Customer Reviews

Death of a Village

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Fans of Hamish Macbeth will rejoice! Hamish is back, slightly perturbed by stories that his adored Priscilla will be marrying someone else. He knows they're unsuitable -- but he misses her.

Tall, red-headed Hamish continues to attract women, however, and the local reporter Elspeth has been showing some interest. With her help, he digs into a series of cases that only loosely relate to one another.

A nearby village seems caught up in a sinister spell. A lovely young wife seems to be abused. Residents check into a local nursing home and some seem to check out awfully fast. And villagers report some mysterious action along the jagged coastline.

Hamish loves a mystery but this time his skill may get him the reward he doesn't want: a promotion to a big-city police force, where he'll be lost in the crowd.

Nearly every character in the series -- as well as the reviewers -- call Hamish unambitious, but I think he's a man who's got everything he wants, and he knows it. And on some level, he seems to know he's not destined for marriage (thankfully -- the series would never be the same) and takes comfort in his beloved dog, Lugs.

It's easy to dismiss M.C. Beaton's books as light -- and they are -- but she's a solid writer. She creates characters in a sentence or two and even gives them some depth. Her characters have self-defeating flaws as well as heroic virtues. Her books are small but you get a real sense of people and place -- the result of tight, careful writing. On page 233, we learn how Hamish acquired Lugs -- in 3 sentences. Some writers would need 3 pages.

Let's hope we see a few dozen more volumes from this prolific and gifted author.

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. This time the irrepressible M.C. Beaton provides a delightful deviation from the formula of bumping off the most obnoxious character, and gives us lots of mystery and mayhem for the buck - but will an entire village die? And how to prevent a promotion that would send him away from his beloved Lochduh? With cunning, an offbeat attitude and a willingness for unorthox methods, he dances about the plodding Blair and Anderson and pulls numerous surprising solutions out of his hat. But weighing heavily is the peculiar air of the seaside town of Storye. Weighing almost as heavily is Hamish's luck with women. Will Priscilla really marry? Is Hamish in danger of cradle robbing? Will he ever give the right signal to the rather bizaare lady reporter? Is he really involved with his married admirer? With equal parts of tea and whiskey, Hamish manages to be the unluckiest - or luckiest? - Superhero of them all as the clock ticks for the Village of Storye.

Let me also say that the cover is a departure, and one that makes the reader eager to crawl right into the book.

Greetings to the Ozarks, and thanks for recommending a delightful little ethnic cop series!
Hamish the hero is a village cop in the Scottish Western Highlands. He doesn't drink. He seems to like women, but somehow doesn't seem to handle it well. He is good at his job, but likes it so much he fears promotion more than anything in the world. Maybe apart from girls who don't dress properly. So he manages to avoid promotion by artful screw-ups, which don't damage the cases. His cases come at us by the half dozen.
Frankly speaking, that is why I deduct a star: the cases are too brief. Hamish hardly settles down to working at them and thinking them through, and there, bingo, they are solved already. Like the murderous nursing home, which is a case that probably interests a few people: it should have been developed more carefully, not with the short attention span approach of a pre-prime-time episodical. Or the insurance fraud case: Beaton doesn't even try to let us watch Hamish solve it; we just have to believe it, there is no indication of what kind of proof he found in the safe of the dealer.
But it is fun. Pity for Elspeth, had she worn different shoes, it might have worked.

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 Hamish Macbeth, P.C. In this book, Hamish must work overtime to avoid a promotion out of his beloved Lochdubh. But, that is not all of his problems. During a recent visit to the tiny village of Storye, he finds that the people there are acting quite strange, as if some sort of religious mania has gripped them. When the situation there turns dangerous and then deadly, Hamish knows he must get to the bottom of whatever it is that is going on.

This is another homerun for M.C. Beaton (pseudonym of Marion Chesney)! This story is every bit as good (excellent) as the other Hamish books, and makes for some gripping reading. Somehow, the author succeeds in making the Hamish Macbeth stories swing effortlessly between lighthearted humor to deadly mystery, all without losing the seeming reality of the story.

The characters in this story are likable and interesting, the story is gripping and entertaining, and the mystery quite fascinating. I think that this is a great book, one that you should consider buying!

Death of a Village by M.C. Beaton is another great addition of the wonderful Hamish Macbeth Mysteries. Beaton has given us a bit of a different serving with this one though. Don't worry though, Hamish is still Hamish and Beaton's Highlands are still the wonderful, character filled place we always find in the world around Lochdubh.

In Death of a Village Hamish is faced with a series of crimes, some small, some not so small, that must be solved and the flawed Hamish is up to them all. The author does deviate from her usual formula in this one, although I suppose you could count the one village in the book as the traditional one obnoxious character that sort of gets knocked off. Be that as it may, the story runs smoothly and there are few pages in the entire book where something is not happening.

Like the rest of the Hamish Macbeth Mysteries, this one is light reading and fun reading. For those who are not familiar with these books, it should be noted that while they are indeed, "light" reading, they are not by any means "bad" reading. Beaton can say more in four or five sentences than most authors can say in a chapter. These are very well crafted stories meant to entertain and they certainly get the job done. I am one of those that feel many of our newer authors could take some lessons from Beaton as to story telling methods and story telling skills. I mean when the author has our hero frying a trout, he does just that...fries a trout! We really do not need five pages of filler telling us step by step how to cook a fish. That is what cook books are for. On the other hand, with a minimum number of words, Beaton can perfectly describe a Highland storm, or a mountain meadow.

I was delighted to find in this work as to where and how Hamish obtained his wonder dog, Lugs. The personality of Lugs is so like that of Hamish, the author must be a great lover and observer of dogs. It was also interesting to read of the twists and turns our red headed hero took in order to avoid being promoted again. Now this is not meant to be a spoiler, but do not get your hopes up that Macbeth's love live will take a turn for the better....although it does take an interesting turn in this work. This poor guy just has no luck with woman...I wonder why? The author also, via Hamish, gives even more lesions on how to receive endless cups of coffee and tea and goodies at absolutely no cost to him self. This is actually quite useful information!

Short, easy reads which are simply fun is the best way to describe these books. I still have several to go as I think there are about twenty of them, but I must admit to looking forward to the next and am sort of worried that I will eventually catch up with the author! Recommend this one highly.

Rather than reading this book, I listened to the unabridged version. Perhaps that affected my reaction to the book, but the Hamesh MacBeth formula just seemed to be getting stale -- brilliant but much-maligned Hamesh solves cases despite interference from colleagues at head office. There were a lot of subplots going on in this mystery so there were a lot of mini-cases being solved. Because of this, there were a number of plots, but the main plot (from which the title comes) involves a very out of the way Scottish coastal town where some sort of religious revival is underway. Hamesh MacBeth, unambitious but brilliant police constable for the area, has a hunch that something sinister is going on, and starts trying to figure out what it is in between solving various cases despite the handicap of having to deal with the rest of the police force -- there is, for example, an insurance fraud case that has no bearing on the central plot, as nearly as I can figure out.

I think the book would have been better if the author had adhered more closely to a central mystery (as she has in previous books). At times, this book seemed like a collection of stories -- each entertaining, but hearing one after another story of clever Hamesh didn't work for me. I preferred Hamesh when he was a little less heroic and more down to earth.

That said, on the whole, this is a great series. And I love the Highland Scottish setting.

Police constable Hamish Macbeth loves living in the small Scottish Highland village of Lochdubh because he knows and likes most of the residents who in turn trusts him. He's regarded as a maverick at headquarters and his superiors would like to get him transferred to a bigger place where his talents could be better utilized. Hamish is very comfortable being a constable and does not want to rise in the ranks.

When he cracks an insurance fraud scheme, he becomes a media darling and the brass has every attention of transferring him whether he wants to go or not. He uses a bit of subterfuge to stay in Lochdubh but he soon breaks open another case involving a nursing home killing their patients for profit. Before he can talk to headquarters again, he is knee deep in an investigation in the hamlet of Stoyre where the villagers are acting very peculiar and nobody is willing to talk to him. Hamish is determined to find out what is going on there even if it means endangering his life.

This is the eighteenth Hamish Macbeth mystery and it is as refreshing and enjoyable as the previous seventeen books in this long running and delightful series. M.C. Beaton has created a hero it is impossible to dislike, as he is an honest non-ambitious man who is very happy with his place in the universe. If Hamish shows as much brilliance in future books, he is going to be hard pressed to refuse a promotion.

Harriet Klausner

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. It was a good book for light reading as Hamish is very likeable character.

While Hamish solves these little mysteries, such as the husband batterer and the nursing home scandal, but his attention keeps getting drawn back to the village of Stoyre where strange happenings are occurring to the townpeople. Is this village truly haunted, or is it something else more sinister? It is up to Hamish, but not so much as to draw attention to his heroics - because then he might get promoted.

Hamish wants to stay in Lochdubh with his dog, Lugs. He definitely does not want to be promoted in any way.

How he does solve the mystery of Stoyre, and how he gets non-promoted makes for a delightful book for all Hamish MacBeth. A great light read!

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.

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.