I know that what I may think might not be related to the exact book,but I can't help but say that the way the book is conveyed DOES matter.
Much has already been said about this issue, and I for one thought that it didn't matter what form a good story came through, as long as it was a good story. Well, I was wrong. I listened to this book. The narrator seemed like an amateur who has just started to learn reading. He was totally irritating and used a very heavy accent.
His elementary level of narration totally diverted my attention from the story. I was forced to stop listening several times. I tried cheating to find out whodunnit, but couldn't. I had to listen to his irritating narration till the point I found out whodunnit and then stopped listening to it altogether.
I am glad that there aren't many Hamish Macbeth books narrated by him. I will make sure not to listen to anything else he narrates.

A most enjoyable read as all the others in this series. They are a quick read. I find the whole series to be quite pleasant and sort of comforting.

Macbeth has his usual intuition clouded by the murders loneliness

It's always fun to spend time with Hamish Macbeth in his little Scottish village!

More of Hamish and Blair at odds in how they handle a case, and a return to the grim town of Drim. This time a television crew filming a murder mystery has their work interrupted by an actual murder on set.

My first Scotland series. I have read books 1 - 21. The premise is interesting specifically how the protagonist refuses to give up his pleasant lifestyle to raise up in the ranks and live in a place that does not being him joy and would significantly decrease his love of life. The protagonist is negatively judged because he prefers the simple, lovely life, rather than raise through the ranks.

The story lines and the characters are generally interesting. In some of the books, the lovesickness of both the protagonist and his on and off love interest can get very tiresome. However, it may have been more tiresome because I read the stories back to back. I have taken a break from reading more of the books, but do look forward to getting back to them in a few months.

You can never go wrong with a Hamish Macbeth mystery! Intrigue and humor abound in these Scottish mysteries. Hamish finds himself in the midst of a detective movie production in Drim, a dismal village close to Lochdubh. The movie is based on a book from a once-popular mystery writer from the sixties. It turns out the author is living close to the production site. From the beginning, she is not happy with the inconsistencies between her book and the movie, especially the nude scenes by the main star, a blonde beauty named Penelope Gates. When the main scriptwriter ends up murdered, Penelope’s abusive husband is blamed. A few weeks later, Penelope ends up dead, supposedly tripped to go over the edge of a cliff during production. Hamish must wade through a mire of suspects before finally realizing he has been played the entire time.

It took me about halfway through the book before I began to feel that the quirks of the writing style of this book felt familiar. Too fast, jumbled, and lacking in any interesting detail. Everything is entirely flat.

I was reminded of a shorter book about a female detective that I ended up not enjoying at all. I went to look at my goodreads list of disliked books to jog my memory and yup, this one was written by the same author of Agatha Raisin. Based on the number of books Beaton has put out, clearly there are people enjoying them, but I’m not one of them. I’m just not interested in reading books where it feels like the author is on a sprint to finish writing. While I gave my last Agatha Raisin review one star, I felt generous this time around and went with two stars because at least the main character wasn’t an annoyance this time.

I stumbled across this book when searching for cozy British mysteries, yet I’m not sure why this would be included. I didn’t find it cozy at all. I’ll stick with Lillian Jackson Braun and Kaitlyn Dunnett for my cozy slice-of-life mysteries. I just wish I could find some good British ones as well!

3.5 stars.

Entertaining. I really hated Sheila and the fact that Hamish was into her. It was annoying-- I was happy there was very little Priscilla, though because she's quite literally my least favorite person in the series. She could be killed off and I'd rejoice. I like the feeling of the Scottish village and that's what keeps me interested in this series. That's it. It's entertaining, pretty fluffy.

I've started a couple series recently where I start off excited but my enthusiasm seems to wane with each book. I'm happy to announce that Hamish is exactly the opposite. With each book I just want to keep reading more and more. I want to dive inside the books and live in Lochdubh.

I loved Hamish's friendship with the elderly author. He's always so kind, but also knows how to say it like it is. It's a talent. I also loved his "relationship" with Sheila.

Show biz is coming to Hamish's neck of the wood. A local woman named Patricia is getting her books made into a TV show and the show is being filmed in Drim. There are some problems though - the very tame books are being turned into a very "sexy" show and the author is not thrilled. The scriptwriter is not a nice man to begin with and he's making everyone angry. There are also some accusations of past plagiarism. When he winds up dead there are lots of suspects to look at.

I loved that we returned to Drim. It was fun going back there and seeing the crazy folk again. The little side story with the pastor's wife was also amusing.

Hamish just makes me giggle. It's a very subtle humor that I love. Already excited for Book 15!

Audible.com 6 hour 38 min. Narrated by Shaaun Grindell (A).

These stories seem to be getting more taudry and salacious. If the next continues in this directioon, it will be my last.

I usually enjoy Hamish Macbeth, especially with Shaun Grindell's narration (all the accents!), but this was better than average. Beaton pokes fun at herself, the TV version of this series, and writers in general.