Product Description

Recovering addict Tommy Jarret has rented a chalet to check out reports of a sea monster near the village of Drim. Then he turns up dead, apparently from a drug overdose, and constable Hamish Macbeth finds the lad’s demise particularly fishy. Deciding to go undercover, Hamish infiltrates the local drug dealing trade.But his plans looks doomed when he’s teamed up with a tough Glaswegian detective inspector named Olivia Chater, aka Concrete Knickers. For the Lochdubh lawman it would be equally dangerous to flounder…or fall in love. Praise for the Hamish Macbeth series: ‘An enchanting series… M C Beaton has a foolproof plot for the village mystery.’ New York Times Book Review `Readers will enjoy the quirks and unique qualities of the cast… Beaton catches the beauty of the area’s natural geography and succinctly describes its distinct flavour.’ Library Journal

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #13068 in Books
• Published on: 2009-07-30
• Binding: Paperback
• 272 pages

About the Author
M. C. Beaton worked as a Fleet Street journalist. She is the author of the Agatha Raisin novels, the Hamish Macbeth series and an Edwardian murder-mystery series. She divides her time between Paris and the Cotswolds, where she lives in a village very much like Agatha Raisin’s beloved Carsely.

Customer Reviews

Another great Hamish Macbeth mystery!
This is the fifteenth in a series of wonderful mysteries featuring the detective work of small town, Highland Scottish detective Hamish Macbeth, P.C. In this book, when an ex-heroin addict is found dead of an overdose, the Strathbane police chalk it up as the well-deserved death of another junky. However, something tells Hamish that this death was no accident. When he goes to Strathbane to infiltrate the local drug scene, he quickly finds himself swimming in deeper waters then he could ever have expected. Teamed up with a non-nonsense woman Detective Inspector, Hamish faces one of the deadliest of drug lords, and keeping himself alive might prove hard work indeed!

This is another great M.C. Beaton (pseudonym of Marion Chesney) book! I love the setting and characters of these books, especially Hamish Macbeth himself. The author does an excellent job of swinging the story between lighthearted humor and deadly action. Indeed, this may be one of the most intense Hamish Macbeth books I have read.

Yep, this is another great Hamish Macbeth mystery, one that would make an excellent addition to your library!

Take an Aspirin and Wait!
M.C. Beaton's "Death of an Addict" presents us with her 15th Hamish Macbeth mystery. For those familiar with both Beaton and Macbeth, naturally, the plot, the circumstances, the characters, the resolution--they are all the same. The Macbeth series is a Formula One ride--little will surprise the devout. However, that said, Beaton treats us once again to what we have come to expect from her and Macbeth, the local constable from the Scottish Highlands village of Lochdubh. (It is in this

book that we learn that it is pronounced "Lock doo"!)

Basically, we find Macbeth once again tending his hens and sheep and lazing about; a newcomer is introduced to us and shortly thereafter is found dead, with "all the usual suspects"! Of course, "red herrings" is Beaton's middle name and the reader has to contend with them for the most part. But no matter, once again we are reminded of "the formula" and tolerate these additives.

While certainly a fan myself, this edition, however, I found, showed us that Ms Beaton was a bit out of her element. In "Addict," she and Macbeth undertake the world of the drug barons and lords and street dealers. Ms Beaton seems out of her element here, as her solutions are way too simplistic and she would have us think that this world is not any more wicked or problematic than her own local community murders (usually committed out of jealousy over some petty quarrel). The drug world is different, more complicated, and quite likely far more evil than any of the other crime settings. The usual Beaton solution is not convincing.

Hamish, of course, solves the situation, meets another woman he falls in love with (it never takes him long), and by the end of the book is once more alone. His long time love, Priscilla Smythe-Burton, keeps hanging about in all the books (Ms Beaton should "fish or cut bait" with her, however. How long does she think we--or Hamish--will hang on!

For the devotees, don't miss this one, of course, but a good sip of Highland malt will be needed to dull the pain of the book!

Hamish "hams" it up
Both series by this author are delights...and this new addition is no exception. Hamish is expanding his horizons and going "uptown." Although I prefer him sticking to the village and just hanging around waiting for another murder to solve, I did enjoy this latest in the series and will continue to buy and read, in that order, of course. Hamish is in good form with a new romantic interest, but I do miss Patricia and hope she returns soon.