The Singing Sands (1952)

by Josephine Tey

In The Singing Sands Inspector Alan Grant, on leave because of mental exhaustion, takes the Flying Highlander train to Scotland and immediately comes across a dead body. The only clue is a mysterious poem—about ‘singing sands’—written in a newspaper he finds nearby. He’s supposed to be staying with old friends in the Highlands, and fishing in the local river, but instead ends up going out to an island in the Hebrides. The book is beautifully set in Tey’s native Scotland and makes you want to go to the Highlands immediately. The plot is pretty nicely done too.