning of a Burns' property...friends...enemies...this is a good one...enjoy.