Death of a Hussy (Hamish Macbeth Mysteries, No. 5) | M.C. Beaton

Death of a Hussy (Hamish Macbeth Mysteries, No. 5) | M.C. Beaton | A bonbon treat of a cozy.

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Death of a Hussy (...

	Death of a Hussy (Hamish Macbeth Mysteries, No. 5) M.C. Beaton Fawcett, 1991 - 160 pages average customer review:based on 11 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

"Splendid fun." The New York Times Book Review
A Hamish Macbeth mystery.
Wealthy Maggie Baird is neither nice nor kind nor generous. Once she was beautiful, but now, although middle-aged, she retains the appetites of a beautiful woman. When Maggie's car catches fire with her inside it, suspicion focuses on the five houseguests staying at Maggie's luxurious Highlands cottage: her timid niece and four former lovers, once of whom Maggie had intended to pick for a husband. All five are impecunious. All five had ample opportunity to monkey with Maggie's car. So finding who did it requires all Police Constable Hamish Macbeth's extraordinary common sense and insight into human nature. And lazy lout though he may be, Hamish lets no grass grow under his feet when it comes to solving a murder. Especially when he may be the next target.

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The Best Book in the Hamish Macbeth Series!

What's a hussy? The definition that fits this book is "an immoral woman." As you can imagine, hussies are not well regarded in the conservative Scottish highlands. Put a hussy in that locale, and the results can be explosive.

If you love Hamish Macbeth mysteries, you have a great treat ahead of you with Death of a Hussy. But if you haven't read any of the books in the series, you owe it to yourself to begin with the excellent, Death of a Gossip. Then go on to read the books in order of their publication. You'll enjoy the development of the ongoing characters better that way.

As the book opens, Hamish has been banished to Strathbane to be beat officer. His new partner there proves to be a good foil for lots of humor. But he misses Lochdubh. Feeling forlorn, rescue comes from an unexpected direction: New resident Maggie Baird suggests that the locals make up imaginary crimes to force the powers to be to send Hamish back . . . even though she's never met him. Strathbane capitulates and Hamish returns. Then the story leaps forward in time as Maggie retires from the scene to work on recovering her previous good looks from the days when she was a highly sought-after companion for rich men. Her timid niece, Allison, remains behind with one thing on her mind: Becoming a driver. Hamish is pressed into duty as her driving instructor. The book alternates between Hamish and Allison as the narrators, and the contrast enlivens the story development. Maggie unexpectedly returns, much thinner, more toned, with freshly dyed and cropped hair, and wearing expensive clothes. But she's in a bad mood. She has set up four of her former lovers in competition to marry her for her money. In the meantime, Maggie makes life difficult for Allison, her heir. When Maggie dies following a suspicious car fire, the criminal investigation part of Death of a Hussy begins. You probably won't have any trouble figuring out who the murderer is, but it's a most enjoyable story. There's also a development on the Priscilla-Hamish front to look forward to.

Death of a Hussy has several qualities that make it stand out from other books in the series:

1. The subplots are long, interesting, and invariably humorous.
2. The time involved isn't compressed into just a few days. As a result, there's more room for interaction and development in relations among the characters.
3. There's more variety of locales than usual.
4. The humor is much stronger throughout the book. You almost get a sense of M.C. Beaton as being a perfectly happy person in reading this book.
5. The plot nicely brings out new dimensions of the on-going characters in ways that strengthen the series for future books.

This book shows much more care in planning and execution than the earlier or later books in the series. It's as though M.C. Beaton realized that she had a potentially bigger winner on her hands if she made some mid-course corrections in the series . . . and those corrections are perfect!

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A bonbon treat of a cozy.

Short and sweet and jam-packed with fun, DEATH OF A HUSSY is the fifth in the series of Hamish Macbeth mysteries. There are some really colorful characters here. Beaton is so good at creating characters with both good and bad sides. Even the "hussy" has some good points -- and the combination of characters can be pretty funny. Satisfying conclusion. Thoroughly enjoyable.

Another First Class Macbeth!

Ms. Beaton is the queen of village mysteries, and each one of her Hamish Macbeth books is as delightful as the last. In this one, the story starts with Hamish living in Strathbane where he has been tranferred. He's not a happy man because he has had to move from his beloved Lochdubh. The villagers of Lochdubh aren't happy either, and they stage a number of "crimes" in their small village which forces the authorities to send Hamish and Towser back where they want to be. But in true Hamish fashion, murder seems to follow his reinstatement. One of the villagers is burned inside her car, and it's apparent to Hamish that it was murder. He opens up a whole wasp's nest of potential murderers, and it's up to Hamish to find the one who did it. This book is a delight - offbeat and funny.

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The continuing adventures of Hamish Macbeth

Constable Macbeth has an unusual problem, he is too good at his job. Crime in the village is down, way down mostly because Macbeth is very good at his job. Unfortunately for Macbeth, this coupled with the fact that his superiors suspect (rightly) that he is better at his job than they, has led to his assignment to a larger town. Macbeth is miserable there and the village of Lochdubh is miserable without him. What to do? New village resident Maggie Baird has a suggestion, Lochdubh needs a crime wave, one that can only be checked by Macbeth. Once Macbeth returns home the crime rate does return with yet another murder in this sleepy little town.

This is another in the Hamish Macbeth series of cozy mysteries. We are again treated to scenes of village life and given the chance to spend some time with the charming young constable. Of course there is a little more progress, of a sort, into the stumbling romance of Hamish and Priscilla and oh yes, there is this little murder thing.

The only complaint I have about this one is that it's a bit short (150 pages). I would have enjoyed a couple more twists to the plot and maybe a bit more time in Lochdubh, especially with Hamish and Priscilla.

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Perfection is always a tough act to follow

After the stellar 'Death of a Perfect Wife' this book is a bit of a let-down. The beginning, the part that deals with the village of Lochdubh, is priceless. But then, for the mystery, it falls back to being more like the previous ones - a bit more outside of the community - and features an unlikeable cast of characters. The bright spot is the development of the relationship between Hammish and Priscilla, which is important for later books. I think the mystery itself was a bit of a bore, perhaps because I wasn't overly concerned with any of the participants. They didn't interest me and I certainly didn't care what happened to them. There was a bit of action, but mostly the characters left me scratching my head. And the conclusion was quite out-of-the-blue, rather jarring and odd. Or I missed something that was supposed to clue me in (always possible).

While the main story is a disappointment, it's still an important book in the series if you want to understand Hammish, Priscilla, and a lot of the dynamics of the village. And it's not a terribly long read, so if you're a fan of the series or plan on reading all of them, it's worth it. If you're reading it as a one-off, I'd strongly suggest another book in the series.

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3

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