Customer Reviews

Death of an Addict (Hamish Macbeth Mysteries, No. 15) (Hamish MacBeth Mystery)

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

M.C. Beaton's "Death of an Addict" presents us with her 15th Hamish Macbeth mystery.

For those familiar with both Beaton and Macbeth, naturally, the plot, the circumstances, the characters, the resolution--they are all the same. The Macbeth series is a Formula One ride--little will surprise the devout. However, that said, Beaton treats us once again to what we have come to expect from her and Macbeth, the local constable from the Scottish Highlands village of Lochdubh. (It is in this book that we learn that it is pronounced "Lock doo"!)

Basically, we find Macbeth once again tending his hens and sheep and lazing about; a newcomer is introduced to us and shortly thereafter is found dead, with "all the usual suspects"! Of course, "red herrings" is Beaton's middle name and the reader has to contend with them for the most part. But no matter, once again we are reminded of "the formula" and tolerate these additives.

While certainly a fan myself, this edition, however, I found, showed us that Ms Beaton was a bit out of her element. In "Addict," she and Macbeth undertake the world of the drug barons and lords and street dealers. Ms Beaton seems out of her element here, as her solutions are way too simplistic and she would have us think that this world is not any more wicked or problematic than her own local community murders (usually committed out of jealousy over some petty quarrel). The drug world is different, more complicated, and quite likely far more evil than any of the other crime settings. The usual Beaton solution is not convincing.

Hamish, of course, solves the situation, meets another woman he falls in love with (it never takes him long), and by the end of the book is once more alone. His long time love, Priscilla Smythe-Burton, keeps hanging about in all the books (Ms Beaton should "fish or cut bait" with her, however. How long does she think we--or Hamish--will hang on!

For the devotees, don't miss this one, of course, but a good sip of Highland malt will be needed to dull the pain of the book!

Mamalinda must confess to being seriously addicted to Hamish MacBeth. The author writes with crisp clarity and sketches very believable characters, harshly beautiful settings, as well as cleverly solving the crime with plenty of stops for tea and scones. In this story the delightfully under-ambitious and unlucky in love Hamish goes undercover as a drug lord - with his superior Chief Inspector as his wife. The outlandish interchanges and fiascos are occasionally hysterical. Davinia Porter reads the unabridged version, and does a wonderful job on changing voice, is mostly pleasant but does get suddenly shrill and is uneven enough in volume that it is difficult to listen to her with traffic noise.

This is the fifteenth in a series of wonderful mysteries featuring the detective work of small town, Highland Scottish detective Hamish Macbeth, P.C. In this book, when an ex-heroin addict is found dead of an overdose, the Strathbane police chalk it up as the well-deserved death of another junky. However, something tells Hamish that this death was no accident. When he goes to Strathbane to infiltrate the local drug scene, he quickly finds himself swimming in deeper waters then he could ever have expected. Teamed up with a non-nonsense woman Detective Inspector, Hamish faces one of the deadliest of drug lords, and keeping himself alive might prove hard work indeed!

This is another great M.C. Beaton (pseudonym of Marion Chesney) book! I love the setting and characters of these books, especially Hamish Macbeth himself. The author does an excellent job of swinging the story between lighthearted humor and deadly action. Indeed, this may be one of the most intense Hamish Macbeth books I have read.

Yep, this is another great Hamish Macbeth mystery, one that would make an excellent addition to your library!

Although our PBS station has not yet aired the Hamish MacBeth TV series, I know it has quite a following in Great Britain. I have begun to wonder whether its success has marred the books. As other reviewers have pointed out, the idea of Macbeth fooling a drugpin into believing he, Macbeth, is a big-time drug dealer is ludicrous-- all the more so since apparently it is Macbeth's sneer that causes this oh-so-convincing transformation. The plot contrivance seems to this reader to be an excuse for a "Macbeth Goes To Amsterdam" TV episode. All the more annoying is the way the initial crime victim becomes virtually forgotten for 2/3 of the book. Why rate it as high as 3 stars ? Well, there is just enough Scottish atmosphere and visits with recurring Lochdubh characters to merit a read for MC Beaton's fans.

Having read all of the Hamish McBeth series, I was eagerly looking forward to the latest installment. I have deep suspicions it was written by someone other than M. C. Beaton, as the charm of Scottish village life was almost completely absent from the book. The way I picture Hamish, I could never mistake him for the head of an international drug cartel even disguised in an Armani suit. Ms. Beaton's work started to change, for me, a couple of books ago when she killed off Towser, Hamish's dog. He was an imaginary dog - he could have lived forever. She needs to return to the formula that got her here. As they always told us in English class, write based on what you know.

Actually I did not enjoy this book as much as the rest of the Hamis MacBeth I have read. It seemed out of his baliwick to go undercover as a drug dealer, adopt foul language, get tricked into going with a prostitute, no matter how young and seemingly innocent she was, and hang with the really rotten underground type. None of those things are the Hamish MacBeth I have become accustomed to. But then I have never enjoyed books or movies involving drug use.

I like the kindly but firm, look the other way when it isn't harmful, PC MacBeth, who loves the people under his watch, and does everything he can to help them all. I wish he was real.

Life looks simple enough as the book opens. Lochdubh's finest, Police Constable Hamish Macbeth, checks out a former heroin addict, Tommy Jarret, and is quickly convinced the young man has kicked the habit and wants to stay clean. Imagine Hamish's shock when Jarret dies of a heroin overdose soon thereafter. Detective Chief Inspector Blair and Detective Jimmy Anderson of Strathbane are quickly convinced it's an accidental overdose and the case is closed. Hamish isn't convinced. Jarret had been writing a book about his drug-using days and all but the first chapter has disappeared. Also, Jarret also had a sedative in his bloodstream. Jarret's parents are also skeptical and persuade Hamish to keep an investigation going.

Hamish takes his vacation so he can investigate on the quiet. His searches begin with a sex-obsessed church that seems to be a cover for something else. Confronting Jarret's former roommates, Hamish decides on the spot to pretend to be a drug dealer who wants to buy a big quantity of heroin. Hamish calls for help, and soon a large police operation is mounted with the inexperienced and uncomfortable Hamish at the middle.

To make matters complicated, the operation is headed by the very attractive Detective Chief Inspector Olivia Chater of Glasgow who will play the role of Hamish's "wife." DI Chater wants no messing around and she plans to wear the pants. The role playing develops into all kinds of giggling situations as they find themselves sharing bedrooms, beds, and needing to put on a good show for the drug dealers' minions who trail them.

Naturally, Hamish cannot control his need to wander around and soon gets himself into an embarrassing situation in Amsterdam.

Despite missteps, Hamish and Chater delve deeper and deeper into the heart of the Highlands' most dangerous drug ring. Along the way, they also solve the mystery of a monster that's haunting Loch Drim.

Blair finds out about Hamish's success and is beside himself with envy. What will Blair do?

After many interesting complications, Hamish still cannot see who killed Tommy Jarret. Taking what's left of his vacation, Hamish is once again on the track of those who are responsible for Jarret's death.

The story has a bittersweet ending that helps Death of an Addict rise above most of the stories in the series. The aura of danger throughout much of the book and the sadness of drug addiction make this story far darker than the usual Highland tales Ms. Beaton has written before about how obnoxious people get what's coming to them from another visitor to the Highlands. I enjoyed the difference.

But don't expect this story to have the gritty realism of all those New-York based movies about drug cartels. Look elsewhere if that's your bag.

As the fifteenth entry into the popular Hamish MacBeth series opens is enjoying the beautiful early autumn weather in his beloved Lochdaubh and rejoicing that he is finally over his long term on again off again romance with Priscilla. His peace is shattered though when a tenant of a tourist cottage is found dead. Once it is revealed that the young man had died of a drug overdose it was assumed that he had relapsed and begun using again. Hamish was not so certain, and despite being told to drop the matter, began his own investigations. The trail let him away from Lochdugh, first to an even more remote village, then to the mean streets of Strathbane and finally to Amsterdam - Hamish's first trip abroad.

As with any long running series Beaton has had to come up with various ways to keep the series fresh without losing the very things that made it popular in the first place. Taking Hamish out of the Highlands where he is most comfortable to unfamiliar territory puts a new slant on the series. Beaton has managed to let Hamish grow in a realistic manner without losing his appeal.

For fans of the series this is a treat, Hamish gets to spread his wings a bit but we still get to catch up on a bit of the latest Lochdubh news. Those new to the series would probably enjoy beginning with one of the earlier books although it is not absolutely necessary to read this series strictly in order.

Although Hamish is brighter than he appears, the idea of him posing as a drug kingpin just doesn't work. And the dialogue is weak in the extreme. It is extremely rare when a television series is better than the books but the BBC series of Hamish Macbeth is. This is a very light series anyway, but this story was one of the weakest.

I've seen an episode or two of the television version, starring the ever charming Robert Carlyle, and when BBC America pulled it from their lineup I decided to give the books a try. I think, perhaps, I picked the wrong one to start with, because if they're all this trite I'm flabbergasted as to why people read them.

Hamish is his usual do-goody, city-loathing self and that's about all I can tell you because the plot is a completely scattershot affair. What starts as a murder mystery becomes what could have been an interesting cult-infiltration if the author didn't seem to have ADD and instead arbitrarily abandons both plot threads in favor of one about drug smuggling. Soon the murder is nothing more then an afterthought as Undercover Hamish jets off for a random trip to Amsterdam, with requisite Snow Queen Superior Officer in tow. Thrill to Hamish hanging around a hotel room, Hamish eating at a restaurant and...Hamish going home with a prostitute?

Of course, Snow Queen's icy heart is inevitably melted to reveal a weak, angry girl who, of course, jumps into bed with our hero to prove her gratitude. Just once I'd like to read a mystery novel where the two leads of the opposite sex don't hop in the sack with each other, it happens in real life all the time I'm told. Simply because a man has a pretty smile and a charming brogue doesn't mean a woman has to immediately fall hoplessly in love with him (alright, well *I* would, but that's neither here nor there).

This book is hampered by the fact that there is no real villain. It starts out being the murderer, then flips to the cult leader, then the drug czar, none of whom are the leaste bit threatening or interesting. And Hamish's longtime rival has little to do except get drunk and plot out schemes so vile and unreal I half expected him to start twirling a big black moustache and talking like Edward G. Robinson.

A more accurate title would have been: Death of a Potential Fan