"Death of a Snob"

Book 6 in the Hamish Macbeth Mysteries was a short one so a very quick read! Hamish is feeling a little sorry for himself because he has a head cold and no where to go for Christmas. However, things begin to look up when Jane Wetherby, an acquaintance of Priscilla's, invites him to spend Christmas with her on Eileencraig (a lonely Scottish Island) at the health farm she owns. She has no paying guests but has invited a few of her friends to stay for the holidays. She confides in him that she thinks someone may be trying to murder her and asks him to investigate quietly. It's an unusual mix of guests and one in particular, Heather Todd, manages to get under everyone's skin so, when she disappears, no one is really too unhappy but a search for her is underway nonetheless. Hamish has a fellow guest who is helping him with his sleuthing -- could there be a romance in the air? You'll have to read it to find out!

pazt

"Death of a Hussy"

This Hamish Macbeth mystery introduces us to Maggie Baird, a wealthy middle-aged and somewhat unlikeable woman, who has moved to Lochdubh with her niece (who is recovering from cancer treatment). Maggie has purchased a luxurious cottage and hired one of the local women to be her housekeeper then she proceeds to invite four former lovers to visit intending to choose one of them to be her husband and inherit all her wealth. Police Constable Hamish Macbeth has his work cut out for him when Maggie has an accident in her car that appears to be no accident! While the out-of-town police experts are brought in to solve the murder, Hamish works on his own to figure out who the culprit is.
In this book (I can't remember if M.C. Beaton does it in the other Hamish Macbeth mysteries.) Beaton has quotes at the beginning of the chapters and there were two that I especially liked. At the beginning of Chapter Eight is one by George Bernard Shaw: "Assassination is the extreme form of censorship."

Chapter 9's quote by Walter Bagehot is: "Poverty is an anomaly to rich people. It is very difficult to make out why people who want dinner do not ring the bell." Haven't you known people who just don't get poverty? I think this says it all!

Time to find the next book is this series!

pazt

"Death of a Perfect Wife"

I'm reading M.C. Beaton's Hamish Macbeth mysteries in order and in a quick overnight read I've just finished "Death of a Perfect Wife." When Paul and Trixie Thomas purchase a "fixer-upper" and move to Lochdubh to open a Bed and Breakfast, Trixie turns the town upside down. She organizes the local ladies to involve them in environmental issues as well as change the habits long ingrained in this town. She wants to clean it and them up from their homes to their husbands. This doesn't sit well with everyone and eventually Trixie is found dead and there is no lack of suspects. In the midst of the investigation Hamish seems to have turned off his romantic feelings towards Priscilla Halburton-Smythe and she notices! Perhaps their worlds are too different? As usual,I couldn't put this book down until I found out who the culprit was and I'm already looking forward to the next book in the series -- not just to watch Hamish solve another mystery but to discover if perhaps he and Priscilla might have something in common after all.

pazt

"Death of an Outsider"

This third book in the Constable Hamish Macbeth mystery series by M. C. Beaton was a quick afternoon read. Macbeth has been loaned out to Cnothan while their constable and his wife take a lengthy holiday. The local folk tend to be a little cool towards outsiders but Macbeth is able to thaw a few out and make some friends. Things heat up when a murder occurs. The victim has made so many enemies that there are no lack of suspects. As usual, Detective Chief Inspector Blair and his staff arrive to take over the case but it is Macbeth who solves it in the end while juggling a local romance. Is this the end of his pining for Prescilla Halburton-Smythe? You'll have to read it to find out!

pazt

"Death of a Cad"

This second Hamish Macbeth mystery by M. C. Beaton brings Priscilla Halburton-Smythe home from London with her playwright fiance to a weekend engagement party hosted by her parents. When a guest is murdered, Constable Hamish Macbeth (himself smitten with Priscilla) must investigate and has a number of titled guests as suspects. I found it a quick and fun read.

pazt

"Death of a Gossip"

This "whodunit" by M. C. Beaton is set in the wilds of Scotland where a diverse group have gathered to attend a fishing school. When one of the guests is murdered, the local village constable, Hamish MacBeth, is deemed not experienced enough to investigate the case so Detective Chief Inspector Blair along with two assistants arrive to solve the murder. In the meantime, despite being told by Blair to stay out of the case, MacBeth quietly does his own investigation to successfully find the murderer. He has a little help from Priscilla Halburton-Smythe, the daughter of a local landowner who is not at all pleased at the interest the local constable is showing in his daughter.

This is the first in a series of Hamish MacBeth mysteries (Copyright 1985) written by Marion Chesney (an author of historical romances) writing under the pseudonym M. C. Beaton. There appear to be 27 Hamish MacBeth books. I found a paperback copy of this book at my local library and it has a label on the outside which states, "The condition of this book may not be typical of ....Libraries quality. New copies of this out of print title are not available."

Initially, I had difficulty following all the characters and had to paper clip the Cast of Characters list at the start of the book so I could refer back to it often. Otherwise, it was a quick and fun read and I'm looking for the next book in the series.

pazt