Death
of a Nurse opens with Hamish walking his dog Lugs and
Scottish wild cat Sonsie. While contemplating ways to send
his current policeman, Charlie Carter, back to Strathbane,
Hamish spots a sexy nurse in candy-stripped dress and black
stockings. All thoughts of Priscilla Halburton-Smythe vanish.
The nurse is Gloria Dainty; she’s taking care of the
new village resident, Mr Harrison. Gloria agrees to a date,
but doesn’t show up at the restaurant. Days later, Hamish
finds her body. She was murdered and thrown off a cliff. Detective
Jimmy Anderson shows up to help Hamish. Inspector Fiona Herring,
who hates cracks about “red herrings” also shows
up and takes over the case. Inspector Herring leads the case
in one direction but when the killer strikes, again, Hamish’s
sixth-sense kicks in and leads him in a different direction.
Dear Hamish does his usual impressive detecting as he alienates
some and aggravates others, like his superiors. He is lazy
in some ways, but when it comes to finding a killer, he pulls
out all the stops. Partner Charlie does his part as well.
Also returning in the 31st Macbeth mystery is Hamish’s
former partner, Dick Fraser. He’s running a bakery in
Brakie with the lovely Anka. They have a story of their own.
Priscilla is also back and takes a liking to poor Charlie.
She wants to rescue him from Hamish. She offers Charlie the
old butler’s room at Tommel Castle Hotel. Her father
Colonel Halburton-Smythe discovers Charlie in the Butler’s
suite and they become fast friends. First Priscilla and now
the colonel, will Hamish feel left out?
Beaton’s humor is one of kind. Whether the mystery is
complex or not, I always enjoy catching up with Hamish and
the villagers. The mystery is entertaining and, as always,
the storyline moves at a clipped pace. Just like Hamish, Beaton
gets down to the facts. No scene fillers here. The audio version
of Death of a Nurse is easy to follow. Graeme Malcolm’s
narration is spot on, as always. I can’t imagine anyone
else delivering this group of quirky characters the way he
does.
Reviews of other titles in this series
|