Hello, book people. Have you ever read a book and wondered “what in the world are they thinking?” about a character. Some characters are so fully fleshed out that they seem like real people we might actually know and we become invested in their lives and actions. We want to advise them, caution them, or scold them. There are numerous characters, some appearing in fiction series, that I feel I’ve gotten to know simply because they evolve over the series and I feel I know them better and understand their actions. If you’ve ever wanted to jump into the head of a character, today’s your lucky day. Please help me welcome Emma Dakin, author of Danger in Edinburgh, part of the British Book Tour Mystery series. Ms. Dakin will be providing us with some insight into the thinking of one of her featured characters. Sit back, grab a favorite beverage, and let’s learn a bit more about Jaswinder Patal. Thank you, Ms. Dakin, for joining us today. I’ll now turn the blog over to you
Character from the book: Jaswinder Patal
by Emma Dakin
Does every mother look at her fifteen-year-old and wonder who she is? Fiona used to be a quiet, wee girl. What happened? Ms. Barclay, the tour guide who has guests with us caught her sneaking through the window into our guest last night. What will she think of me? What will she think of Fiona? It’s right gey as they say here in Scotland. Scary. There’s a killer about and Fiona thinks somehow she will not be attacked. Yes, Scotland is usually safe but not right now.
My husband Wally and I left the Punjab when we were twenty-two. We had some family money and bought The Royal Stewart here on The Royal Mile in Edinburgh. It’s been a good business: I cook the breakfasts and supervise the cleaning staff. Wally does all repairs and looks after the guests. Fiona used to help in the kitchen but she is busy with her schoolwork and now her skateboarding. Skateboarding? What kind of nonsense is that? She tells me I’m old-fashioned.
“You aren’t Scottish enough,” she said. “You don’t even sound Scottish.”
“I speak English.” I learned English in India. I understand it and speak it.
“You sound funny like you’re singing English.”
I didn’t know I sounded odd. It was discouraging.
One of the guests, Dr. Ferguson, a guest from Texas and on Claire Barclay’s tour, heard Fiona tell me that and was very kind.
“Most fifteen-year-olds criticize their parents,” she said. She is a doctor, a psychologist so I listened. “If you are loving and supportive of her, she’ll get some wisdom and be easier to live with soon, I promise.”
“Just accept it?”
“No, you have to set boundaries to keep her safe.”
That was the difficulty that Wally and I talked over many times. What rules do we insist she must follow and what are unreasonable? What will keep her safe? Safe was our goal right now because someone was targeting young women, university students, and killing them. Fiona must come in at night. This man, it must be a man, picks out lovely, hard-working students and somehow lures them off the path and kills them. Fiona is lovely and, I admit, hard-working. I worry.
Wally’s cousin, Derrick Hamilton, is a police inspector. He drops by to see us occasionally. I encourage him as I want the police to be seen to visit. He takes his breakfast at the Magpie Café next door. I would like to sit in the café and listen to what the customers are saying about the murderer. But I am too busy. Fiona says I’m blate but no, I am not shy, I am busy. Wally goes there and tells me what they say.
It’s not good what they say. Another murder. Ms. Barclay found a wee lass on the Dean’s Path. Truly, it was her dog, Gulliver who found her.
“A dog finds your dead daughter. That is clatty. Disgusting,” I said to my husband.
“Better a dog found her than nobody did,” Wally said.
“That’s true.”
But Dean’s path is close to here, far too close. I worry. ♦
Danger in Edinburgh (The British Book Tour Mysteries)
by Emma Dakin
About Danger in Edinburgh
Danger in Edinburgh (The British Book Tour Mysteries)
Claire Barclay, owner and tour guide of The British Mysteries Book Tours, leaves her house in Hampshire and her significant other, Mark Evans, puts her dog Gulliver into her van and heads off to Scotland for the start of a fortnight tour.
She expects to lead her guests to various literary sites where authors set their stories. She had just settled everyone into their luxurious Edinburgh hotel when, on a quick outing with Gulliver, she discovers a body. A young woman has been the victim of the serial killer who targets university students.
She calls Mark. But Mark, although a Detective Inspector of the Major Crimes Investigation Team, has no jurisdiction in Scotland. He can only sympathize and advise—and protest her involvement. Her guests meet for breakfast every morning at the Magpie Café where Claire finds characters who live or work nearby, including the local beat copper Sheila McKinnon and Detective Inspector Derrick Hamilton. Christopher, an accountant, brings his dog Suzy. Ryan, a neglected teen, slips in for free food and Bert Anderson, a middle-aged entrepreneur, cheerfully tries to interest everyone in investment schemes.
The waitress is Isla, a university student, who is researching a paper on psychopaths.
All the guests speculate on the murders and attract the attention of the inspector. Claire is frantic to protect her guests from police investigation. At the end of the tour, after she has put her charges safely on their respective planes and trains, Claire takes a last walk with Gulliver and meets one of the café regulars. She sees irrefutable evidence of murder and is so surprised that she betrays her knowledge and puts her own life in jeopardy.
Cozy Mystery
4th in Series
Setting – Scotland
Camel Press; 1st edition (September 14, 2022)
Hardcover : 264 pages
ISBN10 : 1684920248
ISBN13 : 9781684920242
ISBN : 9780593098653 (eBook)
ISBN : 9781666111668 (Audiobook)
ASIN : B09YMWP92G (Kindle edition)
ASIN : B0BKP6YWFL (Audible Audiobook)
Purchase Links #CommissionEarned: IndieBound.org | Amazon | Kindle edition | Barnes and Noble | B&N NOOK Book | BookDepository.com | Bookshop.org | eBooks.com | Kobo eBook
About Emma Dakin
Emma Dakin lives in Gibsons on the Sunshine Coast of British. She has over twenty trade-published books, including a 2022 Award-winning memoir Always Pack a Candle: A Nurse in the Cariboo-Chilcotin, but continues to enjoy writing The British Book Tour Mysteries. Her love of the British countryside and villages and her addiction to cozy mysteries keep her immersed in discovering the different cultures of the country and the different dialects. She gives us characters who live and work in those villages, isles, and cities. She introduces readers to the problems that disturb the idyllic setting. Research is essential to give the reader an authentic setting. It was necessary for Emma to sit in The Whiski Bar on The Royal Mile, to tour Edinburgh Castle and Holyrood, and to play her fiddle in the Tay Inn. A trip to the Highlands and the iconic isle of Iona were vital. When not writing or traveling, she paddles with her outrigger crew on the waters of the Pacific Coast and walks her dog who is much less obedient than Claire’s fictional Gulliver.
Author Links:
Webpage/Blog emmadakinauthor.com
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/emmadakinauthor/
Goodreads http://tiny.cc/ttk3az
Join Newsletter
TOUR PARTICIPANTS
November 14 – The Book Diva’s Reads – CHARACTER GUEST POST
November 15 – Mythical Books – AUTHOR GUEST POST
November 16 – Maureen’s Musings – SPOTLIGHT
November 17 – Christy’s Cozy Corners – REVIEW, RECIPE
November 18 – The Editing Pen – CHARACTER GUEST POST
November 19 – Lady Hawkeye – SPOTLIGHT
November 20 – Baroness Book Trove – SPOTLIGHT
November 21 – Escape With Dollycas Into A Good Book – AUTHOR GUEST POST
November 22 – Ascroft, eh? – CHARACTER INTERVIEW
November 23 – Literary Gold – SPOTLIGHT
November 24 – THANKSGIVING
November 25 – ebook addicts – REVIEW
November 25 – Celticlady’s Reviews – SPOTLIGHT
November 26 – FUONLYKNEW – SPOTLIGHT
November 27 – #BRVL Book Review Virginia Lee Blog – SPOTLIGHT
November 28 – Sapphyria’s Book Reviews – SPOTLIGHT
Tour Giveaway
This is a giveaway for one (1) of ten (10) digital copies of Danger in Edinburgh hosted by Great Escapes Virtual Book Tours for Emma Dakin. Enter using the Rafflecopter link by clicking here. Void where prohibited.
Have you signed up to be a Tour Host?
Click Here to Find Details and Sign Up Today!
The Book Diva's Reads 