NY Times Book Review
Longing for escape? Tired of wiating 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.
Houston Chronicle
Superb entertainment, as rich and wrming as fine malt whisky, and every bit as addictive.
Marilyn Stasio
An enchanting series...M.C. Beaton has a foolproof plot for the village mystery.
-- New York Times Book Review
Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly
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-fiance, 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)
Library Journal
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.
