"Deadly Still" by Keith Moray

It may be the perfect murder. A man, living in an isolated area and known to like his drink, is found dead. It appears that he took too much of his insulin, fell, and smashed his face. At least that’s what the initial evidence suggests to Detective Inspector Torquil MacKinnon and the officers of the West Uist Police in the Hebrides. And it might have been the final determination, except for the three teenagers whose drinking part to celebrate end of term result in a boy dying, a girl blinded, and another girl missing. 

Forensic tests determine that the teens were drinking the Scottish equivalent of moonshine, with high levels of methyl alcohol. And it was the same drink consumed by the dead man. Soon additional tests that the dead man was helped to his death – murdered, in fact.

 

And MacKinnon thought he had his hands full with his upcoming wedding.

 

Keith Moray

Deadly Still is the sixth and most recently published Inspector MacKinnon novel by Keith Moray. It has the standing cast of characters – MacKinnon’s Uncle Lachlan, a priest known as “Padre;” Constable Ewan McPhee, the Drummond twins who serve as part-time officers; Sgt. Morag Driscoll, who happens upon the teenagers; Sgt. Lorna Glopsie, Torquil’s fiancée, Ralph McClelland, the local doctor who serves as a police surgeon; and the newspaper editor and reporter. The series’ cast has also been freshened by the arrival of a new officer, Detective Constable Penny Faversham, who’s joined the West Uist Police from a similar post in Leeds, England.

 

In addition to the Inspector MacKinnon novels, Moray has also published three historical novels, The Pardoner’s Crime, The Fool’s Folly, and The Curse of the Body Snatchers; non-fiction books (under the pen name Keith Souter); and several westerns as Clay Moore. When he’s not writing, he practices medicine as a part-time doctor and medical journalist (he studied medicine at the University of Dundee). He lives in Yorkshire in England.

 

Deadly Still is a lively story, with a considerable number of suspects unfaithful to their spouses, a postman who seems to be in the right place at the right time, a young girl kidnapped, and motives for murder abounding.

 

Related:

 

The Gathering Murders by Keith Moray.

 

Deathly Wind by Keith Moray.

 

Murder Solstice by Keith Moray.

 

Flotsam & Jetsam by Keith Moray.

 

Death in Transit by Keith Moray.