Undiscovered Scotland

 

"The Malt Whisky Murders" by Natalie Jayne Clark is the product of the author’s love and extensive knowledge of Scotch whisky and it shows.

Following the acquisition of a dilapidated distillery in rural Kintyre, we join Morag and Eilidh as they strive to build and run the first women-owned whisky distillery in Scotland. Whilst the remote location, ambivalent locals and legal wrangles pose enough problems to be going along with, the discovery of two dead bodies, stuffed in barrels and preserved in single malt whisky, brings an altogether new level of anxiety to the task in hand. And, as if it couldn’t get any worse, the arrival of a BBC film crew to document the re-build just adds to the pressure.

From an easy life in Edinburgh, Morag and Eilidh are giving it all up to take on the biggest challenge of their lives. The task of turning Ardkerran from a near ruin into a successful working distillery and visitor centre is vast. They have a plan and limited cash, plus their motivation to succeed and commitment to one another.

It is all looking good until the bodies appear and Eilidh becomes obsessed with solving the murders, whilst Morag wants to forget that they were ever found and focus on the job in hand. The relationship between Morag and Eilidh becomes more and more strained as the two pursue different paths to bringing their dreams for the distillery to fruition. Eilidh ingratiates herself with the locals, leaving Morag to pursue her own path and their once easy partnership seems destined to fail unless they can find a way back to one another and reach a compromise.

What makes ‘The Malt Whisky Murders’ such an entertaining read is that the story is grounded in a real place, easily recognisable to those who know it and believable for those that don’t. The characters are a charming mix of locals and incomers, who again, fit well in the location. The concerns of a somewhat forgotten community, left behind by progress and scarred by recent failures to reinvent their town, are dealt with sensitively and become an integral part of the story as it unfolds. The book is also grounded in the whisky industry. The reader learns about the processes involved and how the location and raw materials that go into whisky production influence the final product. It is educational without being stuffy. And it is all delivered with a generous dose of sincerity and fun.