AUTHOR: M.C. Beaton
STARTED: October 13, 2011
FINISHED: October 15, 2011
PAGES: 240
GENRE: Mystery / Audio
FIRST SENTENCE: Hamish MacBeth drove along a rutted one-track road on a fine September day.
SUMMARY: [From Amazon] Recovering drug addict Tommy Jarret rents a place near Lochdubh to write his autobiography. He seems to be on the mend, but then he dies of an overdose. Hamish suspects foul play. The bane of his life, his superiors in the big city, declare the case closed, however, so he must move on to other matters, such as the sighting of a monster in a local loch. But when Jarret's pals provide the police with a link to big-time drug dealers, Hamish finds himself in Amsterdam, wearing sharp suits, talking like a hoodlum and posing as a player, all in the company of a very pretty superior officer who just might change his mind about superior officers. Unfortunately, Hamish all but blows his chances with her by sleeping with a hooker. While the Macbeth tales are always a droll treat, this 15th in the series is less tightly plotted than most, with the mystery surrounding the addict's death sidetracked for a long spell as the Amsterdam adventure gives fans an agreeably tougher side of P.C. Macbeth to contemplate.
THOUGHTS: First off, this book was really hard to get into because the reader was not that good. In fact, she was just plain bad. She had a very shrill voice and habit of slurring/garbling the text. When I listen to a book, I want to me able to understand it. Also, I don't mind readers giving each character a voice, but you have to be consistent with those voices, gosh darnit!
Bad production aside, I continue to love all things Hamish Macbeth. There's nothing groundbreaking about these books, but the characters and setting are just so darn quaint. Hamish is a bit of a brilliant copper/schemer, but I find his moments of naive twittiness and/or deliberate jerkness most enjoyable. The quirks of the characters are what make this series enjoyable.
Frankly, I couldn't tell you the ins and outs of what happened on the mystery. The plot was a wee bit convoluted, but that did not detract from my overall enjoyment of the book. The more I read this series, the more I wish these people and this town existed.
I will be back for more.
RATING: 6/10 [Good]
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