Death of a Maid by M.C. Beaton

Another Review at MyShelf.Com

Death of a Maid
Hamish Macbeth – Book XXIII

By M C Beaton

Hamish Macbeth is not overly pleased to discover that he has won the services of busybody cleaner Mrs Gillespie in a church raffle. Banging her bucket loudly, leaving the floor awash and snooping is just too much for Hamish, and he beats a hasty retreat. But somebody else disliked Mrs Gillespie as the next thing is that Hamish finds her dead body. This sets into motion a tortuous investigation that will take all his detective skills before he discovers whodunit.

This is one of the strongest entries with a rattling good story involving a whole fishing boat hold full of red herrings and a lot of involved investigating. Old flame Elspeth is back with a man in tow, and the rest of the gang are all present and correct -- minus Priscilla. I do enjoy detective novels that involve a lot of actual detective work instead of merely details of the characters’ lives, and this has the whole lot in spades.

Reviews of other titles in this series

Death of a Gossip #1

Death of a Cad #2

Death of an Outsider #3

Death of a Perfect Wife #4

Death of a Hussy #5

Death of a Snob