Death of a Village: A Hamish Macbeth Mystery [Hardcover]

 

 

Create your own review

Death of a Village has to be the most intriguing title in the Hamish Macbeth series. In all of the other titles, there's a reference to a death of a single person . . . who can be spotted in the first few pages of the book. In this case, you'll have a strong suspicion which village is doomed . . . but you won't know what's coming until it happens.

Normally, Hamish Macbeth manages to solve one major crime during the course of a book. Well, in Death of a Village, Hamish is a positive crime-stopping superman . . . with a little help from his friends.

The book opens in an odd fashion: Hamish makes a rare visit to off-the-beaten-path Stoyre and finds a curious quiet and reticence in the town. But he's even more amazed to find that the church is full for services during the day on a Monday. That's some religious revival!

Intrigued by the change, Hamish recruits local reporter, horoscope writer, and frustrated Hamish-chaser, Elspeth Grant, to help him find out what's going on. Nosing around and taking in Sunday services reveals nothing out of the ordinary . . . except to confirm the curious quiet and reticence that Hamish spotted on the first visit. But, before long, there's a surprise in Stoyre. Hamish eventually decides to take a holiday and spend it in Stoyre to get the lay of the land.

His concern is quickly distracted by a break-in at the grocery in Braikie, where all the wine and spirits have been taken. But Hamish senses that something funny is going on. Using his initiative, Hamish checks out the records of the grocer's supplier and makes several surprising finds. But the success backfires when Hamish adds to his local reputation as a woman chaser.

Before the first case is done, he gets a call from a frightened Bella Comyn and her fear of her husband. Pretty soon, the husband is missing and Hamish is puzzled by odds and ends of the case. Sleuthing again leads to unexpected evidence.

A visit to a Lochdubh widow, Mrs. Annie Docherty, leads Hamish to hear a surprising accusation which he decides to investigate with Mrs. Docherty's help. It quickly becomes curiouser and curiouser.

Through all of these investigations, Hamish achieves successes that are quite impressive. Once again, promotion threatens and Hamish has to pull out all the stops to derail being uprooted from his beloved Lochdubh.

M. C. Beaton packed enough mysteries and action into this story to make three regular Hamish Macbeth stories.

If you like Hamish Macbeth, you'll love Death of a Village.

Highly recommended.

MC Beaton pens another winner with "Death of a Village". No one can write a village mystery like her, and her Hamish is a wonderful character. I like him more each time out. In this book Hamish is on a winning crusade against crime in his patch. He cracks open a fraud ring, a nursing home scam, saves a little girl's life in a catastropic flood and uncovers a salvaging ring that is stripping a German submarine from World War II that had been downed somewhere near the village of Storye which is a village on his patch. Usually nothing much goes on in Storye, but when Hamish makes a routine visit there, he finds that the villagers are secretive and scared. He and his young reporter friend Elspeth try to determine what is going on in the tiny village. Hamish is hard pressed to keep his good deeds "off the radar screen" so to speak because the last thing he wants is promotion to a larger police station. The only thing I'm sad about after reading this book is that I have only one left to read in this long-running series. The series has been a total delight!

Scottish police constable Hamish Macbeth likes his life and dreads the idea of a promotion. If only he could get his love-life under control, he thinks things would be about perfect. But Hamish can't help offending pretty reporter Elspeth Grant and can't get over being abandoned by his ex-fiance. Besides, his dog can't stand the idea of a woman moving in with him. Instead, Hamish solves mysteries. Even in the Scottish Highlands, crime does take place--including insurance fraud and spousal abuse. But Hamish's police instincts are most intrigued by a small village which seems to have no crime at all--and be suffering from a religious revival. Something odd is happening and the always taciturn residents are being even more closed-mouthed than usual.

The rest of the police force is hopeless and Hamish ends up being a one-man crime buster, assisted by the beautiful Elspeth and a pair of aging sleuths.

Author M. C. Beaton creates a charming character in Hamish Macbeth and a properly cozy world of small crimes and mostly cheery people with deep Scottish accents and deep Scottish accents. Hamish can be annoying--both to Elspeth and the reader--by his judgemental attitude and his thoughtlessness to Elspeth's feelings, but Beaton's stories are strongly written and intriguing.

In DEATH OF A VILLAGE, more than in some of the other Macbeth stories, Hamish seems to be going through the motions--his emotions don't feel quite real. Still, while this may not be the best of the series, it is a well written and enjoyable story.

Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review

› See all 16 customer reviews on Amazon.ca

 

5.0 out of 5 stars Elspeth turns on the charm
I thought that this latest installment of the Hamish Macbeth series is far better than the last few. Read more

Published on Aug 13 2003 by Mr. Mooney

5.0 out of 5 stars Another homerun for M.C. Beaton!
This is the nineteenth (not eighteenth, you must include A Highland Christmas) in a series of mysteries featuring the detective work of small town, Highland Scottish detective... Read more

Published on July 6 2003 by Kurt A. Johnson

4.0 out of 5 stars A light and amusing Hamish MacBeth
The eighteenth book in the Hamish Macbeth series was not so much a mystery but a compilation of several little mysteries in the daily routine of Hamish Macbeth. Read more

Published on Jun 19 2003 by Ramona Honan

1.0 out of 5 stars Gone Hollywood -- mean, rough on reader, lost the charm
I read the book and came to the conclusion that she has gone Hollywood. Then I read the flap note that mentions a BBC series. Read more

Published on Jun 16 2003

3.0 out of 5 stars Hamish MacBeth is on the Case Again
Constable Hamish MacBeth, a man thought of by many as unambitious, senses that secrets are swirling about him. Read more

Published on Jun 6 2003 by FictionAddiction.NET

4.0 out of 5 stars More like a collection of stories...
Did television fame change Hamish? Or did it change the nature of his creator's storytelling about him? Read more

Published on Jun 2 2003 by Patricia Tryon

5.0 out of 5 stars Another first-rate effort
Hamish MacBeth is back in top form and M.C. Beaton's Highlands constable just keeps getting better and better. Read more

Published on May 20 2003 by Lisa Bahrami

5.0 out of 5 stars A Delight!
Fans of Hamish Macbeth will rejoice! Hamish is back, slightly perturbed by stories that his adored Priscilla will be marrying someone else. Read more

Published on April 24 2003 by Dr Cathy Goodwin

5.0 out of 5 stars It's SUPER Hamish!
No our highland hero doesn't don a cape and tights, but with as many crimes as he's solving he is achieving superhero status, with his devoted LUGS as his faithful sidekick. Read more

Published on April 2 2003 by Mamalinde

5.0 out of 5 stars It's SUPER Hamish!
No our highland hero doesn't don a cape and tights, but with as many crimes as he's solving he is achieving superhero status, with his devoted LUGS as his faithful sidekick. Read more

Published on April 2 2003 by Mamalinde

Search Customer Reviews
Only search this product's reviews

› See all 16 customer reviews on Amazon.ca

Search Listmania!