The Highland Heist by Pepper Basham

The Freddie and Grace Mysteries series has been my comfort read over the last couple of years. I love Grace. I gave never related to a character so much as I have Grace. I was very stressed with a big project at work so I re-read all the books in the series leading up to this one. I was glad I did because of all the references to past books in this one. However, Pepper did a good job of giving the context so you could easily follow along if you hadn't re-read everything.

This book takes place about 4 months after the Juliet Code and Grace and Frederick have been able to meet up with their adopted daughter Zahra and explore Europe before heading to the United States to see Grace's family. What they discover when they arrive though shocks Grace. Her father has moved and Lillias is the suspect in her own husband's murder. They also learn of an inheritance that their mother had left them, giving the perfect motive for someone to target her.

The first part of this book is Frederick and Grace trying to save Lillias and clear her name. However she disappears shortly after at the middle of the second act following a shocking plot twist. Lillias's husband is very much alive.  They follow her clues to Scotland where she is trying to find the will on her own, desperate for a fresh start. There things begin to pick up as they work together to find it while trying to dodge the people who framed Lillias for murder back home. 

Overall this book was very good. I loved the fact that Zahra was in this one, as she won my heart in The Cairo Curse. She may be fictional but I know her back story was all too common. I am very glad she was able to slowly be comfortable with Frederick and Grace. When she hugged Grace, my heart melted. I also enjoyed Grace's character arc that she has been having throughout the series. She stands up for herself and comes to realize how her sister really saw her. Lillias comes around but she was quite harsh with her for most of the book. I didn't care for her character very much, but I didn't in the first book either.