Wildfire at Midnight - Classic Mystery Review

Goodreads: Wildfire at Midnight by Mary Stewart

Rating: Really Liked It (4 Stars)
Source:   Purchased

Description:  I FOLLOWED MARCIA TO HER ROOM...
She pushed her door open and groped for the light switch.
When the lights went on I heard her gasp. She was standing as if frozen, her back to me, her hands up to her throat.
Then she screamed, a high, tearing scream.
"The murderer. Oh my God, the murderer. . . ."
She grabbed my arm and pointed to the bed, her lips shaking so much that she couldn't speak coherently.
I stared down at the bed, while the slow goose flesh pricked up my spine.
Lying on the coverlet was a doll, the kind of frivolous doll I had seen dozens of times.
But this one was different.
It was lying flat on its back on the bed, with its legs straight out and its hands crossed on its breast. The contents of an ash tray had been scattered over it, and a great red gash gleamed across its neck, where its throat was cut from ear to ear...

A young crofter's daughter is cruelly and ritually murdered on the bleak Scottish mountainside. In the deceptively idyllic Camasunary Hotel nearby, the beautiful but troubled, Gianetta Brooke cannot seem to escape her pain or her past -- not even in the remote hotel on the Scottish Isle of Skye. When she discovers that her ex-husband has booked into the same hotel, the peaceful holiday for which she had hoped takes on quite another complexion.

Very soon Gianetta finds herself tangled in a web of rising fear and suspicion. One of her fellow guests, however, is also hiding secrets... and a skill and penchant for murder. And now the killer only has eyes for Gianetta....

Genre: Mystery - Classic 

Why I Picked This Book:  I've been slowly reading through Mary Stewart's books and this is the one I picked for this year.

My Impression: I love a book with atmosphere and in this book, atmosphere is basically its own character with the fog and rain and looming mountains.  Gianetta is on vacation in a remote hotel on the Isle of Skye.  Her vacation quickly becomes less relaxing when she realizes that her ex-husband, Nicholas, is staying at the same hotel and that an unsolved murder of a local girl has links to someone at the hotel.  When two women who are also staying at the hotel go missing Gianetta goes from unsettled to terrified as she is pulled into the investigation and can't be sure how to trust.

I really enjoyed the audio book of this story.  Stewart is fabulous with atmosphere and Gianetta was an interesting character.  Nicholas is pretty overbearing and awful but that wasn't unexpected for a book written in this time period.  Luckily, he didn't have that much page time, so I was able to focus on the mystery and Gianetta.

I always enjoy the Mary Stewart books I'm reading and am looking forward to reading more by her.  This is a bit dated especially with regards to Nicholas but overall, I found it to be a fun read.

Would I Read More of this Series/Author? Absolutely!  I'm looking forward to picking my next book by Stewart.

Would I Recommend this Book? If you enjoy Gothic-y stories and can overlook a bit of an overbearing character this is a fun read.