Murder at a Scottish Social (Scottish Shire Mystery #3) by Traci Hall

I have read and reviewed the previous two books on the blog before.

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.