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hslk0111's review
4.0
Another great, traditional mystery. I continue to enjoy Beaton's characters, the setting, and the police officer's cat and dog.
harvio's review against another edition
3.0
- I've read a few of these Hamish MacBeth mysteries, and I find them consistently cute and entertaining. I like the Scottish locations and idiom. A very light read.
jesslady's review
3.0
Oh my god, it just wouldn't end. It was a good read, but Beaton needs to work on endings.
krisrid's review
4.0
I listened to this book on CD and I think the story was definitely enhanced by having a narrator who could do the Scottish accent as it really makes you feel like you are "there" in the story with the characters.
Hamish MacBeth, the local constable in a tiny Scottish highlands village (which I am not going to even ATTEMPT to spell) must investigate the murder of an obnoxious author who had taken up residence in the village, offered classes to the locals on how to get published, and then proceeded to insult, belittle and humiliate everyone in the class.
Poor Hamish must contend, not only with hunting for the murderer, but with his bullying, attention seeking superiors, with a TV crew filming a soap opera in the vicinity, Hamish's former girlfriend, now a reporter and in town looking into the murder as well, and the entire female populace of the village, who believe the constable should have been married to one of the villagers long ago and intend to remedy Hamish's oversight forthwith!
All in all, the number, variety and quirkiness of the large cast of characters, main and supporting, make for a delightfully engaging, funny and clever story as Hamish navigates through the clues, the people and the events that appear on his way to solving the murder.
The interactions and conversations between Hamish and various other characters are extremely entertaining, and I found myself laughing out loud frequently as I listened to the back-and-forth among the very straight-talking Scots in the story. I highly recommend this to any mystery lovers!
Hamish MacBeth, the local constable in a tiny Scottish highlands village (which I am not going to even ATTEMPT to spell) must investigate the murder of an obnoxious author who had taken up residence in the village, offered classes to the locals on how to get published, and then proceeded to insult, belittle and humiliate everyone in the class.
Poor Hamish must contend, not only with hunting for the murderer, but with his bullying, attention seeking superiors, with a TV crew filming a soap opera in the vicinity, Hamish's former girlfriend, now a reporter and in town looking into the murder as well, and the entire female populace of the village, who believe the constable should have been married to one of the villagers long ago and intend to remedy Hamish's oversight forthwith!
All in all, the number, variety and quirkiness of the large cast of characters, main and supporting, make for a delightfully engaging, funny and clever story as Hamish navigates through the clues, the people and the events that appear on his way to solving the murder.
The interactions and conversations between Hamish and various other characters are extremely entertaining, and I found myself laughing out loud frequently as I listened to the back-and-forth among the very straight-talking Scots in the story. I highly recommend this to any mystery lovers!
calli's review against another edition
4.0
Not bad! I think I might prefer Hamish Macbeth to Agatha Raisin, but that's probably the Scots in me.