Review: THE HIGHLAND DEAD, Morag Pringle

• 
  This edition read as an e-book on Kindle 
• ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0CWKDWBG2
  
• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Storm Publishing. Publication date ‏ : ‎ 21 June 2024
• Print length ‏ : ‎ 340 pages
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1805083603
• Book 2 of 3 ‏ : ‎ A Rachel McKenzie Mystery 

Synopsis (AmazonAU)

The death of a school friend forces Rachel McKenzie to confront a remorseless killer in her Highland hometown…

Rachel is no stranger to the darkness in the hearts of men. When the body of a young woman is found, tragically killed in her own home, Rachel is devastated to discover she knew the victim. Gillian helped her when she was at her lowest; now Rachel vows to find her friend’s murderer.

When the killer strikes again, frighteningly close to home, Rachel sees a chilling pattern to his victims. As she races to decipher the clues, she unravels a twisted plan years in the making. And when a young girl is taken, Rachel knows it’s reaching its terrible conclusion. As the clock counts down, how far can she push herself to stop this ruthless killer in his tracks?

My Take

For me this title didn't quite live up to the promise of the first in the series THE LIAR'S BONES

Rachel McKenzie is a procurator fiscal in Inverness. She finds a link between the death of a former friend and other deaths of young women, and then calls in favours from contacts in the police force. I guess my main criticism of the plot is that the solution of the mystery comes out of a case that the reader does not hear about until half way through the story.

There is further development in the story of the murder of Rachel's mother years earlier, and it looks as if we might finally get the truth in the third book in the series.   

My rating: 4.4

I've already read

4.5, THE LIAR'S BONES - #1