Customer Reviews

Death of an Outsider (Hamish Macbeth Mysteries, No. 3)

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

M.C. Beaton is one of my top five favorite authors of all time. Her writing style is superb and has since made me much more critical of other authors. Treat yourself to an adventure in the Highlands; remember your coffee and scones-for you'll want to stay awhile! Only one complaint: It is important to the romance angle to read these books in order, and yet the listing in front is scrambled. This is the third book in the series, starting with Death of a Gossip and Death of a Cad.

M.C. Beaton's stories are absolutely excellent and the best examples of cozies you'll find anywhere. I am almost disappointed with myself because I read her Agatha Raisin series before the Hamish Macbeth series. As much as I enjoy Agatha, Hamish is pure delight! In this book he has been transferred to Cnothan to relieve the village policeman as he takes an extended vacation. Right away Hamish is thrown into the village's political situation. He finds the people of this village are unfriendly and there seems to be an oppresive atmosphere in the village. Sure enough, in true Hamish fashion, a corpse shows up. Hamish must determine first who has been killed and then who actually did it. Hamish and the reader are subjected to more of the odious Blair as he is again sent to the village to unravel the homicide. Of course Hamish solves the murder (and not Blair) but not before he actually finds some romance in this ominous little village of Cnothan. We also discover why Hamish will never eat lobster again. Hamish is a wonderful character and I find as I read each story, he becomes more and more real to me.

"Hamish hated change almost as much as he hated work. He had the tenancy of some croft land next to the police station at Lochdubh, where he kept a small herd of sheep, now being looked after by a neighbor. He earned quite good money on the side from his small farming, his poaching, and the prize money he won for hill running at the Highland Games in the summer. All that he could save went to his mother and father and brothers and sisters over in Cromarty. He did not anticipate any easy pickings in Cnothan."
-Death of an Outsider


Given all that, and the taciturn nature of the locals, it's understandable that Hamish is awfully grumpy about being sent to Cnothan for three months to cover for a vacationing colleague. But if he thinks it's tough on him being an outsider, that's nothing compared to how an obnoxious Englishman gets treated. When the latter is murdered it brings Inspector Blair to town and makes things even worse for our hero.

This entry in the very fine series contains the lobster incident that featured in the first episode of the different, but equally good, tv show. Ms Beaton had really hit her stride here, just a few books into the Hamish Macbeth mysteries, and it's an immensely enjoyable read.

Only the Most Deserving Die in M.C. Beaton's wonderful mysteries. This is one of the earlier books and Police Constable Hamish MacBeth (with dog Towser) are sent to the village of Cnothan to relieve the vacationing officer there. Hamish finds allegations of witchcraft, a weird closed-in village, and within days, a skelton is found within the standing stones. The ever unambitious and mooching Hamish must figure it out before the dastardly Inspector Blair pins the murder of a most unlikable resident on a conveniently absent villager. Hamish does find answers to some of the questions - like what have the lobsters been eating - but who has been eating the lobsters? A charming addition to the Hamish series.

M.C. Beaton's books are all a treat and this was no exception. If you are going to read Hamish , start at the beginning and get to know the characters of Lochdubh. Beaton repeats a good bit throughout the book, but that can only help the reader who has picked up the series in the middle. You can always count on at least Two, usually Three bodies before the end of the book.

The mystery in this book was decent, the personal side... not so much. The whole dynamic between Hamish and Jenny seemed completely unrealistic and bizarre, plus it seemed somewhat out of character for Hamish. Sure, it's mentioned in some books that he's a 'lady's man', though honestly that always seemed to be at odds with the way he actually acts through most of the stories. But if you can ignore that little odd bit of tangential story, the mystery is solid and well-constructed, and the characters are starting to take on more dimensions and becoming the likeable (and unlikeable, in the case of Blair) backdrop of the later books.

In the overall scheme of the series, this one is getting there but is still far from the best.

Once I read the first mystery I was hooked. I love the way this author writes and I love her characters. I've read almost all that she has writen and when I read her last book I will be very unhappy. You would think that once you read one or two you'd know her style and the answer to the mystery. No way; every one keeps me in suspense.

With a series that requires a murder for each story, a small town like Lochdubh can find itself quickly depopulated by that plot requirement. Fortunately for the fictional residents, M.C. Beaton sends Hamish Macbeth off for a fill-in assignment in the Highland town of Cnothan so that town can be depopulated instead.

Hamish isn't happy to learn that he's off to Cnothan. The residents there are more taciturn and unfriendly than most Highlanders. What's more, he'll be away from Priscilla Hallburton-Smythe the whole time.

The assignment is soon off to a rocky start when it turns out to be difficult to find the police station in Cnothan. What's more, Hamish is replacing a family that doesn't really want him in their home.

But Hamish rouses himself when he discovers that one of his new neighbors is a friendly, unattached Canadian woman. But his job doesn't look promising since he doesn't even know where he's supposed to be patrolling. The locals decide that Hamish may have a yen for other men, which sets up some good humor. But some of the humor is at Hamish's expense as he's called out to investigate a mysterious body.

Later, the town drunk has a close encounter with a corpse that causes great problems for all of the police.

You'll enjoy seeing Hamish operate in new surroundings, with many new challenges to overcome.

The motive for the murder is unusually obscure. If you can spot it . . . and the murderer, you're a lot sharper than I am. I thought that the premise for the murder was so obscure as to be a negative and graded the book down accordingly. I don't think our author played fair with us in this story.

But you'll find lots of chuckles . . . and food for thought the next time you dine on lobster.

Enjoy!

I love sitting at my computer to order these books instead of being on a waiting list at the library for 5 weeks.

In this third book in this cozy mystery series, Constable Hamish Macbeth, along with his dog, Towser, is parted from his beloved village of Lochdubh, when he is temporarily transferred to the village of Cnothan for several months to cover for a fellow officer who is on an extended vacation.

Unhappy at this turn of events, Hamish tries to make the best of it, though the villagers are far from friendly. Things start looking up for Hamish, when he catches the eye of Jenny, a pretty young local artist. She helps Hamish take his mind off Priscilla Halburton-Smythe, who has taken off for London. Then, a murder takes place, and Hamish is firmly in his element, despite obstacles thrust in his way by none other than Deputy Chief Inspector Blair.

Laced with sly humor and engaging characters, this series gets better with each book. 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. In the endearing character of Hamish Macbeth, the author, a born storyteller, has created a sure fire winner, who is bound to win many fans of the cozy mystery genre.