Death of a Gossip

Death of a Gossip by M.C. Beaton


My rating: 4 of 5 stars
In this early Hamish Macbeth mystery, Inspector Blair is actually civil to Hamish Macbeth. Some locals have a fly fishing program and one of the guests is making everyone mad. As with most of these mysteries, the victim is someone you love to hate. Lady Jane offends everyone all the time and everyone has a motive to kill her, even the 12 year old of the group.

The plot is interesting and there is a lot of local color. This is one of those books that is great to listen to on an audiobook. The accents are wonderful and add a lot to the enjoyment. As usual, laid back Hamish Macbeth solves the murder in his typically laconic style. I think what makes his character so attractive is that he has found the perfect job for himself and is able to cast aside all pretensions, ambitions and the falsities that surround the lives of most of us. He has a thirst for justice, but other than that, he delights in his simple village life with his dog, Towser, his chickens and sheep. His needs are few and what money he can spare, he sends home to his folks to help with the 6 younger children at home. If it wasn't for the complication of his love for Priscilla, he would be perfectly happy.

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Death of a Charming Man

Death of a Charming Man by M.C. Beaton


My rating: 4 of 5 stars
A beautiful young man moves into a ghastly nearby village and immediately sets out to seduce the middle aged women in the town and set them against each other, then seems to disappear in the night. Only Hamish Macbeth thinks he has been murdered and he has to go on vacation to solve the mystery. Along with the problem of the murders is the problems between Priscilla and Hamish. They are on a collision course and things come to a head in this mystery.

This is just the kind of cozy mystery you want for a rainy day. Lots of subplots and enough action to keep the book interesting.

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Death of a Snob

Death of a Snob by M.C. Beaton


My rating: 4 of 5 stars
This is a quick and easy book and the plot is fairly predictable, but the characters are always good and the Scottish Highlands are always interesting. I listened to this on the new eaudiobooks from my library and found it was the perfect book to listen to while doing other things around the house.

Hamish Macbeth is the laid back constable in the village of Lochdubh. He is feeling sorry for himself because he has the flu and is alone at Christmas. Priscilla asks him to spend the holidays at a health farm on one of the outer islands and see who it is that is trying to kill her friend.

There are numerous quirky characters staying for the holidays and Hamish has to sort through the various lies to arrive at the killer and motive. From the beginning it is obvious who is to be killed. I always love these obnoxious characters and delight in seeing them killed off. I wonder why? Is it just that we all wish to do away with certain characters in our lives and enjoy the victim by proxy? Judging from the number of books that follow this formula, I am not the only one.

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