Review by Booklist Review
Reading Beaton is an experience akin to discovering buried treasure. Tucked away like rare jewels in her crisp, clever plots are sparkling nuggets about life, love, and happiness, about loyalty, kindness, and cruelty. Perhaps the best treasures of all, though, are Beaton's wonderfully dry wit and her unique hero, Hamish MacBeth, the stoic, taciturn Scot who hasn't a clue why the villagers of tiny Lochdubh are so determined to keep him as their constable. In Hamish's latest case, two brutal murders in Lochdubh have the villagers in turmoil as they secretly wonder if one of their own neighbors could be the killer. Between trying to keep peace among the townsfolk, court the lovely but distant Priscilla Halburton-Smythe, juggle the hostile police hierarchy, and find the murderer, Hamish has his hands full. Yet he's not satisfied when the ex-husband of one of the victims abruptly confesses. Naturally, Hamish can't rest while his razor-sharp intuition tells him the real killer is still to be revealed. An outstanding read from one of the real masters of mystery. --Emily Melton
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
In his latest appearance (after Death of a Nag), the unconventional Hamish MacBeth, the lanky, red-haired constable in the tiny Scottish Highlands town of Lochdubh, finds that his own impetuousness places him at the center of a murder investigation. Randy Duggan, recently arrived in the village, impresses fellow pubgoers with his size and tales of wrestling in America, but soon his blustery tune grows tiresome and the locals become restive at not being able to get a word in edgewise at their own pub. When the abrasive newcomer challenges the constable to a fight, Hamish is shocked to hear himself agree. By the appointed time, spirits are high-children are up late, bets have been placed, even the minister and his wife are in attendance. But Duggan, a no-show, is found murdered in his rented cabin. Hamish's nemesis on the force, Detective Chief Inspector Blair, can barely contain his glee as he names the policeman as prime suspect. Being taken off the case limits Hamish's investigative tools, but he still manages to question jealous husbands, a sour mystery writer and an upstanding spinster before this complex tale with roots in the past is resolved. Meanwhile, Hamish and his haughty sometime-fiancée, Priscilla Halburton-Smythe, continue to work out their complicated relationship. Befuddled, earnest and utterly endearing, Hamish makes his triumphs sweetly satisfying. Mystery Guild featured alternate selection. (June) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Library Journal Review
Scottish constable Hamish Macbeth, finding his reputation on the line, agrees to a public fight with a tattooed stranger who claims to be a professional wrestler. When someone prevents the match by murdering the stranger, suspicion falls on Hamish, who then investigates. Another winner. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Hamish Macbeth, one-man police force of Lochdubh village in the Scottish Highlands, is in trouble again (Death of a Nag, 1995, etc.), with archenemy Chief Inspector Blair still trying to orchestrate his downfall. For some time, the village has been home to one Randy Duggan, nicknamed Macho Man, whose past is mysterious and who regales the bar regulars with tales of his wrestling triumphs--his massive fists ready for action at the slightest provocation. Hamish has accepted his challenge to a fight (strictly against regulations), and the whole village comes out to watch. When Duggan fails to show, it's fisherman Archie MacLean who finds him in his cottage--hands bound, shot to death. Hamish does his best to scout Duggan's true identity and questions the villagers who had close contact with him, as well as the newcomer Rosie Draly, a romance author rumored to be writing a detective story. Days after that interview, Hamish finds Draly stabbed to death, her computer disks destroyed. Draly's killer is soon nailed, thanks to Hamish's persistence in tracking the evidence, and confesses to Duggan's murder as well. The police brass are satisfied but not Hamish. He carries on his own investigation in disguise, going all the way to Glasgow, where he finds another corpse; commandeers a civilian plane back to Lochdubh; and arrives just in time to save the life of sometime girlfriend Priscilla Halburton-Smythe, and to wind up the case--his way. The rambling, shambling plot has some suspenseful patches; Lochdubh's locals are as entertaining as ever; and Hamish is at his charming, exasperating best. Mid-level Beaton, and that's not bad.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
