Off Kilter

Written by Hannah Reed

Narrated by Angela Dawe

After the recent death of her mother and the dissolution of her marriage, thirty-something Eden Elliott is seriously in need of a fresh start. At the urging of her best friend, bestselling author Ami Pederson, Eden decides to embark on an open-ended trip to the picturesque village of Glenkillen in the Scottish Highlands, to do some hands-on research for a book of her own. But almost as soon as Eden arrives in the quaint town, she gets caught up in a very real drama . . .

The town's sheep shearer is found murdered-clipped with his own shears-and the locals suspect Vicki MacBride, an outsider whose father's recent death left her the surprise heir to his lucrative sheep farm. Eden refuses to believe the affable heiress is a murderer, but can she prove that someone is out to frame her new friend before she finds herself on the receiving end of more shear terror?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tantor Media, Inc
• Release date: Apr 3, 2018
• ISBN: 9781977370396

Reviews for Off Kilter

[newsieq · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Our heroine Eden Elliott makes her way from Chicago to Scotland to gather atmosphere and ideas for her first romance novel. Between an inheritance she receives from her mom and the gift of a plane ticket to Scotland with a return date in six months, newly divorced Eden is on her way. On the plane, her seat-mate is Vicki MacBride, who’s also on her way to Glenkillen.Vicki is in Glenkillen for the funeral of her estranged father. She was surprised to learn that he left her his entire estate, which includes a very successful business enterprise run by one of her half-siblings, Kirstine, and her menacing husband. Both Kirstine and her brother Alec were cut out of their father’s will, which they are contesting. Kirstine tolerates Vicki’s presence, but is by no means a happy reunion.Then a popular local sheep-shearer is killed, stabbed with his own shears. Who could have done it and why? Police soon zero in on Vicki. Although Eden has known her for just a few days, she believes the cops are wrong. As evidence piles up against her new friend, Eden has a few niggling doubts.Among Eden’s new Scottish friends is Leith, a devilishly handsome knight in shining armor, who stops to help when her rental car breaks down. He also becomes her unofficial driving instructor, helping her learn to navigate the winding roads of Glenkillen. Brave man!Off Kilter is light-hearted fun. The characters are interesting, the Scottish setting ditto. This is the first in a new series by Hannah Reed a pen name for one of my favorite authors, Deb Baker, and I plan to read more.

[mary_beth_robb · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

Not reading any more of these, too many stereotype Scots and there were a lot of times where the plot did not move and the atuhor couldn't decide whether it was a cheezy romance or a cozy mystery. I'll take Hamish MacBeth any day over this.

[ecataldi-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

A quick cozy mystery set in Scotland and starring a likable American named Eden, who is "just on holiday" to work on her romance novel. Of course things get off to a rocky start. Vicky, the woman she sat by on a plane was going back to the village to bury her father and happens to be embroiled in a family feud as her father left her everything and her half siblings nothing. As Vicky never really lived in this village (her parents having split when she was younger), the whole town sides with her half siblings (who actually lived in the village), leaving Vicky friendless. Thank god she met Eden on the plane! The two hit it off and are as thick as thieves. But then they discover a body and they're both suspects. Did Vicky do it? Or did her angry half siblings commit the murder and try to pin it on her? Slightly predictable, with some twists and turns, lots of Scottish food and tea, and beautiful scenery. Everything you want out of a nice cozy mystery. This is the first in a series.

[romonko · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

The setting for this series can' t be beat - right in the middle of the Scottish highlands. And this book is set in the summer which I'm sure is a very beautiful time in this area. Eden Elliot has left her life back in Chicago because a dear friend has given her the gift of a six month stay in tiny little Glenkillen. Eden has lost her husband to divorce and her mother to the debilitating disease of MS. She is at loose ends in her life after devoting so much time to taking care of her ill mother. In Glenkillen she finds lots to distract her - new friends, and enemies, murder and two interesting men. She soon finds herself in hot water and danger while she is trying to learn how to drive a manual shift car in the steep roads and byroads in and around Glenkillen, and while she is trying to learn who to trust and who not to. I love the setting, and even though I have some reservations about the Eden's character, I will read more in this series.

[stephlaymon · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

There is a lot to like about Off Kilter, a new first in series cozy. The characters are varied in personality, with warm, quirky, and easy to like among them. The location is nice and is well described without going overboard.
The mystery is quite good, although I would have liked to have felt a bit more danger lurking.
Hannah Reed has done well at starting this series off. I am well invested and can't wait for more.

[katebaxter_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A "shearly" delightful first book in a promising new series by mystery-writer, Hannah Reed. The characters are engaging, quirky and their emotions are close to the surface. I did not want to put this book down. Synopsis:After the recent death of her mother and the dissolution of her marriage, thirty-something Eden Elliott is seriously in need of a fresh start. At the urging of her best friend, bestselling author Ami Pederson, Eden decides to embark on an open-ended trip to the picturesque village of Glenkillen in the Scottish Highlands, to do some hands-on research for a book of her own. But almost as soon as Eden arrives in the quaint town, she gets caught up in a very real drama… The town’s sheep shearer is found murdered—clipped with his own shears—and the locals suspect Vicki MacBride, an outsider whose father’s recent death left her the surprise heir to his lucrative sheep farm. Eden refuses to believe the affable heiress is a murderer, but can she prove that someone is out to frame her new friend before she finds herself on the receiving end of more shear terror?

[cathyskye · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I simply had to read this first book in the Scottish Highlands cozy series because of its setting. Although I never did quite figure out where Glenkillen is supposed to be, I certainly enjoyed my vicarious trip to an area I love so much. This first book sets the series up well. Everything about the murder is leading us to believe that the evildoers are Vicki's half sister and her brother-in-law, but sooner or later readers are going to wonder if that solution is a bit too obvious. Or could it be meant to look obvious? Hmm.... I began to wonder about that from the beginning and found the solution rather easy to deduce, but I was enjoying watching Eden Elliott try to adjust to the Highlands too much to care. (Which goes to show that there's always more to crime fiction than the answer to whodunnit.)Eden is thirty-eight. After caring for her mother for so long, she's not flighty and she has common sense. I wouldn't say that she's all that mechanically inclined with her talk of "whatchamacallits," "thingamabobs," and "doohickeys," and it puzzled me that she didn't do a little bit of research before she headed off on her first-ever trip outside the U.S. For example, she flies into Inverness where she picks up a rental car to drive to Glenkillen. Only then does she learn that you have to reserve a car that has automatic transmission-- and those cars are at a premium. Being stuck learning a stick shift at the very same time that you're trying to remember to drive on the opposite side of the road and navigate roundabouts is not a recipe for success. The bright spot in all this is that a handsome Scotsman comes to her rescue when she becomes stranded. The further along Eden gets in her investigation, she finds herself with two handsome Scotsmen giving her the eye, and I have to admit that-- although I'm not much for romance in my reading-- Eden's two men are the best romantic interests I've encountered in a long time. (I may not care for romance in my books, but I'm not dead.) And as far as that investigation goes, my liking for Eden increased because she kept the detective inspector handling the case in the loop with everything she finds. That inspector happens to be saddled with a particularly annoying special constable, and his attempts to avoid the young man not only become a running joke in the book, the situation also has Eden becoming more involved with the local people and the community.At the beginning of Off Kilter, that little village of Glenkillen had me worried because when Eden first comes on the scene, it's definitely a case of us (the villagers) versus her (Eden), but as they all get to know each other better, this changes, which is a very good thing for the book and for the series. Off Kilter has definitely "primed my pump" (so to speak) for more books in this series, and I'm also secretly hoping that Eden has to make a trip to certain areas of Glasgow, where the Scottish accent really is almost impossible to understand!