Macbeth and the Dueling TV Presenters
Review of the Blackstone Audio Inc. audiobook edition (2015) of the Mysterious Press hardcover original (2002)

Death of a Celebrity has outsider TV presenters descending on Constable Hamish Macbeth's beloved Highland village of Lochdubh in order to mock local residents and expose their past scandals. The presenters are rivals as well and it becomes a case of murder that the reluctant Macbeth must again sort out.

After discovering M.C. Beaton's Hamish Macbeth cozy mystery series due to the Estonia cameo in "Death of Yesterday", I started to seek out the earlier books by finding several at Toronto's Sleuth of Baker Street. I enjoyed those and found them to be an especially delightful diversion during this continuing pandemic. My next plan was to go back and read the series in order. I then discovered the rather terrific bonus that most of the books are available for free on Audible Plus, a service that I had previously been underwhelmed by (some early attempts with longer books had audio difficulties, with book narrations freezing in midstream). Beaton's shorter books (usually 4 to 5 hours on audio) seem to be perfect for this medium.

This edition on Audible Audio has narrator Graeme Malcolm in place of series regular Shaun Grindell. Malcolm does an excellent job as well. ( )

Another great Hamish MacBeth mystery! MC Beaton never strays too far from her usual cast of characters and plots, but it’s wonderful just the same. The addition of a possible new love interest for Hamish was quite welcome. I hope to see more from this line in the next of the series. ( )

Crap! I've already forgotten the plot. This is another of those stories of constable Hamish Macbeth, who is the local cop in a small town in the Scottish Highlands. Someone gets murdered, I think a diva TV personality, and Hamish has to figure out who dunnit. Along the way, he manages to get a local journalist enamored with him, but he's still hung up on his one-time fiancée, and hardly notices her come-hither hints (actually, I could identify with such behavior, but my spouse saved me).

Anyway, even though I don't remember a lot of the book, it really was very engaging. My spouse insisted I read my first Hamish Macbeth book. I've now read two more on my own volition, and plan to read more. ( )

Nice quick read. A wonderful escape into a cozy world of murder. Graeme Malcolm is a wonderful reader. I love listening to the accents. Light and playful. ( )

Hamish is quite a fun and flawed character. The interesting reserve that he feels for Elspeth, and the natural feeling of being gun-shy, mixed with the investigation of the hot shot and not so nice reporter was a fun read. The burgeoning workplace jealousy, juxataposed against what is happening to "himself" and the CID.. nice touch!

I LOVE Scotland and I loved the way she writes their manner of speaking,e.g. "I couldnae believe it" or "I was chust making a pot (of tea)". So much fun! Give one of these a try, they are a an easy, enjoyable read. ( )