Wheelchair
user James Hamilton has retired to an old Victorian hunting
box and employs the beautiful Gloria Dainty as his nurse.
When Hamish Macbeth calls on the old man, he asks her out
on a date, but she never turns up. At least not alive, because
her body is found soon afterwards washed up on a local beach.
Meanwhile Hamish has a new constable to get used to and people
are starting to comment on his cat…
This is the thirty-second entry in this series and still very
much full of variety, humor and all the things that make this
such an entertaining set of books. Hamish ponders on why the
over-large constable Charlie seems to have all the luck with
women and even people in general, and runs up against old
and new characters. As usual, this is a story spread over
several months with red herrings galore and something happening
on every page. Authors of fatter, wordier novels could read
this and learn a thing or two as Ms Beaton is adept at conveying
a lot in just a few well-chosen words and cramming a lot into
a few pages. This always makes me feel as though I have read
a far longer book and leaves me satisfied that I have been
well entertained. It is true that this is a somewhat far-fetched
and larger than life look at life in the Highlands owing more
to things like Whisky Galore and Para Handy than real life,
but this is a large part of its charm. The tone ranges from
the satirical to the heartwarming via some laugh out loud
and even black humor, giving the reader a lively, roller coaster
ride of a cozy mystery. More please...
Reviews of other titles in this series
|