Death of a Dreamer (Hamish Macbeth Mysteries, No. 22)

Spring has finally come to the Highland village of Lochdubh and Constable Hamish Macbeth has roused himself from his long winter idleness to set out on his rounds to check on some of the outlying cottages. He is particularly concerned about a recent arrival to town, an artist who had come north from southern England. Macbeth was concerned about how well the woman survived the long winter in the isolated cottage, particularly when several villagers mentioned that they had not seen her all winter. Fearing that yet another body would be added to Lochdubh's already appalling mortality rate Macbeth was greatly relieved to find her alive and well, just rather lonely. Sadly his relief is short lived and once again Macbeth is hot on the trail of a murderer. As is the norm with cozy mysteries the back stories of the characters is as much importance as the mystery. In this popular series the main attraction is the unfortunate love live of the charming Macbeth, Fans of the series will be delighted to see several of Macbeth's old flames (including the elusive Priscilla) return as well as a new lady friend. Will Macbeth finally find someone to share his comfortable Highland home? Fans of the series will delight in this one, particularly the scenes of Hamish trying to keep his various ladies apart. This series has a strong overall story arc so for maximum enjoyment readers should go through the series in order as much as possible. This is a clever mystery with some interesting twists, a bit more challenging than some of the others in the series.

The charm of the Scottish Highlands and a truly likable detective in Hamish Macbeth offer airy bliss for mystery lovers. Like a cup of hot apple cider on a winter day, the Hamish Macbeth mysteries hit the spot, and are a comfort tantamount to curling up under the covers with a bowl of popcorn on a rainy night and popping in a favorite old movie. Hamish Macbeth is the constable of the Highland village of Lochdubh and much of the reader's enjoyment is derived from the quirky interactions of its residents. The lanky and red-haired Hamish is a bachelor the whole village would like to see finally make up his mind. There seems to be no end of choices, but Hamish can never quite settle his heart on one. He is widely regarded as a "food moocher" because he is a bachelor and while being quite gifted in crime solving, makes it appear like luck as much as possible so as not to be noticed. In this way he can remain in Lochdubh with his animals, including a wild Highland cat he has domesticated, just not quite enough for everyone who comes across it. The usual village gossip is rife with possibilities when a local artist named Effie, a dreamer who lives in her own world, claims to be marrying a visiting artist named Jock. He denies offering to marry her, however. He has an ex-wife with a grudge and a female agent Hamish likes named Betty which cloud the village gossip. But Hamish smells trouble on the Highland winds and it isn't long before Effie's somewhat sad existence comes to an end. When old flame Priscilla returns and Hamish has Glasgow reporter Elspeth to deal with as well, will he be too distracted to get at the truth? Having a group of C.S.I.'s who get inebriated at the local pub and have Jedi fights with blue lights substituting for light sabers might not help much either. Hamish, who likes to work cases alone, is teamed with Robin, who has ambitions which could lead to trouble. Everyone writes off Effie's death as a suicide at first, but Hamish's nose is proven right and the deeper he looks, the more suspects there are. A second death will occur before Hamish's wild cat saves the day in this fun and enjoyable mystery. Filled with charm and humor and a quirky atmosphere which will have you wanting to travel to Scotland, this is a fine series somewhere between a cozy and a traditional detective story. If you like your mysteries to be enjoyable and leave a smile on your face then Hamish and Lochdubh will be a place you want to visit as often as possible. Highly recommended!

Death of a Dreamer by M.C. Beaton, is another nice little visit to Lochdubh, Scotland and another wonderful little peek into the life of Hamish Macbeth, our red-head constable and the caste of quirky characters that surround him. Beaton stays true to form with this offering, and like other books in this series, she has given us a nice and relaxing read. We not only have one murder in this little mystery, but two. Like her previous works, no blood and gore here, just good old clean murder. There are of course a very large number of people who could very well have committed these crimes, and it is for our intrepid investigator to unravel the simple, but interesting complexities of the case....of course with plenty of help from his friends! Again, poor Hamish does have his problems with women and remains just a clueless about the other sex as he has in past novels. This time it is different. Not one, not two, but three of his old love interests show up at his door, and all at the same time. Per usual, Hamish's ineptitude runs them off and our befuddled detective is left with his dog Lugs and the wild cat, Sonsie. With this series, I have to admit that I love the supporting caste as much as I love Hamish. There is the usual group with a few new ones thrown in for good measure. Now the figuring out of the actual "who done it" in these books is not all that great a challenge, but they are fun, restful and I get a kick out of them. I like the author's style, the minimal, to sparse use of words and I always know the bad guy or girl is going to get caught. There were some minor surprises in this one, which was nice, but they were not surprises that led you down dead end trails. This is certainly not the best book in this series, but it is certainly good enough for Hamish fans and I do feel that most will enjoy the read as much as I did. This is one of those books that you just want to set down for a couple of sessions, and simply enjoy. I still say that Beaton can tell us more in one sentence than most authors can with several pages. Again, I recommend this one highly. Don Blankenship The Ozarks

With the euro rising and the dollar falling it might be too expensive to actually visit Scotland but, fortunately, there's an alternative. The audiobook "Death of a Dreamer" by M.C. Beaton as read by Graeme Malcolm will transport you to the bonnie banks. Filled with wonderful characters and equally wonderful locales, this engaging mystery will quickly have you entranced and longing for a spot a tea or a pint of beer. Welcome to Hamish Macbeth territory... a small Scottish town populated with a host of gossip gabber regulars who'll make you want to listen to all the audiobooks in this series. A great story, a great locale, and a great narrator. Ach, give it a listen.

This is the twenty-second in a series of wonderful mysteries featuring the detective work of small town, Highland Scottish detective Hamish Macbeth, P.C. In this book, a local artist's infatuation with another artist turns to obsession, and the obsession leads to death. The Strathbane police quickly declare the death a suicide, but Hamish isn't so sure. Can he solve the case before one murder becomes two...or three? This is another homerun for M.C. Beaton (pseudonym of Marion Chesney). This book has all of the charm of the earlier books, staying in small town Scotland, and involving all sorts of interesting and quirky characters. Overall I thought that this was a great book, and a great mystery. If you like mysteries, or are merely interest in the Scottish Highlands, then you must get this book!