Synopsis
Everybody in Lochdubh knew about the pro who dubbed himself the Macho Man. The huge, tattooed, mean-looking stranger won a willing audience for his bragging and tall tales by buying round after round at the local pub. But his nasty insults led to some vicious fights. His sneaking about the village aroused angry suspicions that he was fooling with some Lochdubh wives. And his sneering challenge to policeman Hamish Macbeth to a public bout triggered the constable's own temper, not to mention an epidemic of bookmaking.
As the day of the big fight approached, excitement engulfed Lochdubh. At least half the village was betting on the Macho Man, eagerly anticipating Hamish to take a bloody pounding and perhaps lose his job. Then, on the night of the great event, the wrestler was found shot to death in his cottage. Hamish was both off the hook and in the doghouse.
To save both his career and his life, Constable Macbeth has to delve into the shadowy - and unsavory - past of the Macho Man. The trail leads to the unexpected: the hidden lives and buried secrets of a salty fisherman, a reclusive romance writer, a respectable matron, a restaurateur's wife, and even Hamish's ex-fiancee Priscilla Halburton-Smythe and her newest boyfriend.
Reviews
In his latest appearance (after Death of a Nag), the unconventional Hamish MacBeth, the lanky, red-haired constable in the tiny Scottish Highlands town of Lochdubh, finds that his own impetuousness places him at the center of a murder investigation. Randy Duggan, recently arrived in the village, impresses fellow pubgoers with his size and tales of wrestling in America, but soon his blustery tune grows tiresome and the locals become restive at not being able to get a word in edgewise at their own pub. When the abrasive newcomer challenges the constable to a fight, Hamish is shocked to hear himself agree. By the appointed time, spirits are high-children are up late, bets have been placed, even the minister and his wife are in attendance. But Duggan, a no-show, is found murdered in his rented cabin. Hamish's nemesis on the force, Detective Chief Inspector Blair, can barely contain his glee as he names the policeman as prime suspect. Being taken off the case limits Hamish's investigative tools, but he still manages to question jealous husbands, a sour mystery writer and an upstanding spinster before this complex tale with roots in the past is resolved. Meanwhile, Hamish and his haughty sometime-fiancee, Priscilla Halburton-Smythe, continue to work out their complicated relationship. Befuddled, earnest and utterly endearing, Hamish makes his triumphs sweetly satisfying. Mystery Guild featured alternate selection.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Hamish Macbeth, one-man police force of Lochdubh village in the Scottish Highlands, is in trouble again (Death of a Nag, 1995, etc.), with archenemy Chief Inspector Blair still trying to orchestrate his downfall. For some time, the village has been home to one Randy Duggan, nicknamed Macho Man, whose past is mysterious and who regales the bar regulars with tales of his wrestling triumphs--his massive fists ready for action at the slightest provocation. Hamish has accepted his challenge to a fight (strictly against regulations), and the whole village comes out to watch. When Duggan fails to show, it's fisherman Archie MacLean who finds him in his cottage--hands bound, shot to death. Hamish does his best to scout Duggan's true identity and questions the villagers who had close contact with him, as well as the newcomer Rosie Draly, a romance author rumored to be writing a detective story. Days after that interview, Hamish finds Draly stabbed to death, her computer disks destroyed. Draly's killer is soon nailed, thanks to Hamish's persistence in tracking the evidence, and confesses to Duggan's murder as well. The police brass are satisfied but not Hamish. He carries on his own investigation in disguise, going all the way to Glasgow, where he finds another corpse; commandeers a civilian plane back to Lochdubh; and arrives just in time to save the life of sometime girlfriend Priscilla Halburton-Smythe, and to wind up the case--his way. The rambling, shambling plot has some suspenseful patches; Lochdubh's locals are as entertaining as ever; and Hamish is at his charming, exasperating best. Mid-level Beaton, and that's not bad. -- Copyright ©1996, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
Scottish constable Hamish Macbeth, finding his reputation on the line, agrees to a public fight with a tattooed stranger who claims to be a professional wrestler. When someone prevents the match by murdering the stranger, suspicion falls on Hamish, who then investigates. Another winner.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Reading Beaton is an experience akin to discovering buried treasure. Tucked away like rare jewels in her crisp, clever plots are sparkling nuggets about life, love, and happiness, about loyalty, kindness, and cruelty. Perhaps the best treasures of all, though, are Beaton's wonderfully dry wit and her unique hero, Hamish MacBeth, the stoic, taciturn Scot who hasn't a clue why the villagers of tiny Lochdubh are so determined to keep him as their constable. In Hamish's latest case, two brutal murders in Lochdubh have the villagers in turmoil as they secretly wonder if one of their own neighbors could be the killer. Between trying to keep peace among the townsfolk, court the lovely but distant Priscilla Halburton-Smythe, juggle the hostile police hierarchy, and find the murderer, Hamish has his hands full. Yet he's not satisfied when the ex-husband of one of the victims abruptly confesses. Naturally, Hamish can't rest while his razor-sharp intuition tells him the real killer is still to be revealed. An outstanding read from one of the real masters of mystery. Emily Melton
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