Malice in the Highlands

Starred review from December 29, 1997
Malice in the Highlands introduces both Erskine Powell, the likable chief superintendent from New Scotland Yard, and the debut effort by Thomas, a Canadian biologist. Powell's much-anticipated Highland fishing holiday is interrupted by the disappearance of Charles Murray, the new owner of Castle Glyn Estate. What follows is a wonderfully atmospheric read, in which a well-rounded cast of characters with a plethora of motives combines to create an exciting and--too rare these days--smartly logical murder mystery. As if this wasn't enough, Thomas is a truly exceptional prose stylist, from his use of the local vernacular to the vivid imagery that consistently reinforce characters and plot--e.g., Thomas describes a minor character as "inched and slightly astringent in appearance, with wire-rimmed spectacles and sartorial tastes tending toward the funereal," or a corpse in the River Spey with "its bloated face horribly lacerated and cast a ghastly gray." It's a nearly perfect combination of language, characterization, description and, of course, whodunit.