"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 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