Beneath the Abbey Wall (The Highland Gazette Series Book 3) Thorndike Crime Scene Large Print by A. D. Scott (2013-03-27) in Read Scotland

Jan 16, 2017 Lynn rated it really liked it · review of another edition

I enjoy this series very much. It is character driven and atmospheric. The time is 1957 and rock and roll music is in its early development. The location is Scotland and the place of work is the Highland Gazette that puts out a newspaper. The protagonist in this series is Joanne Ross who is mother of two girls, separated from an abusive husband and works as a reporter for the newspaper. This might seem common place enough but not for the times. Women are to stay at home and certainly not to be s ...more

8 likes · Like · see review

May 23, 2024 Kate rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: historical-mystery, mysteries, scotland, historical-fiction, historical-romance, read-in-2024

"AS A DECADE OF CHANGE COMES TO A CLOSE, MURDER HITS CLOSE TO HOME IN A SMALL SCOTTISH TOWN . . . .
"On a dark, damp Sunday evening, a man taking a shortcut home sees a hand reaching out in supplication from a bundle of sacks. In an instant he knows something terrifying has happened.

"In the Highlands in the late 1950s, much of the local newspaper's success was due to Mrs. Smart, the no-nonsense office manager who kept everything and everyone in line. Her murder leaves her colleagues in shock and "AS A DECADE OF CHANGE COMES TO A CLOSE, MURDER HITS CLOSE TO HOME IN A SMALL SCOTTISH TOWN . . . .
"On a dark, damp Sunday evening, a man taking a shortcut home sees a hand reaching out in supplication from a bundle of sacks. In an instant he knows something terrifying has happened.

"In the Highlands in the late 1950s, much of the local newspaper's success was due to Mrs. Smart, the no-nonsense office manager who kept everything and everyone in line. Her murder leaves her colleagues in shock and the Highland Gazette office in chaos. Joanne Ross, a budding reporter and shamefully separated mother, assumes Mrs. Smart's duties, but an intriguing stranger provides a distraction not only from the job and the investigation but from everything Joanne believes in.

"Beneath the Abbey Wall brilliantly evokes a place still torn between the safety of the past and the uncertainty of the future, when rock 'n' roll and television invaded homes, and a change in attitudes still came slowly for many. As the staff of the Highland Gazette probes the crime, they uncover secrets deeply rooted in the past, and their friend's murder becomes the perfect fodder for strife and division in the town and between her colleagues."

Do you remember getting the first television set in the 1950s? I certainly do! It came in the late 50s in our house, because I remember going down the road to my friend's house to watch the coronation of Queen Elizabeth in 1953. It was considered such an important historic event that we were let off from school to see it. And to you remember how borderline scandalous the Ed Sullivan Show was, with those rock 'n' rollers? Was that music?!

The other theme that struck me about this book was the Travelers, or tinkers. The Tannahill Weavers did a grand song about the prejudice and treatment of the Travelers -- Terror Time (https://tannahillweavers.bandcamp.com...). In this book, the plot included the history of Traveler children being snatched by social workers -- for their own good -- and being incarcerated in orphanages or adopted or sent to Australia. Echoes of the Native American children being forced into boarding schools here in America -- ripped away from their families and forbidden to speak their own language. I thought it was interesting that this happened in Scotland also.

As always, the plot is complicated and it takes the Gazette staff a lot of digging to finally peel away the layers to arrive at the reason for the murder. A sub-motif is Joanne's tumble in love/lust with the charming Canadian stranger, who comes to work temporarily on the Gazette while Don MacLean is jailed for Mrs. Smart's death. The ending is a total blindsider!
...more

Like · see review

Oct 18, 2012 Emily Boivin marked it as to-read · review of another edition

Like

Jun 09, 2015 Jeanette rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Like

Jan 13, 2016 Jeanette rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Like

From the Bookshelf of Read Scotland…

Find A Copy At

Group Discussions About This Book

What Members Thought

Read Scotland