Scot and Soda. Catriona McPherson

A body surfacing next to her houseboat on Halloween night with a Jimmy wig stapled to its head leads Lexy Campbell and her friends to delve into the past of the area's residents. Lexy Campbell's Halloween party barely has time to begin before a body bobs up beside her houseboat. Who is this man? Why was he killed? And how come there's a Jimmy wig stapled to his head? When she learns that a horse has been attacked on a bridge the same night, Lexy can't help but think of Tam O'Shanter and Robert Burns. With the police dismissing the notion, and fresh from solving her first murder – not to mention the fact that the clues point to Scots and she's the only one in town – Lexy decides to investigate. Joined, once again, by the rag-tag crew from the Last Ditch Motel, Lexy is soon neck-deep in cutty sarks and tartan, but it seems the roots of this California murder lie much closer to her new home.