Review by Booklist Review
Beaton's eighth mystery featuring Scottish police constable Hamish MacBeth is every bit as charming, humorous, and clever as the first seven. This time MacBeth acquires a new sidekick, P. C. Willie Lamont, who has less talent for police work than for cleaning, polishing, and scrubbing. His insistence on keeping the police station spotless is driving MacBeth mad. But Hamish has other troubles: his lady friend, Priscilla, is being standoffish, and a handsome drifter named Sean has arrived in Lochdubh and seems to be a catalyst for evil. When Sean is brutally murdered, Hamish has the difficult task of finding his killer without upsetting Lochdubh's placid way of life or his police superiors in Strathbane. As usual, Beaton makes Lochdubh and its inhabitants come alive; the characters are wonderfully original; the plot is cleverly crafted and intriguing to the end; there's lots of laugh-aloud humor; and even the darker, bleaker parts of the story (and there are some) only add to its overall appeal. ~--Emily Melton
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
In this excellent, eighth Hamish Macbeth mystery, the slightly lethargic, tousle-haired village copper in the Scottish Highlands has been promoted against his will. As Sergeant, he makes more money, but must suffer more work as well, not to mention the enthusiasm of his new helper, Police Constable Willie Lamont. Hamish rescues a young boy from the river and saves some stranded mountain climbers; he listens to a minister confess wavering faith, is plagued by a superior who resents his promotion and has repeated run-ins with a drifter who parks his van behind the minister's manse. The ``devastatingly handsome'' drifter charms four women out of their money and harasses Hamish's ladylove, Priscilla. When the bounder's body is found after a fatal bludgeoning, Hamish seeks out the young man's rock-singer girlfriend and unhappily discovers a blackmailing scheme that incriminates some locals. Beaton ( Death of a Glutton ) pens a cast of winning characters, even the pesky, malaprop Willie (whose aunt lives ``in a condom in San Francisco''). But the star, as always, is the slow-moving, quick-witted Hamish. (Dec.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Library Journal Review
These two mysteries featuring Lochdubh policeman Hamish Macbeth were written 12 years apart. Hamish has aged about six years, changed girlfriends, and gotten a new dog; however, some things remain the same. Lochdubh is still filled with irrepressible townspeople with little respect for the local lawman. Hamish is still chafed by his superiors in Strathbane, whom he shrewdly manipulates to his own ends. Finally, the plots follow the same successful formula: a stranger comes to town, stirs up trouble, and is murdered. Out of the plethora of suspects, Strathbane targets a local, but Hamish knows that the guilty party must be an outsider. Davina Porter and Graeme Malcolm are both accomplished and entertaining readers; they give amusing portrayals of the malicious folk of Lochdubh, the obnoxious victims, the intelligent, sympathetic girlfriends, and the officers from police headquarters. However, a tale told from a male perspective benefits from being read aloud by a man, and Death of a Bore read by Malcolm is better. Both recordings though are recommended for all mystery collections.--Juleigh Muirhead Clark, John D. Rockefeller Jr. Lib., Colonial Williamsburg Fdn., VA (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Sergeant Hamish MacBeth, until now the entire police force in the Scottish village of Lubdoch (Death of a Glutton, etc.), is feeling beleaguered. By way of promotion authorities in Strathbane have sent him Constable Willie Lamont, to share his duties and his cozy quarters, incidentally destroying Hamish's comfort with his obsessive cleaning and polishing. Moreover, the town has become home to handsome drifter Sean Gourlay and his foulmouthed girlfriend Cheryl Higgins, living on land behind the local minister's manse, with his ill-judged permission. Reports of stolen drugs, money missing from church funds, and Cheryl's sudden departure are preliminaries to the discovery of Sean's battered corpse. Hamish finds motives aplenty as he tries to protect the reputations of several village matrons until he traps the killer, and even manages to become engaged to on-again, off-again longtime love Priscilla Halburton-Smythe. Prosaic solution aside, readers will relish a well-paced, warmly sentimental picture of the people--and the character and rich accents--of Lubdoch, as seen through Hamish's loving eyes. Unpretentious fun for all.
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