She should have been put around the side of the pier, but there was a MacBrayne’s chief of operations, and he thought there was no problem, and he over-ruled the skipper, which strictly speaking he couldn’t do, and said she must go on the front of the pier, and of course that was us cut off,” Donniel Kennedy recalled to John Donald MacLean in 1998. The pontoon bridge constructed by the National Pontoon Adventure Consultancy with some assistance from Clarkson, May and Hammond spanned around 1,000 feet from the coast near Griminish, North Uist to the nearby uninhabited tidal island of Vallay. The first vessel in the fleet to be fitted out with radar, she was also the biggest MacBrayne ship until car ferries came in 1964. In truth, Clarkson was right about one thing in his life: the worst car in the world is American. In a field, six cars including two Chryslers and a Pontiac Aztek raced in circles in a kind of ground-based balloon race cum demolition derby. The loser would be the first car to crash out. It was the Pontiac (a car so terrible it figured in Breaking Bad as Walter White’s ride of choice to show what a loser he was) that was proven – scientifically, mind – to be the world’s worst car. First and foremost, I would like to thank NetGalley and Hodder & Stoughton for the ARC of this book, the first one after a long time :)

CalMac sent out another boat which took us from Tiree to Oban later that evening. My memories of that night were zero – probably a reaction if you are in an accident. It does not register until hours afterwards. A Tiree beach. Invece i fan di Downton Abbey o chiunque voglia godersi qualche ora leggera, con un sorriso stampato sulle labbra, non può lasciarselo scappare! There was one particularly loud crash, but I just thought it was another thing that had gone wrong. There had been so much that night. I had never travelled that route before, in the middle of the Minch, in the middle of a force 10 gale. I just assumed the noises were all about the weather. I understand that this is a first novel so the author has time to refine her style. It seems to lose its way at times and some twists have no lead up, which can be a bit strange. I also think that the characterisation is uneven, for example we learn next to nothing about Mrs MacBain the supposed protagonist and too much about Cedric who has no real role to play.In a massive salvage operation the Loch Seaforth was lifted right out of the water by a mammoth German crane and beached half a mile away – out of the way,” reported The Scottish Daily Express on May 24 1973. “Her owners said she would never sail under her own power again. Beside me was an army sergeant and his wife. She was still in her night clothes. They had just run up without getting any layer of clothing on themselves. There was a stewardess. She was trying to look after a couple of kids. She kept her arms around the children, and tried to shelter them from the spray.

Thank you to Hodder & Stoughton and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review. Hopefully we'll get a more regular release schedule, then, especially given the year-long gap between episodes one and two of the show's fourth season. Could we see another UK-based special also drop in 2021 following Lochdown’s July 30 arrival date? We're not that optimistic, but we doubt we'll have to wait another year to see the results of that project materialize. Those reports match up with further comments made by May earlier this year: “In the short term, we might have to reduce our travel ambitions, and we’ll have a better chance of [filming]. The Grand Tour may become a little more domestic. But it will still be us three which is the important thing. And cars." I have really mixed feelings about this book. I loved the word-play in the title and the concept of bringing current events into a fictional past. But some things just didn't work for me. If you are expecting a serious murder mystery, you may be disappointed. My general feeling is that this is meant to be a parody of 1920s/30s mysteries. You have the very large cast of characters, mysterious events and secrets, and every thing is revealed at the end. As a parody, it was well done. The references to toilet paper shortages and other circumstances familiar to all of us who have lived through 2020 were hilarious. However the mystery itself felt a little flat. Much of the plot was predictable and the characters were all pretty one-dimensional with very little done to flesh out their motives. That being said, there were a few characters who had enough personality for me to care a little about them, but not enough for me to feel attached or particularly invested in them. In many ways, this story would make a great movie- something along the lines of the 1980s Clue. But as a book, it just had something missing that I can't quite put my finger on. All in all, I did enjoy reading it, but I don't see myself revisiting it.

Featured Reviews

Set in the 1930s in the Scottish Highlands, Loch Down (nice wordplay, if I may add) Abbey becomes the scene of a series of unfortunate events. That series of unfortunate events would be just like any other series in any other novel if it weren't for the Inverkillens, the residing family which is, put it plainly, peculiar. By peculiar, I don't mean in any supernatural or paranormal way. More like a bunch of egocentric, selfish, and exalted characters that are unable to see anything further away from their noses. And, if I may add, a big part of the family is just a bunch of spoiled brats used to the privileges given to them by their birthright. Well, some walls and dreams are, putting it mildly, are about to collapse. Mr Little told The Oban Times then: “While no-one expected this to happen, it was an enlightening experience to be present and see for ourselves the magnificent manner in which our crew reacted to the situation.” The cast of characters, with a clear DA inspiration, is sooooo huge that it took me quite a while to know who was who. All of them, save for a few exceptions, were pretty one-dimensional and defined by their rank in the family or the service and though that may have been the author’s intention to poke fun at the absurdities of the aristocracy and their relationship with their employees, it made me detached from all of them and not care about what was going on. At daylight between eight and nine, a fishing boat found us. But we could not transfer onto the fishing boat, because it was so rough. The fishing boat got a line out to the lead boat and began towing us. That took us to Scarinish [on the Isle of Tiree]. It took us over an hour. It was still stormy.”

Those seeking humour with their historical fiction ought to read this. It is well worth it, utterly absorbing. Love the details which elevate a good read to a great one. Then Lord Inverkillen, Earl and head of the family, is found dead in mysterious circumstances. The inspector declares it an accident but Mrs MacBain, the head housekeeper, isn't so convinced. As no one is allowed in or out because of the illness, the residents of the house - both upstairs and downstairs - are the only suspects. With the Earl's own family too busy doing what can only be described as nothing, she decides to do some digging - in between chores, of course - and in doing so uncovers a whole host of long-hidden secrets, lies and betrayals that will alter the dynamics of the household for ever. Willie Miggin of Enfield, County Meath, was touring the west coast and was a passenger on that voyage,” recorded The Sunday Post. “Wanting to lie down he found an empty cabin down below and fell asleep. But that week he had exams and took the overnight mail boat MV Loch Seaforth, which left Lochboisdale on South Uist around 10pm, stopped in Barra after midnight, and arrived in Oban at 8am the next morning. As if that’s not enough, they’ll be modifying their muscle cars and taking them to the Outer Hebrides for one of the show’s toughest challenges yet! They’ll have to see whether a homemade floating bridge will be capable of supporting the weight of their massive cars on a perilous drive across the Hebridean sea to their final destination! The Grand Tour Presents: Lochdown trailerMost of the Inverkillens haven’t left the estate in decades and are best at doing what can only be described as nothing. With the servants increasingly out of commission because of the mysterious virus, Mrs MacBain tries to keep everything “normal” while also conducting her own clever investigation of Lord Inverkillen’s death and in doing so uncovers a whole host of long-hidden secrets, lies and betrayals that will alter the dynamics of the household forever. Scarinish turned out in force for the dance – the local accordion band vied with the Tiree Piping Society for musical honours. Compliments were paid in English and German. Songs were sung in both languages. And the saga of the Loch Seaforth ended in noisy and joyful camaraderie in the village hall – with the hulk of the island ferry bathed in moonlight on the beach in Gott Bay.” However, there are so many characters it’s overwhelming and this means that apart from one or two they’re not well fleshed out and some seem to serve little purpose other than to baffle me. The style at times is somewhat ponderous especially at the beginning with over descriptions and explanation which slows the pace though this does improve in the second half which is much better than the first. The plot is really convoluted with so much going on it becomes bewildering and truthfully apart from recognition of our Covid reality I’m not that sure their pandemic actually adds much to the plot????

And of course there was a float. And someone got the idea that these floats had survival gear, including a very good expensive knife, so he tried to open the float, and immediately the thing burst into life, inflated and whistles and sirens, he just had to run for it!” Woo, this family has some scandalous secrets all right! Obviously, if you shove a bunch of non-observant and self-centered people together with nothing to do, most will do the wrong thing. Some of the secrets are obvious to an alert reader. Others should have been, and the clues are clear in hindsight. However, the hilarious conclusion was an unexpected surprise! I adored the ending of Loch Down Abbey, though some of the middle dragged a bit. 4 stars! It was a very interesting, funny and mysterious book with strong characters, I easily could imagine them. This wasn't a crime- mystery but, there were lots of secrets. I really enjoyed this Scottish set. I loved the house, It was so amazing and exploring. With lots of secret passages that no one could see if somebody sneaking around. I'm sure the killer, loved the house as I am. :)

Going off the blurb alone, I was not expecting the wry humour, the almost satire narrative and the gripping mystery that are the highlights of this story in my opinion. On the surface this book is a cosy mystery, but I found it to be much more, and the references to the shortage of toilet rolls and flour, were a reminder of the position we were all faced with in March 2020. There were elements that demanded the reader suspended belief, some bits were perhaps a little contrived, but I thoroughly enjou]yes it.