This took me a while to get into but the descriptions were amazing - you really felt like you were there. It has entertained me so much that I will look for more by this author.

Very interesting. I particularly loved the bits of Scottish language. The story is very easy to follow

This was a much more detailed book than a lot of mystery / crime books are. It took its time to patiently build up the scene, introducing you to the main characters and giving you a real flavour of Shetland, living in Shetland and the environment of the area. 

It took quite a while to introduce the crimes which really then seemed to come out of nowhere as real crimes would and you saw the effect on the community.

There are quite a few surprises along the way and it builds up good tension towards the end of the book where everything is put together well.

Good storytelling and characterisation is maintained throughout the book. This is actually book 10 in the Shetland Sailing Mysteries Series which I hadn‘t realised when I started reading it but it holds up really well as a standalone.

Overall a very enjoyable book, even if it was a bit slower in pace than most of the crime books I usually read, and therefore less pacier. The book actually felt more of an experience and I would be keen to read other books in the series.

It has a list of the local vocabulary used in the book to help the reader and to keep the local flavour.

Thanks to the publisher, author and Net Galley for providing a review copy of this book for an open and honest review.

I really struggle with this story as the plot did not fix it me. I feel like this book could of done with some more editing this would of improved the novel a whole lot. I couldn't connect to the characters.

An enjoyable addition to Cass’s Shetland Sailing Mysteries series. As Cass stays ashore for Christmas with her partner DI Gavin Macrae, she finds herself involved in local folklore as trowie footprints appear around the island in the snow. So begins an enthralling adventure involving local teenagers, windfarm developments and unique local arctic foxes. I read this in one go and look forward to the next instalment!

Part of a series,but works as a standalone. Folklore mixed with mystery in this story set in and around Shetland. Good characters and a good read.

This is a wonderful read and my first from this author. I loved the twists and turns and of course the language. I found it intriguing and it was very difficult to put down. This was an excellent murder mystery.

I cant believe that this is the tenth book in this series. Although it is the first one I have read it was really enjoyable and seemed to me like a great stand alone novel.

A Shetland Winter Mystery is the latest instalment in the much-loved Shetland Sailing Mystery series. Brilliant… gripping and addictive, it will pull you in from the first page… A must-read.

A really good read set round a whodunit murder with magical island creatures it is very atmospheric and set beautiful scene of island life in winter

A good mystery story with lovely descriptions of beautiful Shetland. Enjoyed this book and will be reading more from this author.

I enjoyed A Shetland Winter Mystery. I was attracted to the book because of the Shetland setting and I really enjoyed the location and the explanations of the Shetland words and culture. I hadn't realised it was part of a series of books and do feel that it would have been an advantage to read the previous books first but I still enjoyed it.

Thank you to NetGalley and Headline for my ARC.

A Shetland Winter Mystery by Marsali Taylor conveys promise but not more. In fact, I thought more careful editing would have helped this novel (and writer) immensely.

There is plenty to be positive about. The location is conveyed with authority, and, despite being lightly drawn, conveys a sense beauty and naturalness contrasted with bleakness and isolation. The moral motivation that lies behind the plot is handled well. Taylor perfectly balances getting her point across without shoving the issue down her reader’s throat. Thus, the topic of invasive wind turbines is enlightening without being over-bearing — the reader cannot help but be sympathetic to the negative impact of the turbines and the draconian means by which they are implemented. Some of the plot lines, too, are intriguing. The unhealthiness of the family relationships at the centre of the tragedy are really engaging.

However, there were a few issues with the book that I simply couldn’t get past; primarily, the characterisation. It is totally one-dimensional, and, not having read previous instalments in the series, I felt completely ambivalent to the main characters, Cass and Gavin. Quite honestly, I felt sorry for Gavin who seems little more than a walking kilt. It’s lazy to expect readers to know the back catalogue in order to give a character depth.

The ‘muscle-men’ sub-plot was also extraneous. The fact that they are referred to as ‘muscle-men’ throughout is simply ridiculous. Getting beyond that, though, the family feuding as well as the turbine issue and the mythical trow element were enough plot devices to keep any decent mystery going without silly mistaken identities and abductions.

In addition to this, Taylor mentions how writing about young people helped her during a time when she had less contact with them. However, there are quite a few anachronisms that pop up in the text that don’t seem relative of youth. I mean, who wears stockings to go for dinner at their parents’ house, these days?

Better editing wold have sorted all of these problems. So, for me, the thanks to the editors in the acknowledgements seemed a little…shall we say, under-deserved.

N.B. There are quite a few typos and formatting errors in the text which I have ignored for the purposes of this review.

This is my first Marsali Taylor book and therefore my first of her Shetland series - it will not be my last!
Cass is a sailor and is home for Christmas. Her partner, Gavin is a police inspector based in Lerwick. They are newly living together and neither is quite sure how it will work out.
They have two pets, Cat and Kitten both of whom are as happy in a boat as on land.
Cass knows a lot of the local youngsters from teaching them to sail. She is also familiar with their parents an older siblings who collect them from her classes.
Cass' father is involved with the company building a huge windfarm on Shetland. Some people are in favour of this development but many are very much against it. There are protests and, as things start to escalate direct action.
When Cass and Gavin get a visit from the Trows - mythical beings who live underground and like to make mischief, she visits Tirval who knows most of the local history and legends.
This visit brings her into contact with Berwin, one of her sailing pupils and his rather complicated family. Then Berwin goes missing and events take a more serious turn.
I liked the characters in the book. They were all believable and I could see them jn my minds eye.
I particularly loved the explanation of Shetlan words and phrases at the beginning of each chapter and the glossary at the end of the book.

This book is part of a long series and I think really the earlier books should be read to understand the connections between characters.

I was interested in this book because it is set in Shetland and my grandparents and generations before them are from Shetland. I enjoyed reading about the scenery and the shetlandic words/phrases but was not sure about some parts of the story.

Thankyou to #NetGalley for a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review. #AShetlandWinterMystery

Read the rest of the series first. I started this book and I felt as though I had entered a conversation part way through and then I realised it was not a stand alone book. I went back and purchased the first book and loved it so I’m now working my way through all the books until I get to this one and it all makes sense. I

I had to read this, due to the time of year. I did enjoy it, but had not read any of the previous titles. However it was a good read and I enjoyed the various explanations of the the Shetland words.
I very much enjoyed the characters and the cats.

Review will be posted on Waterstones

This is one of a pretty long series of books based in Shetland with a developed set of characters. I would strongly advise that if you haven't read any of the previous volumes, that you go back and pick up the earlier ones before coming back to this one.
I struggled to really understand what we were dropped into in the first chapters and never really engaged with the characters. I found reading and interpreting the galic lilt and language a challenge. However all in all, a good mystery novel..... but READ THE SERIES!

I hadn't realised that this was the 14th of a series and perhaps this is why I felt that the characters were rather shallow. I loved the descriptions of Shetland and it's culture, how everyone seemed to know what was going on but didn't and the way most of society helped anyone when needed. The detecting aspect was rather weak although bringing in myths added something, even if we knew teenagers and kids were doing at least some of the mischief all along. I know that boats are important to the Shetland way of life but there was an awful lot of, irrelevant to me, facts that added nothing to the story. The best parts definitively involved Cat and Kitten. Thanks to NetGalley and Headline for an advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

I came to this series late and have only read this and the one immediately before, but I am already fond of the characters and I enjoy the strong sense of place and the central place that sailing has both in the life of our heroine and the novels.

The mystery is a real whodunnit and I didn’t guess the murderer before the final reveal. Set as it is over Christmas this is a perfect holiday read.