Death of a Celebrity (Hamish Macbeth Mysteries, No. 18)
by M. C. Beaton
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Book Summary Information
Author: M. C. BeatonEdition: Mass Market Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2003-01-01
ISBN: 0446612049
Number of pages: 304
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Book Reviews of Death of a Celebrity (Hamish Macbeth Mysteries, No. 18)
Book Review: Hamish Meets a Friendly Detective Chief Inspector from Inverness and Attracts Two New Admirers
Summary: 5 Stars
Death of a Celebrity is a nice change of pace for the Hamish Macbeth series. Instead of constantly battling with Detective Chief Inspector Blair over access to evidence and suspects and ultimately over credit for solving cases, Hamish receives what are mostly encouragement and help from Detective Chief Inspector Carson of Inverness while Blair is away. M. C. Beaton does one of her best jobs ever of portraying the differences between the ugliness of Strathbane and the beauty of Lochdubh.
Scandal, scandal, everywhere, and not an apology is heard: That could be the epigram for this story. Muckrakers from Strathbane television (who have their own bad deeds to hide) decide to make a splash to gain ratings by exposing every peccadillo they can find among the Highland communities. Even false accusations are dug up to be repeated on air.
And the presenter of this nasty show is the beautiful, unscrupulous, and unpleasant Crystal French (who doesn't understand that her sleeping around has been hurting her television career). Elspeth Grant, who writes the horoscopes in the Highlands, is sure someone is going to kill Crystal. That's not the last of Elspeth's prediction that will turn out to be true. Once Crystal is dead, Hamish quickly spots that her apparent suicide has been faked. But with few clues, Hamish must sort through those who hated Crystal (pretty much anyone who ever met her). In the process of checking on alibis and motives, Hamish keeps turning up more and more possible reasons and opportunities for mayhem.
Hamish has sworn off women, but this attitude has helped attract women to him in record numbers for an M. C. Beaton novel. You'll be roaring with laughter as you read the horoscopes that Elspeth puts out to try to influence Hamish to pay attention to her.
The humor is needed because the backdrop of human greed, abuse, and misery would otherwise make this book pretty much of a downer. Ms. Beaton must not be much a television fan because she couldn't portray the television characters as much darker than she does.
Fans of Hamish Macbeth will love this story. If you haven't read any of the other books in the series, you could read this one and it would make perfectly good sense. But you'll find the story darker than if you have read the earlier books.
Summary of Death of a Celebrity (Hamish Macbeth Mysteries, No. 18)
Murder on the Telly Lochdubh, a remote village reached only by a one-track lane, nestles serenely amid Scotland's hills...until well-known TV reporter Crystal French races into town in her bright BMW. And Constable Hamish Macbeth, dourly wed to duty instead of the fiancee who dumped him, promptly gives her a summons for reckless driving. Outraged, Crystal makes Macbeth's life a misery with a TV report on policing in the Highlands. When she also rakes up old local scandals for her new hit show, Macbeth notes that someone besides himself might be dead keen to stop her. Then someone does-with stealth and violence. Now, finding out who did it will lead the laconic Macbeth down roads he never envisioned, into a dark story of passion and vengeance...and perhaps a crisis of the heart all his own.Literature & Fiction Books
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