The Merchant's Mark Book

From the inside cover:

"The barrel should have contained books---instead it held treasure and a severed head....

Gil Cunningham and his auld acquaintance, Glaswegian merchant Augie Morison had been expecting a delivery of books from the Low Countries, and they found the gruesome substitute. They report their find to the Provost but at the inquest the next morning Morison is accused of murder and imprisoned. To prove the merchant's innocence, Gil sets out with is friend and future father-in-law, Maistre Pierre, the French Master-Mason, to track down the treasure's owner and identify the dead man.

The trail they follow leads them from the court of James IV at Stirling, to an unexpected death on the bare slopes of the Pentland Hills"

In addition Gil's sister, Kate, & his future wife, Alys, are taking care of Augie Morison's two young daughters while at the same time doing some investigating of their own.

I like the characters, the story was interesting, but I felt it was longer in details that I could have done without & so I skipped over parts.... The Scot's dialect was difficult to understand in parts and made me pause in order to ken what was being said. Therefore - 1 star!