Death of a Ghost (Hamish Macbeth Series #32)

by M. C. Beaton Narrated by Graeme Malcolm

Overview

Sergeant Hamish Macbeth--Scotland's most quick-witted but unambitious policeman--returns in M.C. Beaton's new mystery in her New York Times bestselling series. From the author of the Agatha Raisin series.

When Police Sergeant Hamish Macbeth hears reports of a haunted castle near Drim, he assumes the eerie noises and lights reported by the villagers are just local teenagers going there to smoke pot or, worse, inject themselves with drugs. Still, Hamish decides that he and his policeman, Charlie "Clumsy" Carson, will spend the night at the ruined castle to get to the bottom of the rumors once and for all.

There's no sign of any ghost...but then Charlie disappears through the floor. It turns out he's fallen into the cellar. And what Hamish and Charlie find there is worse than a ghost: a dead body propped against the wall. Waiting for help to arrive, Hamish and Charlie leave the castle just for a moment--to eat bacon baps--but when they return, the body is nowhere to be seen.

It's clear something strange--and deadly--is going on at the castle, and Hamish must get to the bottom of it before the "ghost" can strike again...

Editorial Reviews

MARCH 2017 - AudioFile

This is the 32nd installment in the Hamish Macbeth series—yet listeners can jump right in. Graeme Malcolm’s narration fits the somewhat crabby but brilliant Scottish police sergeant perfectly. As Macbeth investigates ghostly noises at an old castle, discovering a corpse in the process, Malcolm captures the voice of every character, male and female, without overplaying the Scottish accents. Experiencing this book on audio presents a wonderful advantage as listeners don’t need to wonder how Gaelic words like “Lochdubh” are pronounced. The murders keep occurring, and Macbeth keeps solving them with the help, and hindrance, of his colleagues, friends, and acquaintances. Malcolm’s evenly paced narration offers a lovely vehicle for the story. M.M.G. © AudioFile 2017, Portland, Maine

Publishers Weekly

11/28/2016
When Hanover “Handy” Ebrington, the new owner of ramshackle Castle Drim, hears ghostly noises, Sgt. Hamish Macbeth investigates, in Beaton’s atmospheric 33rd mystery featuring the Lochdubh, Scotland, policeman (after 2016’s Death of a Nurse). Hamish is inclined to think that Handy is being “haunted” by vandals, so he and his partner, Constable Charlie Carter, arrange to spend the night in the castle tower to catch the miscreants red-handed. Instead they find a body and a likely smugglers’ drop. When more bodies turn up, Hamish’s superiors are eager to seize upon easy solutions. But as usual, Hamish’s senses tell him the answer is far more complicated than it seems. Few fictional detectives are more appealing than fey, redheaded Hamish with his taste for unsuitable women and no desire to leave his peaceful Scottish Highland home. Series fans and newcomers alike will enjoy spending time with Hamish and the beguiling inhabitants of Lochdubh. Agent: Barbara Lowenstein, Lowenstein Associates. (Feb.)

From the Publisher

"Longing for escape? Tired of waiting for Brigadoon to materialize? Time for a trip to Lochdubh, the scenic, if somnolent, village in the Scottish Highlands where M. C. Beaton sets her beguiling whodunits featuring Constable Hamish Macbeth."—New York Times Book Review

"Hamish Macbeth is that most unusual character, one to whom the reader returns because of his charming flaws. May he never get promoted."—New York Journal of Books

"Macbeth is the sort of character who slyly grows on you."—Chicago Sun-Times

"Fabulous...as usual, a real gem... a fast-paced story that includes tricks and plotlines galore. From murder to drugs to romance, Beaton provides many new characters while also bringing back some old favorites. Hamish, as always, is a riveting character that sees many things the others cannot, and when the bodies start piling up, Hamish's talents bring everything to a shocking, thrilling close."
—Suspense Magazine

"With residents and a constable so authentic, it won't be long before tourists will be seeking Lochdubh and believing in the reality of Hamish Macbeth as surely as they believed in Sherlock Holmes."—Denver Rocky Mountain News

"Atmospheric...Few fictional detectives are more appealing than fey, redheaded Hamish with his taste for unsuitable women and no desire to leave his peaceful Scottish Highland home. Series fans and newcomers alike will enjoy spending time with Hamish and the beguiling inhabitants of Lochdubh."—Publishers Weekly

"Fans of the handsome Highlander will delight in his continuing penchant for the wrong women and his utter lack of ambition despite his superior detecting skills, which this complex case puts on handsome display."—Kirkus Reviews

"As entertaining as ever...a page turner...[MC Beaton] is a treasure."—Dreams & Nightmares

Library Journal

09/15/2016
Scottish policeman Hamish Macbeth wants to prove it's no ghost creating those flashing lights and whooshing sounds in a ruined Scottish castle, so he and subordinate Charlie "Clumsy" Carson spend a night in the castle. No ghost, but there is a dead body. With a 50,000-copy first printing.

MARCH 2017 - AudioFile

This is the 32nd installment in the Hamish Macbeth series—yet listeners can jump right in. Graeme Malcolm’s narration fits the somewhat crabby but brilliant Scottish police sergeant perfectly. As Macbeth investigates ghostly noises at an old castle, discovering a corpse in the process, Malcolm captures the voice of every character, male and female, without overplaying the Scottish accents. Experiencing this book on audio presents a wonderful advantage as listeners don’t need to wonder how Gaelic words like “Lochdubh” are pronounced. The murders keep occurring, and Macbeth keeps solving them with the help, and hindrance, of his colleagues, friends, and acquaintances. Malcolm’s evenly paced narration offers a lovely vehicle for the story. M.M.G. © AudioFile 2017, Portland, Maine

Kirkus Reviews

2016-12-07
A wily Highland police sergeant solves a case the higher-ups want covered up. Extracting himself from yet another unsuccessful romance (Death of a Nurse, 2016), Sgt. Hamish Macbeth realizes that he prefers to hang out in his beloved Lochdubh with his clumsy constable, Charlie Carter. Charlie's living in an illegal basement flat in the Tommel Castle Hotel while Hamish, who has the run of his small police house with his beloved dogs, is heartbroken because he had to release his wild cat in a sanctuary. Retired Chief Superintendent Hanover "Handy" Ebrington calls on the police to investigate a haunting at the castle he owns in the dark and lonely village of Drim. Although no ghosts are found, Hamish does discover a body that disappears and reappears in the nearby loch. The dead man is professor John Gordon, much disliked for his insistence that there is no God. The professor had been seen in Inverness lunching in a decidedly down-market cafe with Olivia Sinclair, the wife of a wealthy man and the object of local minister Peter Haggis' desire. When Hamish discovers both a hotbed of unrequited passions and a smuggling ring, he and Charlie are hard-pressed to unravel the tangled skein, especially as his ambitious superior does everything he can to get Hamish in trouble with Superintendent Daviot, who's all for the quiet life. When Police Scotland declares the case solved, Hamish is certain they're wrong and risks his career proving it. Fans of the handsome Highlander will delight in his continuing penchant for the wrong women and his utter lack of ambition despite his superior detecting skills, which this complex case puts on handsome display.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940169938234
Publisher:	Hachette Audio
Publication date:	02/21/2017
Series:	Hamish Macbeth Series , #32
Edition description:	Unabridged

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