Scot Free

February 1, 2018
A Scottish lass comes to California, where murder, mishaps, and misunderstandings ensue.Leagsaidh "Lexy" Campbell, clinical psychologist, met dentist Branston Lancer at a golf resort in Scotland, followed him to California, married in haste, and is repenting big time. Their vastly different expectations and linguistic misunderstandings might have been overcome if Lexy hadn't caught Bran in bed with his second ex-wife, leading to a quickie Nevada divorce. Lexy's about to fly back to Scotland when the police arrive on the Fourth of July and accuse her of helping Visalia Bombaro, her one and only marriage-counseling client, of murdering her husband, whom she calls Cousin Clovis because that's who he is. Even after 67 years of marriage, the Bombaros had constantly fought. Lexy and Visalia both have alibis of a sort, but the police think they may have been in it together. The highly successful Bombaro fireworks business is in competition with Dolshikov's Pyrotasia, another big family-owned company into which Clovis' niece just married. Forced to stay local, Lexy moves into the Lassditch Motel, where she makes several new friends. Her next-door neighbors, doctors Todd and Roger, are living in a highly decorated and upgraded room because Todd's severe case of cleptoparasitosis has driven them from their home to Lassditch, where the owner and her dirt-averse partner keep everything spotlessly clean. Todd and Roger redecorate Lexy's room to their standards, cut her hair, buy her proper underwear, and try to help her find the real killer so that Visalia can go off to her Italian dream retreat and Lexy to Scotland. Meanwhile, Lexy's friends are under attack by someone who leaves all manner of rare and disgusting bugs in their bathrooms. Plenty of plausible motives for Clovis' murder force the unlikely sleuths to use everything at their disposal to come up with the killer.McPherson, a master of creepy psychological mysteries (House.Tree.Person, 2017, etc.), shows an utterly different side of herself in this zany series kickoff.

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February 26, 2018
Homeless and broke after leaving her cheating American husband, Scottish marriage counselor Lexy Campbell finds her life in a mess, but it’s a delightful mess, which aptly describes this series launch from McPherson (House. Tree. Person.). Lexy intended to leave California for Edinburgh immediately after her last therapy session with Clovis and Visalia Bombaro, the octogenarian owners of the biggest fireworks company west of the Mississippi, who were calling it quits after decades together. But the police show up instead to tell Lexy that Clovis is dead, killed by a firework explosion in a most unfortunate bodily orifice, and Visalia is their prime suspect. Lexy’s return home is put on hold while she tries to prove that “Mizz Vi” is innocent with the dubious help of several eccentric friends, who intruded into her life when Lexy took up temporary residence at the Lassditch Motel. Lexy’s snide observations about the California lifestyle can’t cover up her affection for her friends, who are as warm-hearted as they are weird. Readers will look forward to Lexy’s further adventures. Agent: Lisa Moylett, Coombs Moylett Literary Agency.

March 1, 2018

In an impulsive moment, Lexy Campbell left her native Scotland, married her American dentist boyfriend, and started her marriage counseling practice in California. Six months later, the marriage has fallen apart, and Lexy has one more final session with her clients, the Bombaros, before she returns to Scotland. But Lexy's clients don't show. Mr. Bombaro is in the morgue, and his wife is in jail, suspected of killing him. Lexy can't let that sweet old lady take the rap, so she finds a room down the street at the Last Ditch Motel. An invasion of bugs, an influx of Mrs. Bombaro's relatives, and a suspicious cop can't keep Lexy and her new friends from the motel from investigating. VERDICT The award-winning author of the historical "Dandy Gilver" mysteries launches a new contemporary series with a bang. Her character-driven romp is sparked by the larger-than-life, quirky residents of the Last Ditch Motel, putting this laugh-out-loud whodunit on a par with the early Janet Evanovich.--Lesa Holstine, Evansville Vanderburgh P.L., IN

Copyright 2018 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

February 15, 2018
After ending her ill-conceived marriage to a philandering doctor, Lexy Campbell is all set to leave Cuento, California, for her native Scotland. She's just waiting for her marriage-counseling clients, Mr. and Mrs. Bombarro, to pop in for their last session when the police come knocking and announce that Mrs. Bombarro has been arrested for murdering Mr. Bombarro with stock from their pyrotechnics empire. Lexy is adamant that sweet Visalia Bombarro is no murderer. Plus, she's just helped the octogenarian lovebirds reconcile and knows they planned to make a fresh start in Sicily. Lexy's efforts to clear Visalia's name make for a madcap romp, as she and her insect-phobic sidekick, Todd, run up against hostile detectives, a vermin-planting vandal, and the Bombarros' niece Sparky and her hulking Russian bodyguards. McPherson, who has earned acclaim for her dark thrillers and Dandy Gilver period cozies, blends jaunty pacing, a comically rendered Southern California setting, and quirky characters in this series starter. A sure bet for fans of Janet Evanovich and Sarah Strohmeyer.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)