“The Witching Hour” is the 16th outing for one of my favourite detectives Dandy Gilver. What always delights me about the books in this series is the banter between Dandy and her partner & friend in the detective business Alex Osbourne. Their musings and plights bring light into some of the darkest moments. At all times Dandy is very much a woman of her time polite aware of her social status and age. However, as the single voice narrating the story we see the less correct, and more modern side of her and those she loves.

This mystery sees “Gilver and Osborne, detectives” staying in a picturesque Scottish village, Dirleton, in order to prove that their friend Daisy did not murder her philandering husband. As with many of the mysteries Dandy is involved with, the folklore of the area is intertwined with the happenings, causing confusion, a spooky atmosphere and spine chilling moments . The atmosphere often only broken by Alec’s penchant for a good feed and jolly banter!

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this and look forward to reading further Dandy Gilver books in the future.

I was delighted to be back in the company of Dandy and Alec in The Witching Hour by Catriona McPherson. This episode is set in Dirleton, one of my favourite villages in East Lothian. I'd say it's short on plot but long on characterisation, something that suits me beautifully. I loved it.

I didn't realize when I picked up this book that it was the sixteenth installment in a series. While I found the story to be enjoyable on its own, I felt like I was missing out on a lot of background information, relationships, and friendships that had developed over the course of the series. This did impact my overall enjoyment of the book, and I believe I would have appreciated it more if I had started from the beginning.

However I now will look to start this, as I want to know their back stories!

I enjoyed this, however, I hadn’t realised when I picked it up that it was number 16 in the series. I would say that this does stand alone as a story, but I felt that I’d missed a lot with regards to the backgrounds, relationships, and friendships, by not reading from the start. I feel I would have enjoyed it a lot more if I’d done that.

So, that’s what I’m going to do. I can easily see this being a favourite series of mine, I just need to start from scratch.

My thanks to Netgalley and Hodder & Stoughton for the advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for the early access to this book.

This book was quite confusing, but I think I managed to work everything out in the end.

I'd also say that the pacing was quite slow in places, but otherwise enjoyable.

Weird,just weird. Hard to follow. Very twisted and mysterious story with a strange mix of characters.

When I picked this book I didn't realise it was one of a long running series so I came to it with completely fresh eyes. This did mean it took a little longer to work out relationships etc however I persevered and these became clear. What I couldn't continue with was the slow pace of the book and the need to use twenty words when three or four would do. It reminded me very much of the old British farces. Much as I love a crime novel and finding a new series, this one was not one for me I'm afraid.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read an advance copy. All opinions are my own.

So here we are, fifteen books and 16 years later from the first book featuring intrepid amateur sleuth Dandy Gilver and her platonic younger neighbour Alec Osbourne. When the first book started in the early 1920s at an Armistice Ball, England is now on the brink of WW2 in late Spring 1939 and Dandy is terrified for her sons who are both eager to enlist.

Dandy and her husband Hugh are hosting a dinner party for several of his friends and their wives, Dandy’s friend Daisy (who hosted the Armistice Ball in the first book with her husband Silas) is attending alone as the party clashes with her husband’s regimental dinner, or so she thinks until one of the other guests mentions the dinner was a few weeks ago. Silas is a notorious philanderer and daisy is suitably enraged and proceeds to get paralytic drunk.

Early the next morning, the household is awoken to the news that Silas has been found dead in the small Scottish village of Dirleton, and Dandy is informed that Daisy is missing from her bed and Dandy’s car is missing from the garage. Fearing the worst, Dandy and Alec set off to find Daisy, only to discover her unconscious in a ditch. The police are convinced Daisy must have killed Silas in a fit of rage, so Dandy and Alec must travel on to Dirleton to clear Daisy’s name.

Dirleton is a strange ancient Scottish village, on arrival many of the inhabitants they run into mistake them for a pair of researchers who have booked in at the local pub, taking advantage of the confusion Alec and Dandy try to decipher why Silas would have been in the village in the first place, did he have a lover, and if so who?

Things are odd right from the start, there's very much a 'I saw something nasty in the woodshed' vibe with people acting oddly and speaking in, well not riddles precisely but incomplete sentences. I also got a whiff of Village of the Damned. None of the clues make any sense. First a witness saw a woman kill Silas, then others say it was a tall man. Initially the death was said to be at midnight, 'the witching hour' but then the villagers tell Dandy that means three o'clock in the morning. What is the significance of the church ledgers? Silas' body was found on an ancient stone, which apparently had a dark history, was his death some kind of ritual?

I think I was well ahead of Dandy and Alec on some points, but I didn't identify the murderer. As always, the historical detail feels very authentic, although I am sorry that we couldn't stay in the 1920s for longer.

Another brilliant mystery, I love this duo so much, and darling Hugh with his stiff upper lip.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

DNF @ 6%

The only two things I liked about this book was the way in which McPherson wrote the first chapter and the fact that that chapter felt like I wasn’t reading the 16th book in a series.

However, I just couldn’t get myself into it. The first chapter, although well written, felt a bit rushed.

Having previously read, and enjoyed Catriona McPherson books, I looked forward to this one, but I found that it took too long to get into it, which disappoints me and puts me off completely..
It will certainly not put me off reading more of her books though.

This was a good fairly well paced mystery with good writing and characters
The best part for me was definitely the setting and atmosphere which were dark and mysterious. The story plods along nicely and the mystery isn’t easy to guess. A good read!

Thanks to NetGalley for the arc