The Orkney Scroll (Lara McClintoch Archeological Mystery, #10) by Lyn Hamilton

The Orkney Scroll (Lara McClintoch Archeological Mystery, #10) Reviews

• 
  Clare O'Beara

  Beginning in Canada and wending its way to Orkney north of the Scots mainland, where Bjarni the Wanderer, before he went mad, hid the cauldron in the tomb of the orcs. Sorry, it's catching.
  
  As ever in this intelligent series, an antique dealer gets mixed up in crime - in this case, a dodgy Rennie Mackintosh writing cabinet sale by a competitor - and follows a trail of murders to places foreign. This is explained by buying trips for her store. Lara tells us a legend or history as she goes, here the wandering Viking saga. Lara also gets under the skin of the people, scenery and feel of the air.
  
  Enjoy.
  This is an unbiased review.
  
• 
  Laura Rittenhouse

  This is a great little book. A Viking saga is woven throughout the novel that adds something a little different to this mystery. Lara, the hero of the book, sells antique furniture and as a result finds herself in the middle of what could be a furniture forgery business and what is definitely a murder mystery. She tromps off to Orkney to save her reputation and a wrongly convicted acquaintence and ends up finding an odd assortment of characters, a treasure map and just enough twists and turns to keep you wanting to read more, but not so many that you groan at the contrivances.
  
  Very readable, very enjoyable, I'll look for more of Ms Hamilton's books.
• 
  Bettie

  
  Bettie's Books
• 
  Meredith

  3.5 stars.
  This was the first of the Lara McClintock books that I have read, having won it in the Goodreads Giveaways. I enjoyed the actual mystery story and found the characters fun. I would call it a rainy day book.
  Each chapter started with a part of a 'historic' telling of a Viking saga. This extra segment is why I'm giving it three stars in instead of four. This saga was typed in Italics which I found physically hard to read. It was also boring and the hard time I had reading the font really interrupted the actual story for me. After five chapters of it, I just ignored it and only read the actual story. Once I started skipping the saga I got into the mystery story and started enjoying the book.
• 
  Alexandra K

  I knew that it wasn't going to be a literary masterpiece, but I gave it a shot anyway. Who am I to resist a book described as an archaeological mystery set in Orkney? (I love Orkney.)
  
  It was fun, but I can't call it anything other than adequate. I got about 50 pages in and nothing was happening, so I skipped to the part where the main character actually arrives in Orkney and I'm pretty sure I didn't miss anything important. The archaeological mystery (when it actually appeared) was mildly fun but also just adequate. It's not like I hated this - I enjoyed it towards the end - but that's mostly down to my love for treasure hunts.
• 
  Syneva

  A friend loaned this to me...it took me awhile to get into it, since the writing style isn't very refined and the plot didn't capture me at first. About the last third of the book, I suddenly got quite intrigued. Not a classic, but worth taking on a long plane trip!
• 
  Bill

  Interesting concept, mystery involves an antique dealer from Toronto, Lara McClintoch and an adventure to the Orkneys to prove she has not sold fraudelent antiques.
• 
  Karol

  I have been enjoying this entire series. The author's writing, in my opinion, improves with each novel. One problem I had with the series was the the story switches back and forth between the ancient and the current. In the latter books of the series I have been going through and reading the entire "ancient" part first, and then going through and reading the "current", which is 95% of the novel. It is nice to have the entire older story in my head as a background while I read the main story. This has increased my enjoyment of the series.
• 
  Susan

  This is a series I pick up whenever I want a nice, easy, yet intriguing mystery. They're always enjoyable not just because of the plot, but because of the varied settings to which Lara McClintoch, antique dealer protagonist, travels. As usual, some of what happens strains credulity a bit, but it's worth putting up with that. I'm sad to be nearing the end of the series.
• 
  Eavan

  Decent train reading. I wanted to practice my German reading and was intrigued by this mystery because it concerned both Jugendstil and ancient Scandinavia. But it was a weak mystery story populated by unpleasant characters.
• 
  Eager Reader

  Great for Orkney location and history.The plot is a little contrived but holds the readers interest right up to the end of the book. Likable detective.
• 
  Marcella

  The archaeology was fun, but I thought the narrative was jerky.
• 
  Craftylaurie

  A good read.
• 
  Cheryl

  This is a good series and I am glad that I took a few mystery authors up on their recommendation of books by their late friend Lyn. The combination of travel and history/archaeology and antiques is interesting, because even if one aspect doesn't appeal to you in the context of a specific story, the others likely will. This book involves a mystery over an Art Nouveau writing desk -- or more than one -- the axe murder of an antique dealer and the quest for the Holy Grail. Oh, and Vikings. The mystery is well done, the settings, particularly Orkney, are fascinating (I have always had some interest in Orkney and now I really want to visit), and even the Viking stuff is compelling, and I am not hugely into Vikings.
  
  Antiquarian Lara's reputation is somewhat damaged by the apparently fake cabinet that one of her clients apparently bought from someone else which she had tentatively said might be genuine. Client discovers at big show-and-brag gala that it is a fake and takes an axe to it in front of everyone. Shortly thereafter someone takes the same axe to the head of the antique dealer who sold it. A mysterious man from Scotland/Orkney appears and disappears. Big time wealthy criminal defense lawyers squabble. Lara goes to Orkney to see if her theory about a real antique cabinet and a fake being used in a scam by the dead guy is accurate, thinking proof will redeem her reputation. Things get hairier from there. But in the end, it all makes sense -- well, I still wonder if Bev's death might have been a murder, but not a biggie -- and some very nice people end up finding a little more happiness. And I am left with a compulsion to go to Orkney.
• 
  Stuart

  
  I liked this book a lot, a mystery story and a travel book in one, especially as it reminded me of my recent vacation in Orkney. In addition to the mystery and the descriptions of Orkney, a saga attributed a fictional Viking is built into the story as well. And it all moves along at an easy-to-read pace. Strangely, it's called an "Archeological Mystery", but it's really a mystery involving antiques.
  
  
  The hero of the book is Lara McClintoch, who sells antique furniture in Toronto. When a piece of furniture designed by famed Scottish Art Nouveau architect and designer Charles Rennie Mackintosh turns up in Toronto, Lara is called on to authenticate it on behalf of one of her best clients. Unfortunately, the buyer takes Lara's lukewarm verification as gold and spends a lot of money, only to have the writing desk turn out to be a fake. He takes an axe to it; the same axe is then found in the skull of the dealer who sold the desk.
  
  
  Lara, being the one who discovers the body, feels compelled to investigate. (RCMP must have the wrong man...) The investigation leads to Scotland, first to Glasgow, where the provenance of the desk proves completely false, and then to Orkney, where the fake may have been made.
  
  
  Lara now spends a long time getting to know Orkney (very worthwhile - I recommend it) and some of its very welcoming people. Throw in the Viking sagas, invented and real, a treasure map (!) and we have lots of twists, leading to a nice read.
  
  
  A good read. Just not archeological!
  
• 
  William Stanger

  I only came upon this book by chance, but I'm glad that I did.
  
  Described as an archaeological mystery, I was worried that I wouldn't like it. However, in the end I found it hard to put down.
  
  The book was set mainly in Toronto and Orkney, both places where I have lived, the latter for 22 years, the former 4. The detail of location, especially in Orkney, made this book very enjoyable for me.
  
  At no point did I find the plot predictable and even when the end came it wasn't what I expected. There were clues along the way, but at times they could have pointed in any direction. I had to finish the book because I really needed to know where it all ended. I have read books before just to get to the end to prove my theory was right all the time. This was not the case with this book, which made it well worth reading.
  
  There are other books featuring Lara McLintoch, the central character of this book, and I intend seeking them out. Unfortunately the author, Lyn Hamilton, passed away in recent years, so there will be no others. I believe there are at least 10 books in this series, all set in different parts of the world. If they are as good as this one, then I think I'll have to read them all!
• 
  Phlaemmle

  Die Saga des Bjarne ist schön in den Roman verwoben, wer sich allerdings viel von dem Wikinger im Titel verspricht, wird enttäuscht werden. Weder befindet sich einer der Herren auf Zeitreise, noch lenkt ein mutiger, muskelbepackter Held das Geschehen. Der Hauptprotagonist ist weiblich, und in keinster Weise wikingerisch. Aber dies macht gerade den Reiz der Geschichte aus, sollte man sich darauf einlassen. Dann werden einem die Abgründe der heutigen Gesellschaft präsentiert, verwoben an historischen Schauplätzen...
  Und so denkt diese dann im Epilog:
  Es ist uns nicht möglich zu wissen, ob die Zeit, in der wir gerade leben, der Höhepunkt einer glorreichen Epoche ist oder lediglich ihr trostloses, wenn nicht gar katastrophales Ende. Politiker versuchen uns davon zu überzeugen, dass sie uns in eine glanzvolle und glückliche Zukunft führen, während Schwarzseher uns gerne vor Augen halten, dass der Verfall bereits eingesetzt habe und das Ende nahe, doch letztendlich können wir keine Gewissheit haben.
• 
  Aprilleigh

  The backstory on this one was a little hard to follow in places, and had nothing to do with the original piece that launched the story. Lara is asked by a long-time client, to verify the authenticity of a writing cabinet. She does so, only to realize later, after seeing it in her client's home, that she was duped. Upset, she takes a vacation and ends up chasing down the origin of the fake, much to the chagrin of her friends and business partner back home.
  
  In the process, she meets some interesting people, makes some new friends (and new enemies), and helps out an old man with a very talented son. Oh, and she figures out not only where the fake came from, but what was really going on between her client and the antique dealer who sold the fake. It's complicated, but that's pretty typical of Lara's adventures.
• 
  Kate

  "A scam involving a fake Mackintosh writing cabinet tarnishes the reputation of Toronto antiques dealer Lara McClintoch -- and has one of her clients facing murder charges. To clear her name and prove her client's innocence, Lara follows the phony paperwork to the Orkney Islands off the northeast coast of Scotland. There, surrounded by surreal beauty and ancient ruins, she is pulled into a centuries-old Viking saga and a troubling quest that could end in danger -- and may just rewrite history..."
  ~~back cover
  
  A refreshing change from many mysteries -- our heroine isn't entangled with a man who either rescues her or helps her solve the mystery. She goes it alone ... now that's my kind of female mystery solver!
• 
  Sarah

  I probably would have given this a 3.5/5 if I could give half stars. But anyways. I enjoyed this book quite a bit. It was an easy and enjoyable read. I really like the author's style of writing and, this being the second book in the series that I've read, I have to say that the series is quite a pleasure for me to read. A bit of mystery, a bit of history, a beautiful land, some humour, some action, and all in all quite the enjoyable story. I look forward to reading more of her work in the future.