Customer Reviews

The Lady in the Loch

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4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
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Sir Walter Scott is a real person from history whose own story and writings make fascinating reading. In Elizabeth Ann Scarborough's book "The Lady In the Loch" she shows you a side of Scott when he was first starting out in a policital appointment, and before he was sucessful in his writing. In this book though, there is the hint of supernatural behind the ordinary. Granted, the book starts out with the victim of a murder announcing the name of her killer, and you have body snatchers who cant wait for someone to die, a person driven mad by obsession and love, and a city in the midst of growth and change. All this, and more.

I found this book to be an entertaining read because it dealt with a transitional period, when the belief in magic as an everyday occurance was being replaced with science and fact. The Travellers as a people are normally the ones picked as the evil-doers, but in this book are the victims, because they don't fit in with the cityfolk and no one cares what happens to a few of them. Its not a book about good verses evil, but a modern fable of what happens when someone takes notice of evil being done and does something about it, because that is what people should do.

I would like to see more of Scarborough's Scott and his world, before all the magic gets lost.

One of the things that fascinates me most about Ms. Scarborough's books -- I've read quite a few of them -- is that they are all so different, yet all so wonderful! No matter what setting or time period or style of she writes, her deft touch, thorough research, compassion for the underdog in whatever social setting, and sense of humor come through. Because I am very interested in Scotland, and especially in the time period of this book and before, when magic still was acknowledged in the "real" world, this book really grabbed me. Scarborough's multilayered writing creates a lush, tangible world for the reader to lose himself in -- it was hard to drag myself away from Scott and Scotland to come back to my time and place! In addition to a crackin' good mystery, the information about the daily life was delightful -- and I really like Walter as a person. I hope the sequel(S) will be out soon!

Well, I for one enjoyed this book. It not only was my introduction to Walter Scott but to some of the history of Scotland. I found the Scottish brogue an absolute thrill to read and it really helped to take me to Edinborough. I was pleased to meet not only the gentleman sleuth (Walter Scott) but also the brave, strong and witty Midge Margaret. I enjoyed each new twist pulled into the plot and found that Ms. Scarborough somehow wonderfully managed to write of such horrid and frightening happenings in a suspenseful yet tasteful way instead of concentrating on blood and gore. This book left me wanting to learn more about Walter Scott, Scotland AND the many mysteries touched on within this book. Any book that spurs me on to read deeper into its subjects is a good book indeed!

Walter Scott, lawyer, romantic author and newly appointed sheriff of Edinburgh, finds a mystery on his hands. The slowly draining Nor' Loch is giving up a collection of bones and bodies - recent bodies - incomplete bodies. And, when women begin disappearing, snatched right off the street, it becomes very worrying indeed. Someone is up to something hideous and diabolical, and Scott needs to get to the bottom of it!

I tripped across this book by accident, and boy am I glad! Ms. Scarborough spins a fascinating story of magic and murder, suspenseful and gripping. I must say that the book reminded me a lot of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein or Bram Stoker's Dracula; I think that it has many things in common with those classics of horror.

So, if you like a good old fashioned horror story, or a murder mystery with a real twist, then get this book, you won't be disappointed!

Walter Scott expects to have a lot of free time to hone his craft as a novelist because he anticipates a very quiet time as the newly appointed sheriff of Edinburgh. However, instead of kicking off his shoes and picking up his plume, Walter soon finds a mix of corpses, skeletons, and body parts along the shore of the nearby loch. Initially writing it off as the work of some grisly grave robbers, Walter changes his mind when he realizes that Gypsy women are being abducted.

The townsfolk are uninterested in the disappearances because these are only Gypsies. However, that changes when Midge Margaret tells the sheriff about a mystery coach that seems to appear just before the women vanish. Walter puts his writings aside to investigate what is happening to destroy the peace of his home city. However, Walter is unaware that he is about to dive into the circle of the foulest of black magic.

Elizabeth Ann Scarborough is renowned for her enchanting fantasy novels (see THE GODMOTHER series, etc.). Her latest novel, THE LADY IN THE LOCH, is a wonderful historical mystery, starring Walter Scott at the beginning stages of his career as a novelist. Though there are liberties taken with the lead protagonist and his time period, the Scott persona rings genuine and the support cast with their deep Scottish brogues adds to the period piece. A fabulous tale that will remind readers of Heck's Twain mysteries and hopefully have as many sequels.

Harriet Klausner

The protagonist of this tale is the young Walter Scott, sheriff of Edinburgh. When bones are discovered after draining a city loch, Scott is set on the trail of a murderer who is stealing away gypsy girls. An engrossing and delightful tale, full of matter-of-fact supernatural aspects.

This book is all of these things. One thing, though, the dialogue is written in dialect. While if I had known this, I probably wouldn't have gotten the book, I actually enjoyed the Scottish flavor. It's not so unitelligable that you lose the plot. Most of it is easy enough to understand, especially after being read out loud. Even if the dialogue can't be understood, the writing is so good, that the point is driven across anyway.

After all that, what is left is a look into a different society; a murder mystery where young gypsy girls are going missing, and a horror story where the dead rise to sccuse their killers, and a crazed doctor tries to assemble parts to bring his lover back to life.

A definite must read.

I don't know how E.A. Scarborough does it, I've been reading her books for years and this lady never grows stale or repetious! The Lady in the Loch is a wonderful mystery, a wonderful fantasy and a wonderful historic fiction rolled up into one incredibly clever book, set in Scotland, with a mood and a scenery so real you can smell and feel it, it's a gripping story... my husband doesn't like fantasy, but loves mysteries and I really think this is the book that will convert him!!! Thank you Ms Scarborough! For the hours of enjoyment and another book I can re-read into tatters and discover something new every time! And thank you for another well researched tale that will get me to the library to learn more about your incredibly interesting locales and historical figures!!!

I've enjoyed Scarborough's previous fantasy works. They're always quite readable and did a fine job portraying ordinary people put into extraordinary circumstances. However, I found this novella particularly predictable. It's not just that the identity of the villain is handed to the reader in the first chapters of the book (no, it doesn't pretend to be a mystery novel), but also all the plot twists and complications are very straightforward and usually loudly heralded before Scarborough brings the reader to their advent. On the positive side, the depictions of Edinburgh are vivid and plentiful, and will strike a chord with anyone who has trod the Royal Mile or gazed on the Salisbury Crags. And, as ever, Scarborough provides likable, lively characters with wit.