Review: Written in Stone by Paige Shelton

Written in Stone (Scottish Bookshop Mysteries, #10)

by Paige Shelton

Release Date: April 1st, 2025

2025 Minotaur Books

Ebook ARC; 304 Pages

ISBN: 978-125033

ASIN: B0D1P392DF

Audiobook: B0F1Z6NL51

Genre: Fiction / Cozy / Mystery

Source: Review copy from publisher

 

3 / 5 Stars

 

Summary

When Delaney wins a special Hidden Door Festival invitation to artist Ryory Bennigan's studio, she isn’t sure quite what to expect. What she finds is an elusive fellow obsessed with the Picts. She also meets a visiting paleontologist, Dr. Adam Pace, from the University of Kansas attempting to sell an artifact that might just explain what the Picts' language really sounded like. Or at least that’s what he claimed the artifact was for. Before the deal can close and Ryory can get a closer look at it, Dr. Pace is found dead. With the police dragging their feet in the investigation, Delaney takes it upon herself to dig into Dr. Pace's past. Could his past have come back to bite him in Edinburgh? 

 

My Thoughts

Written in Stone is the tenth book in the Scottish Bookshop Mystery series, and while I enjoyed it quite a bit and thought the archaeological descriptions were quite interesting, I was a bit disappointed in the actual mystery as I thought the motive was somewhat ambiguous and unclear.  

Being the tenth book in the series, I don’t find the character development to be necessary regarding our main characters, but it is always a treat to visit with Delaney and company at the bookstore. I also really liked the introduction of Ryory Bennigan in this book and found him to be quite intriguing. I would have liked to have learned more about him and hope he appears in future books.  Ryory’s fascination with the Picts, a people about whom we currently know little about, added a little mystery as well as some fascinating archaeological discussions to this book. Considering he was covered in blue tattoos and had red hair, how he managed to stay reclusive and hidden is beyond me.

This story includes a lot of descriptions about architecture, local history, and archaeology that, as a history lover, I found absolutely fascinating. Because of the focus on this however, I did find the mystery was a bit lacking and the motive was somewhat murky. I realized at the end of the book I couldn’t quite pin down the actual motive, besides the obvious one, as the author jumped from one to another without fully developing one of them.  As a result, the book ending more abruptly than normal and I was left feeling like something was missing even though the book was finished.  

Verdict
Written in Stone was fun and interesting, but I do think this was the weakest book of the series so far. While the characters were fun and interesting, and I truly enjoyed the archaeological and history descriptions, the mystery was slow and fairly predictable. I liked the uniqueness of the plot, it’s just the execution that was somewhat lacking for me. While this book could be read as a standalone, if you like reading about Edinburgh, then you will enjoy the previous books in this series.