The Stolen Voice

Starred review from May 4, 2009
The baffling return of David Drummond, who vanished as a child three decades earlier, is but one of several intriguing puzzles Gil Cunningham investigates in McIntosh's excellent sixth mystery to feature the 15th-century Scottish constable (after 2008's The Rough Collier
). David was about 11 when he disappeared without a trace from Glen Buckie, but somehow he's aged only five or six years in the meantime. Cunningham must also ascertain the fates of four men, all choir members, who have recently gone missing. Some locals believe only the supernatural can explain these inexplicable events—one is sure the devil himself is behind them. Cunningham, who seeks a more mundane agency, doggedly interviews those who might be responsible for the abductions, including David's older brother, Andrew, whose singing voice has been damaged and who may resent those with uninjured voices. McIntosh does a solid job of blending plot and period detail.

May 1, 2009
Husband-and-wife sleuthing team Gil and Alys Cunningham are as mystified as the local residents on the shores of Loch Voil when Davie Drummond, a young Cathedral singer who vanished more than thirty years ago, reappears, seemingly having aged but a few years. When they begin their investigations, it appears that a number of church song menin the area have recently gone missing, leading the Cunninghams to believe that the past and present disappearances may somehow be related. After a fatal fire, Gil and Alys must sort through Highland suspicion and superstition to piece together the pieces of a puzzle that reaches back decades into the past. McIntosh provides a signature twist at the end that serves as an unexpected bonus for readers already enthralled with the medieval mystery she has spun.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2009, American Library Association.)