Tag Archives: Paige Shelton

One of the things I’ve never contemplated when looking for a new job, was moving to Scotland. But it wasn’t an option then. In The Cracked Spine, by Paige Shelton, a newly laid off archivist and preservationist at a small Wichita Museum does just that. Delaney Nichols is intrigued by the help wanted ad, which ends, with the statement that the position is located in Edinburgh, Scotland. An email, and hour and half phone call later, Delaney is on her way to a new life.

I have been to Edinburgh, and even been to the Haymarket, and Paige Shelton’s descriptions of the city and people is spot on. The weather can be, um, damp, windy, capricious, but for “Delaney from Kansas in America”, it can’t be too much of a shock. The language, and cars on the wrong side of the road, on the other hand, do take some getting used to.

Her new co-workers help her settle in, Rosie is 70, and brings her tiny dog, Hector with her everywhere, he’s as much a character as anyone else. Hamlet is a 19-year-old college student, working part time at the shop, and as a thespian. He helps translate some of Rosie’s more unusual Scotts terms. Edwin, the owner, started the shop in the fifties, is very rich, and rather enigmatic, keeps a collection on site at the shop that Delaney will catalog and care for.

There is a solidly plotted, twisty murder mystery involving Edwin’s younger sister and a missing artifact that may or may not be genuine. Jenny had been a drug addict for years, but had turned things around, she said. Edwin had trusted her to hold a new purchase as a sign of faith. As one could imagine, it doesn’t go well.

This is a series I’ve always loved, and have been rereading, with a lot of enjoyment.

The Cracked Spine: A Scottish Bookshop Mystery, by Paige Shelton, paperback ISBN 978-1-250-11822-6, 2016