Beaton, M. C. Hamish Macbeth Mysteries. #bk. 14

Read by Shaun Grindell

With the lovely Priscilla Halburton-Smythe away in London, Hamish Macbeth, the constable of the small Scottish town of Lochdubh, pines for company during the long Scottish winter. He gets his wish-and more-when a troupe of flashy, urbane filmmakers clamors into the nearby town of Drim. Before long, bedlam erupts around their make-believe mystery-and culminates in the sudden appearance of one very real corpse. The initial suspect in the killing is one Patricia Martyn-Broyd, the aging mystery writer who is furious that her musty old cozies are getting a risqué face-lift in their television reincarnation. Yet, going behind the scenes, Macbeth soon finds a town full of locals bitten by the movie bug and a cast of quarreling show business types, all harboring their own secrets, lies, and hidden agendas And as the culprit strikes again, Macbeth must quickly find the right killer-or script the wrong finale to a show gone murderously awry. "Beaton's affectionate wit remains dry and delightful." "His superiors consider Macbeth too lightweight to handle such a high-profile case, but not surprisingly, it's his detecting acumen that allows the case to be solved." "The mystery…has provided more than the usual number of suspects and subplots…[And] wicked characterizations of both the locals and the inhabitants of TV-land are hilarious and very occasionally thought-provoking." "MacBeth…keeps a low profile until a second killing sets him quietly on the true murderer's track…Hamish's sleuthing skill is vindicated by results, but his love-life remains depressingly nonexistent…Still, Hamish's amiable persona manages to keep it all together."

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