Independent police stations are being closed all over Scotland in order to create one large force. This is delightful news to Detective Chief Inspector Blair, who would love to see Hamish Macbeth no longer on the force.

Blair assigns Cyril Sessions as an assistant to Hamish — and to act like a spy and report back to Blair on Hamish’s daily activities. Blair is positive that Hamish does nothing all day and is out to prove it.

Hamish gets wind of Blair’s plan and rallies his friends to help provide Cyril with a full report of Hamish’s activities. When Cyril turns up dead it is up to Hamish to find the murderer and the reason for the death. Is it possible Macbeth could be the next victim?

With the help of friends and Hamish’s sharp knowledge of the people of his beat he eliminates the long list of suspects to find the murderer. ( )

Love Hamish. ( )

Macbeth and the Police Spy
Review of the Hachette audiobook edition released simultaneously with the Grand Central Publishing hardcover edition (2014)

Death of a Policeman find's Hamish's nemesis Chief Inspector Blair blackmailing a constable to spy on the village policeman in order to find an excuse to close the Lochdubh village police station. Of course, the spy meets an unfortunate end and Hamish must solve yet another incomer murder in order to restore peace in the Highlands.

I'm now into the final half-dozen of the 34* Hamish Macbeth cozy mystery series set in the Scottish Highlands centered around the fictional village of Lochdubh. I wish I could slow down my reading & listening in order to make them last longer, but they are so irresistible that they have become my go-to default read during this continuing lockdown (Ontario, Canada where I live is currently still in a stay-at-home order situation until possibly June, 2021). Fortunately the library is still operating efficiently with their holds system and their curbside pickup. They also provide the opportunity of online audiobook loans via Overdrive.

*No. 34 Death of a Love (2021?) has yet to be released due to delays following M.C. Beaton's (aka Marion Chesney's) passing in late 2019. ( )

I love Hamish Macbeth novels. They are light and sweet. Not too real. This one had much more violence than I remember in the others. I hope this does not become a trend. Lots of twists, very entertaining. Graeme Malcolm is a wonderful reader. ( )

It may just be me, but I feel like M.C. Beaton seems to spend more and more of her time in this series and in the Agatha Raisin series developing the epilogue. The mysteries themselves are well plotted without a lot of improbabilities or loose ends, but she just seems unwilling to let the characters get back to their lives. The later books in the series read more like short mysteries with further romantic/social stories attached at the end. Still, I have no particular objection to it. At least she avoids the obsession with food/coffee/home decor/knitting/pets that seems to be aging the "cosy mystery" genre these days. ( )