Lost Books and Old Bones by Paige Shelton.

Paige Shelton, has written a charming premise with her character, Delaney, who works for The Cracked Spine. This bookstore specializes in rare books and manuscripts. Set in Edinburgh, I loved the fact that it started out with the moody background of Scotland and lots of artifacts.

Sophie and Rena, came into the shop to sell, "an Atlas of Illustrations of Clinical Medicine, Surgery and Pathology" made up of 25 books which are very rare. I, along with Edwin, Delaney's boss, would have had eyes filled with tears at the hand- drawn illustrations. I just wish I had cataloged them at an Archives. Although graphic, they are an amazing example of medical knowledge at the time of the Industrial Revolution.

Several months later...Sophie, Rena, Delaney and Mallory are four girls on the town enjoying the group, "The Mad Ferret"  until Sophie and Rena see Dr. Eban of their Medical School. He is one of the fascinating Professors they have, but slightly eerie in his thirst for Robert Knox, who bought murdered corpses from Knox and Hare. These two were famous killers during the early 1800's. The Medical Students, have a service for the Corpses they work on, and it is held at Greyfriar's Kirk. Dr. Eban invites all of them to the funeral.

He makes it clear that he is fascinated with Edwin's Secret Room, the place where he keeps all his treasures. In fact, he is interested in the scalpel of Dr Knox- which disconcerts Delaney. She is used to denying that the room exists to protect the valuable holdings. But not everyone believes her.

Delaney has a boyfriend who is the proprietor of Delaney's Wee Pub. The sign and her name- she thought was meant to be. Tom met her at The Cracked Spine that night, so that she can look for the scalpel. Her boyfriend of ten months is the romantic interest in the series. The relationship between them is strained by a Reporter hot on the trail of a story, which adds some tension to the plot because of the prior dating of her and Tom.

A murder is discovered. Has it been brought on by the mystery of "The Dark Side," which is aptly protected by a red door? This, of course, houses Edwin's wonderful finds that he keeps for himself. Odd how a myth has spread and everyone is interested in and determined to see it. Is the killer?

So began a multi-faceted mystery with lots to recommend it. I will certainly be reading more of this series and enjoyed the addition of the Hare and Burke murders. Everyone has secrets and that is how I like my mysteries. 

My thanks to Netgalley the opinion is my own.

Blurb:

A delightful new mystery featuring bookseller and amateur sleuth Delaney Nichols, set in Edinburgh, Scotland.
Delaney Nichols, originally of Kansas but settling happily into her new life as a bookseller in Edinburgh, works at the Cracked Spine in the heart of town. The shop is a place filled with curiosities and surprises tucked into every shelf, and it’s Delaney’s job to research the rare tomes and obscure artifacts that people come to buy and sell. When her new friends, also students at the medical school, come to the shop to sell a collection of antique medical books, Delaney knows she’s stumbled across a rare and important find indeed. Her boss, Edwin MacAlister, agrees to buy the multivolume set, perhaps even to keep for his own collection.

But not long after the sale, one of Delaney’s new friends is found murdered in the alley behind the Cracked Spine, and she wonders if there is some nefarious connection between the origin of these books and the people whose hands they fell into. Delaney takes it upon herself to help bring the murderer to justice. During her investigation, Delaney she finds some old scalpels in the bookshop’s warehouse—she and discovers that they belonged to a long-dead doctor whose story and ties to the past crimes of Burke and Hare might be connected to the present-day murder. It’s all Delaney can do to race to solve this crime before time runs out and she ends up in a victim on the slab herself.