SCOTS ON THE ROCKS

Would one corpse ruin a vacation? Would two?

Seattle cousins Judith Flynn and Renie Jones are ready to murder their husbands, who hinted they were taking them on a sun-drenched, oceanside vacation, then whisked them off to rainy, fog-shrouded Scotland, deposited them in gloomy Grimloch Castle and took off to fish the lochs. The 60-ish girls bought a few cashmere sweaters before discovering something more intriguing to do: solving the murder of feckless Harry Gibbs, second husband of Moira, whose first husband Frank and personal assistant Davey also came to untimely ends. Is there a curse on the castle? Feuding clans? Ghosts at work? A prankster will drown in a vat of whiskey in the castle dungeon while disembodied voices ask for doors and gates to be opened and the local St. Fergna villagers gossip about their betters, particularly the various heirs to the Blackwell Petrol fortune and the globe-trotting Fordyces. Eventually, the rain stops, the fog lifts and the cousins’ husbands return.

So-so, but if you favor middle-aged amateur sleuths (Saks and Violins, 2006, etc.) bickering their way along drafty corridors and you have a wee dram of a single-malt at your side, you might be amused.