Olga Wojtas ist tief in ihrer Erziehung in Edinburgh verwurzelt, einer Stadt, die das Gefüge ihrer Erzählungen prägt. Ihre Schriften sind oft von nuancierten Beobachtungen des Alltags inspiriert und verwandeln das Gewöhnliche durch ihre unverwechselbare Prosa in etwas Außergewöhnliches. Sie erforscht die Komplexität menschlicher Verbindungen und die subtilen Verschiebungen in Beziehungen und zieht die Leser in intime Porträts ihrer Charaktere. Wojtas' Geschichten schwingen mit einer stillen Kraft nach und offenbaren tiefe Wahrheiten über die menschliche Verfassung.
Intrepid librarian Shona McMonagle, erstwhile Marcia Blaine Academy prefect, finds herself in an isolated French mountain village, where she must solve a mystery involving the mayor, the cheesemonger, the soprano Mary Garden - and even Count Dracula himself.
A quirky, comic crime novel inspired by The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie in which a time-travelling altruist must solve a mystery involving Macbeth and the Weird Sisters. Never underestimate a librarian.
'The creme de la creme of crime debuts.' Al Guthrie. Shona is a proud former pupil of the Marcia Blaine School for Girls. Impeccably educated and an accomplished martial artist, linguist and musician, Shona is less successful when it comes to solving a murder mystery.
Fifty-something Edinburgh librarian Shona is a proud former pupil of the Marcia Blaine School for Girls, but has a deep loathing for The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, which she thinks gives her alma mater a bad name. Impeccably educated and an accomplished linguist, mathematician, martial artist, and musician, Shona is selected by Marcia Blaine herself to travel back in time for a crucial mission in Venice. Finding the city afflicted by what appears to be a new outbreak of the plague, Shona soon encounters the Cornetto family of gondoliers. Lately, a number of their passengers have met a watery fate. Coincidence? Unlikely. She dons a mask, goes undercover and seeks inspiration in the library. But the mystery only deepens. Why do the Cornettos seem so flaky and their explanations wafer-thin, even as they proclaim their innocence? What is going on at the printworks? Shona's powers of deduction, dissection and prowess as a swimmer are put to the test as she realises that a bitter feud is at play. Can Shona unravel the tapestry of lies and get to the truth? It's a race against time, but it would be a mistake to underestimate a librarian.