Nobody loves an honest man--or that was what police sergeant Hamish Macbeth tried to tell newcomer Paul English. Paul had moved to a house in Cnothan, a sour village on Hamish's beat, where he immediately started to stir up outrage among his neighbors.
Paul first attended church in Lochdubh and told the minister, Mr. Wellington, that his sermons were boring. He then told tweedy Mrs. Wellington that she was too fat and should set a better example in these days of increasing obesity. Angela Brody was told her detective stories were pap for the masses and that she should write real literature instead. He accused Hamish of having dyed his fiery red hair. He told Jessie Currie--who compulsively repeats all the last words of her twin sister--that she needed psychiatric help.
"I speak as I find," he bragged. A refrain of "I could kill that man," could be heard from Lochdubh to Cnothan.
And someone did.
Now Hamish is faced with a bewildering array of suspects, this time without the services of his clumsy policeman, Charlie, who resigned from the force after one too many confrontations with Hamish's incompetent boss, Chief Inspector Blair. But can Hamish find the killer on his own?
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"I've been reading M.C. Beaton's books for YEARS, both this series and Agatha Raisin and hope they both continue for a long time to come. That being said, this book was good, but didn't seem to be up to Beaton's usual standard. The idea is there, but the story is a little bit all over the place. I don't like the part about his wild cat, Sonzie, and I don't want to spoil anything, but Blair goes overboard in this one... you'd think other people would notice that Blair has lost it... Seems like this time even Daviot would realize something was up with him and why on Earth Hamish would choose now to trust Blair is beyond me. Although, in this book, Hamish does a few things which are out of character for him. All in all, I'll keep reading Hamish's adventures no matter what because the characters are like old friends, but I hope Hamish gets back to himself in the next book, and if you're just starting this series, do yourself a favor and start from the beginning, or at least with an earlier book, so you can get to know Hamish better. "
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Mary (4 out of 5 stars)