With My Little Eye

October 24, 2011
At the start of this well-crafted mystery from Scottish author Hammond (A Dog’s Life), surveyor Douglas Young decides to become a real estate developer by buying Underwood House, a neglected property in the countryside outside Edinburgh, and converting it into flats. Unable to secure a bank loan, Douglas turns to potential tenants as investors. These include Seymour MacLeish, a garage owner who hit it big with his first novel and never wrote another word; Mrs. Jamieson, a grass widow with an attractive 19-year-old daughter, Tash, who becomes Douglas’s assistant; and Stan Eastwick, a retired university gardener, who undertakes to care for Underwood’s grounds and do odd jobs in lieu of rent. When Stan’s disagreeable brother, George, finds Stan dead in Stan’s basement flat, the subsequent police investigation reveals that Stan had set up CCTV cameras to observe the female tenants unawares. George’s later disappearance adds to the suspense of this agreeable traditional whodunit.

November 15, 2011
Not all the care a surveyor who's determined to develop an old Scottish house into a block of flats puts into choosing his fellow tenants prevents one of them from topping another. Underwood House is eminently a property worth developing, and Douglas Young, eager to throw off the shackles of a firm that charges a high price for his services but doesn't pass on the riches to him, is eager to refurbish it. With the financial backing of filling-station owner Seymour McLeish, whose one novel hit the financial jackpot, he purchases the property and assembles a group of tenants, beginning with McLeish and his wife Betty. University of Edinburgh gardener Stan Eastwick lets the basement flat at a reduced rate in return for taking responsibility for the grounds. Professor Cullins adds his domestic partner, university technician Hubert Campion; architect Harris Benton contributes his design expertise; and widow Hilda Jamieson brings along her attractive daughter Natasha, whom Douglas promptly claims as a part-time secretary. All goes well until Stan Eastwick is found dead of obscure causes soon recognizable as murder. At first it seems as if Hammond (A Dog's Life, 2011, etc.) is trying his hand at a closed-circle whodunit à la Agatha Christie. But he's less interested in most of the characters than in the developments promised when Tash Jamieson politely asks Douglas to relieve her of her virginity. Although the killer interrupts the happy couple's honeymoon, it's all to little effect. Charming but slight, even by Hammond's gossamer standards.

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November 1, 2011
Scottish surveyor Douglas Young is walking his dog in the Scottish countryside when he discovers Underwood House, an old mansion in disrepair. Recognizing its potential, he manages to find investors to buy in with him and transforms the property into flats. He keeps one for himself and becomes the de facto leader of the tenants. When one of his neighbors, a retired gardener who is getting a good deal on rent in exchange for his services as a groundskeeper, is found dead in his flat, Douglas and his attractive young assistant, Tash, find themselves involved in the police investigation. Detective Chief Inspector Sandy Laird is in charge, but the clues are slow in coming. When a thorough search of the victim's flat uncovers electronic equipment implying a serious voyeuristic hobby, the other women in the building, not to mention the local press, suddenly have much to discuss. When the victim's brother disappears, the case becomes more complicated. This delightful cozy is full of good humor and a touch of romance, along with a solid plot.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2011, American Library Association.)