Customer Reviews

Death of a Hussy

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Ahhh! If a good draught of single malt and a Hamish Macbeth mystery won't cure you, then you really need to see a doctor! M.C. Beaton's well-established series featuring Lochdubh's finest, Macbeth himself, is right on cue with this edition.

PC Macbeth is called upon to investigate the death of--you guessed it--a "hussy"! Seems that Maggie Baird, besides being a wealthy, once-beautiful middle aged woman, is also something of a pain! So much so that she goes up in flames--in her car! This is no "hot date in the Highlands," but murder out and out! And there are suspects aplenty: four former lovers and her own niece! All certainly had the means and the motive.

Macbeth to the rescue, of course! Hamish himself has a few pieces of personal baggage as well, as we've learned through the series. His long on-again, off-again romance with Priscilla Haliburton-Smythe, superiors who are jealous of his successes, and his "lack of ambition" (he's quite happy, thank you, to stay in this wee Scottish village, as promotions are not his desire, prefering instead to stay "small town"! Of course, as we know from the series, this small town seems to have an inordinate number of murders! No matter. Beaton provides us with a delightful (albeit lite!) bill of fare! (Billyjhobbs@tyler.net)

Hamish is stationed in Strathbane, due to the downsizing of constabularies in the Highlands. He is unhappy with living in the city and with the attitude of his new partner. The residents of Lochdubh are unhappy with the situation also. A new woman in town suggests that they stage a series of fake crimes to get him back, it works. Mrs. Baird is something of a femme fatale, encased in a layer of fat. She is a former professional hussy and has amassed a fortune with her looks. She has taken in a niece recovering from cancer, and turned her into a secretary, unpaid of course. When she goes away to restore her looks, her niece is charged with typing up her filthy memoirs. The girl wants to learn how to drive and to get a proper job, but Mrs. Baird forbids it. Hamish teaches her to drive and she is feeling independent until her aunt returns home and announces that she is getting married again and cutting the niece out of her will. She is killed shortly thereafter and the niece and Mrs. Baird's four suitors are the main suspects.

This is a typical Hamish McBeth book. The mystery isn't difficult, but the characters and story line are alot of fun.

Poor Hamish Macbeth, the Constable of the quaint village of Lochdubh, has been reassigned to a new post in the bustling and gritty city of Strathbane, since the village of Lochdubh is hardly a hotbed of criminal activity. Feeling put out and longing for village life, Hamish wonders if he is at all missed by those he has left behind. Little does he know that the villagers are planning to stage some criminal activity in hopes of getting him back home where he belongs. Hamish may be a bit lazy, but he is one of their own and they desperately want him back.

As luck would have it, they succeed, and Hamish returns just in time for him to find out who murdered Maggie Baird, middle-aged minx who was a new arrival to Lochdubh. Who could have done it? Was it her put upon, long suffering niece? Was it her four former lovers who were Maggie's house guests? All had motive and opportunity. Or was it some else altogether?

This is the fifth book in a series of cozy mysteries featuring lovable Highlander, Hamish Macbeth. In this book, village life takes center stage, and the village characters continue their development, giving the book that cozy feel. The book is also laced with sly humor throughout that is engaging, keeping the mood of the book light and highly enjoyable. As with all cozy mysteries, it is not so much the mystery that is of import but the characters that revolve around the mystery. While the mysteries are intriguing, they are the framework around which the characters evolve. With the oddly endearing Hamish Macbeth, the author has created a character that is bound to win many fans of the cozy mystery genre.

After the stellar 'Death of a Perfect Wife' this book is a bit of a let-down. The beginning, the part that deals with the village of Lochdubh, is priceless. But then, for the mystery, it falls back to being more like the previous ones - a bit more outside of the community - and features an unlikeable cast of characters. The bright spot is the development of the relationship between Hammish and Priscilla, which is important for later books. I think the mystery itself was a bit of a bore, perhaps because I wasn't overly concerned with any of the participants. They didn't interest me and I certainly didn't care what happened to them. There was a bit of action, but mostly the characters left me scratching my head. And the conclusion was quite out-of-the-blue, rather jarring and odd. Or I missed something that was supposed to clue me in (always possible).

While the main story is a disappointment, it's still an important book in the series if you want to understand Hammish, Priscilla, and a lot of the dynamics of the village. And it's not a terribly long read, so if you're a fan of the series or plan on reading all of them, it's worth it. If you're reading it as a one-off, I'd strongly suggest another book in the series.

Short and sweet and jam-packed with fun, DEATH OF A HUSSY is the fifth in the series of Hamish Macbeth mysteries. There are some really colorful characters here. Beaton is so good at creating characters with both good and bad sides. Even the "hussy" has some good points -- and the combination of characters can be pretty funny. Satisfying conclusion. Thoroughly enjoyable.

Constable Macbeth has an unusual problem, he is too good at his job. Crime in the village is down, way down mostly because Macbeth is very good at his job. Unfortunately for Macbeth, this coupled with the fact that his superiors suspect (rightly) that he is better at his job than they, has led to his assignment to a larger town. Macbeth is miserable there and the village of Lochdubh is miserable without him. What to do? New village resident Maggie Baird has a suggestion, Lochdubh needs a crime wave, one that can only be checked by Macbeth. Once Macbeth returns home the crime rate does return with yet another murder in this sleepy little town.

This is another in the Hamish Macbeth series of cozy mysteries. We are again treated to scenes of village life and given the chance to spend some time with the charming young constable. Of course there is a little more progress, of a sort, into the stumbling romance of Hamish and Priscilla and oh yes, there is this little murder thing.

The only complaint I have about this one is that it's a bit short (150 pages). I would have enjoyed a couple more twists to the plot and maybe a bit more time in Lochdubh, especially with Hamish and Priscilla.

What's a hussy? The definition that fits this book is "an immoral woman." As you can imagine, hussies are not well regarded in the conservative Scottish highlands. Put a hussy in that locale, and the results can be explosive.

If you love Hamish Macbeth mysteries, you have a great treat ahead of you with Death of a Hussy. But if you haven't read any of the books in the series, you owe it to yourself to begin with the excellent, Death of a Gossip. Then go on to read the books in order of their publication. You'll enjoy the development of the ongoing characters better that way.

As the book opens, Hamish has been banished to Strathbane to be beat officer. His new partner there proves to be a good foil for lots of humor. But he misses Lochdubh. Feeling forlorn, rescue comes from an unexpected direction: New resident Maggie Baird suggests that the locals make up imaginary crimes to force the powers to be to send Hamish back . . . even though she's never met him. Strathbane capitulates and Hamish returns. Then the story leaps forward in time as Maggie retires from the scene to work on recovering her previous good looks from the days when she was a highly sought-after companion for rich men. Her timid niece, Allison, remains behind with one thing on her mind: Becoming a driver. Hamish is pressed into duty as her driving instructor. The book alternates between Hamish and Allison as the narrators, and the contrast enlivens the story development. Maggie unexpectedly returns, much thinner, more toned, with freshly dyed and cropped hair, and wearing expensive clothes. But she's in a bad mood. She has set up four of her former lovers in competition to marry her for her money. In the meantime, Maggie makes life difficult for Allison, her heir. When Maggie dies following a suspicious car fire, the criminal investigation part of Death of a Hussy begins. You probably won't have any trouble figuring out who the murderer is, but it's a most enjoyable story. There's also a development on the Priscilla-Hamish front to look forward to.

Death of a Hussy has several qualities that make it stand out from other books in the series:

1. The subplots are long, interesting, and invariably humorous.

2. The time involved isn't compressed into just a few days. As a result, there's more room for interaction and development in relations among the characters.

3. There's more variety of locales than usual.

4. The humor is much stronger throughout the book. You almost get a sense of M.C. Beaton as being a perfectly happy person in reading this book.

5. The plot nicely brings out new dimensions of the on-going characters in ways that strengthen the series for future books.

This book shows much more care in planning and execution than the earlier or later books in the series. It's as though M.C. Beaton realized that she had a potentially bigger winner on her hands if she made some mid-course corrections in the series . . . and those corrections are perfect!

This is the fifth in a series of mysteries featuring the detective work of small town, Highland Scottish detective Hamish Macbeth, P.C. In this story, Maggie Baird, a rich Londoner of more than somewhat checkered history, moves into Lochdubh for peace and quiet, but then finds it too peaceful and quiet. Deciding that she needs to marry again, she invites four old suitors to her house and then announces that she'll marry one, and bestow all her money on him. When Maggie ends up dead, its up to Hamish to find out who did it and why.

My wife has been a big Hamish Macbeth fan for years, and now I know why. This story was a great deal of fun to read. I enjoyed the characters that Ms. Beaton created, finding them interesting and well developed. I enjoyed her setting of small town Scotland, and found the story and setting believable and captivating. If you are interested in a story set in modern Scotland, or just a good mystery, then I highly recommend this book to you.

Let me just say that there are now 26 Hamish Macbeth novels by M.C. Beaton, and I've read 25 (and have recently purchased the newest one.) I only started reading them last summer (09) and quickly became a fan! I wanted more! So we hunted down the earlier novels and purchased those through Amazon.Rather than individually review each book, I will simply say that you can't go wrong with ANY of these titles! The mysteries are set in the present day Scottish Highlands and feature Police Constable Hamish Macbeth as the main character, in the fictional small fishing village of Lochdubh (loch-doo). There is a cast of locals who appear in almost every book, so you really feel like you are a part of this village. These books are humorous and we often laugh out loud as we read! Can't help it! They're also filled with lots of local color,great character descriptions,a bit of applicable history,and even up-to-date info on what it's like to live in modern day Scotland. They are so good, it's difficult to put them down and get on with the everyday things of life, like cooking and sleeping. We love them!My husband has never been a reader, but Hamish Macbeth has changed that! They're great entertainment, filled with good laughs,plus you get a little interesting education as well. M.C. Beaton is a fantastically entertaining author. You might also like her Agatha Raisin books, although Hamish is our favorite! And our service from Amazon was "spot on",as one of the characters might say!

This book was good. But not exceptional. Defenetly one of the weaker novels in the Hamish Macbeth series. It has a good plot but it lacks the charm of the other books in the series.This book shoul get 3.5 stars.