A few years ago, I watched a British television show called Hamish MacBeth. It was the first time I saw the actor Robert Carlisle. His portrayal of the low-key Scottish police constable made Carlisle, and the show, instant personal favorites.

I have always wanted to read the book series by M.C. Beaton. Finally, I got around to it, and got the first book from my local library. I'm so glad I did. Death of a Gossip was a delightful read!

A group of 8 tourists signs up for a week of fly fishing instruction at the Lochdubh School of Casting. The group seems directly from an Agatha Christie novel almost -- the required upper class twits, a secretary who wishes she was someone more important, a womanizing playboy, a rebellious young lad, a trouble-making woman, the beautiful vamp and the American couple who like to brag about themselves. They all try valiantly to learn the art of fly fishing, while being annoyed by the horrendous manners and behavior of Lady Jane Winters. Before long, after being zinged by her personal comments and veiled threats, the entire group hates Lady Jane. It isn't long before she is found dead floating in the lake. Detective Chief Inspector Blair is soon on the scene to investigate, but Hamish MacBeth is also looking for clues and looking for the murderer right under the Inspector's nose. Who killed the hideous Lady Jane? What was her secret? And is Hamish MacBeth more than the small village bumbling constable that Blair assumes he is?

Death of a Gossip is a quick read, but delightfully written. MacBeth reminded me of the Scottish version of Columbo. He seems to be lazy, a bit slow and like he isn't doing his job, when actually he knows and notices much more than anyone realizes. The story unfolded with the perfect mix of humor, quaint village life, personalities and investigation. Overall, just a fun read!

The Hamish MacBeth Mysteries series has 31 books. I'm not sure that I will be reading all 31 of them, but I certainly enjoyed this first book! And I already have book 2 and several others on my TBR shelf. I bought several at a used book sale a couple years ago and put them on the shelf, but never had time to read them. Finally taking the time -- and I'm so glad I did! I hope every book is as humorous and fun as this first book!

If you want to see Robert Carlisle in the television version, you can watch on Youtube here. The television version is different from the books, but still very very good!

M.C. Beaton also wrote the Agatha Raisin series & the Edwardian Murder series.

My rating: 9/10
Ages: 16+
Some language and adult situations

Ok...so these books are available on Hoopla as audiobooks. I've listened to probably 18 of them while cleaning this year. They are cozy mysteries. Perfect for mindless work. I like the setting. I like the recurring characters. This isn't great literature but it's free, pretty wholesome, and a nice companion for cleaning house. They are short books as well.

After falling in love with M.C. Beaton and her Agatha Raisin series I decided to try out her Hamish Macbeth series. Death of a Gossip is book one and Hamish is as endearing as Agatha in many ways, but not as brash or pushy. He's a kind and helpful village constable who handles crime solving in a friendly manner without insulting anyone. After only one book I really like the guy, it's hard not to.

In this first book a group of want to be anglers have signed up for a week of fishing school to learn the ins and outs of fly fishing. The group consists of all different types of people from all different places, but one lady in particular stands out. She's rude, outspoken and has no problem insulting everyone she encounters. Even the 12 year old boy whose there with his aunt! Everyone is fed up with her and hoping she'll eventually get tired of fishing and just leave! As their frustration grows and some threaten to "kill" her, in jest of course, she turns up dead in their favorite fishing spot! Everyone is now a suspect and Hamish MacBeth is on the case. Of course when the big city police come in they brush off the small town constable MacBeth and completely miss all the important clues and evidence. MacBeth has to set things straight and make sure the killer is caught and jailed. Something only he can do.

Another winner by Beaton! I just love her characters and Hamish MacBeth is quite the Scottish constable. He's a friendly sort of guy and yet still very able at finding the killer when no one else can. He reminds me of the TV character Columbo, a very regular sort of guy that goes about solving a case in a very ordinary manner, yet is very smart and gets the killer to say things they otherwise would never say just by engaging in conversation with them. I loved every page! This will be another series I'll read till the end, that's for sure! My list of cozy series' are growing by the day it seems, but that's okay with me. I love my cozies, they're the perfect break after reading several serious, mind provoking books that take a lot of concentration and usually dredge up emotions I didn't expect. Fun books with great characters that also have me guessing the whodunnit, what more can a reader ask for? Happy Reading!

A nice start to what I have heard is a great series

I don't normally read cozy mysteries, but I have wanted to read this book (series) for years. And I'm so glad I finally did. Thoroughly enjoyed!!

3.5 stars. This book is like cotton candy; it's fluffy and light on substance, but enjoyable all the same. Like Hamish himself, Death of a Gossip is like a sleepy, laid-back countryside where everything moves slowly. Not for readers who like their reads fast-paced and action-filled, but it's perfect if you want a relaxing few hours.

I absolutely adore Hamish. His character is so vividly described that I can practically see him wander around town languidly as I read. He's supposedly soft-spoken, simple and uninterested, but is perfectly able to give as good as he gets - usually leaving the other party frustrated and speechless. Hah! I love him. We're also introduced to Priscilla, his love interest, but I'm not sure I liked what little I saw.

It's really a pity that much of the book is told from the point of view of Alice, an insipid, self-absorbed and completely delusional accountant's secretary who fancied one of her fellow travellers to be interested in her when he clearly isn't. She doesn't have a very good first impression of Hamish, and since the early events are seen through her eyes, I very nearly disliked Hamish. Good thing it switches to Hamish later!

It was clear from the beginning who was going to be murdered, but it took awhile to happen. It didn't drag and I never guessed who the murderer was, but I'm not entirely sure I was satisfied at the rather convenient conclusion. Perhaps this is partly because readers are not privy to all the clues that Hamish manages to gather. As for the setting, most of the time is spent on various members of the holiday fishing class, so we don't get much of a picture of the rest of Lochdubh. The atmosphere is very much there, however, and I'm sure we'll get more of it in the following books.

In summary, Hamish was what really made this book. I'm not sure I'd have liked it half as much if it wasn't for him. Hurrah for an effective and interesting hero. Onto the next installment!

I almost gave up on this (I’m looking at you, Alice). The story definitely improved as Hamish got more involved.

Having read a few of M. C. Beaton's Agatha Raisin stories I though I would try one from her other detective series. Scottish constable Hamish Macbeth.

This was Beaton's first crime novel and is obviously a tribute to the style of classic Agatha Christie. Ten people are in a remote Scottish hotel for a fishing school. One of them is really horrible to everyone else and when she turns up dead all the other other nine people have motives. It's up to Constable Hamish Macbeth to discover the murder before the interfering detectives from the big city. In classic Christie style, Macbeth gathers all the suspects together in the dining room for the big reveal. One of the city detectives amusingly remarks that "sounds like you have been reading to many detective novels, that's not how it works in the the real world."

The narration of the audio book was by Anthony Ferguson. He does a decent Scottish accent without going to far and making any of it incomprehensible. An added bonus on the audio book was the Hamish Macbeth short story 'Knock, Knock, Your Dead'. I'm not sure if that's also in the print version.

I'm so glad that the gossip died.She was ruining the picturesque atmosphere around the fishing places in the highlands.

Poorly written and badly plotted. It is amazing the author got a chance to write more in this series. This book clunks along like an old jalopy with a flat tire.

We're going to the Highlands next year for vacation and I was delighted to find out about this cozy mystery series set in the Highlands. I had just finished the first Agatha Raisin book that slightly disappointed me. I thought long and hard about it and I think the main problem was Agatha herself, I just found her to be a very unkind, selfish woman, who I couldn't relate to. But, in the "Quiche of Death", there was an interesting cast of side characters and of course some redemption for Agatha herself who tries to be a better person throughout the book.

But enough of Agatha, why didn't I really like this book? I think it was (surprisingly for me) the very weak mystery. Ok, I have to tell you right away that I am very much NOT a mystery buff, I love reading classic mysteries and detective stories every now and then, but I'm not a very skilled guesser and the mystery is not the main reason I read the books, it's usually for the excellent character descriptions and the characters' relationships with each other. I always forget who the murderer was and very rarely guess right (my hour of glory was when I guessed the murderer(s) in "Murder on the Orient Express", no idea how that happened, but there you go.

In "Death of a Gossip" the conclusion came so lightning fast that it took me by surprise, I found it a very much unsatisfying ending.

I loved Hamish and tried to forgive him his poaching (yeah, yeah, I'm a goody-goody), but he was deliciously mischievous and somewhat roguish and that very much appealed to me.

The main character in the fishing class however... Meet Alice, overall wet hen and hopelessly naive young woman who has a crush on arrogant, insufferable Jeremy. I just wanted to shake her all the time, slapping some sense into her. Yes, she's young, but dear God!

I'm also not a fan of omniscient narrators, the jumps between the varying perspectives annoyed me, you have a whole chapter from Alice's point of view and all of a sudden we get a paragraph with Heather's thoughts. But Beaton may be forgiven for this clumsiness, since this is one of her earlier books.

I will give the second instalment a chance, though, since I loved Hamish and of course the setting.

PS: I know those books were written in the 80ies and 90ies, but the misogyny really annoyed me, the word "bitch" was used at least six times, and so was "whore". Hamish calls Lady Jane a bitch himself, I always cringed at that. Not a big fan of that word at all.

So, Death of a Gossip by M.C. Beaton. Which I kinda can't resist rendering as MC Beatin', yo. Especially after I open the book and there she is, Dame Edna-in' it up on the inside cover, along with a quotation from Anne Robinson calling either this book, the Hamish Macbeth series in full, or perhaps even MC Beatin' herself "delightfully intolerant and oh so magnificently non-pc".

All right, Anne Robinson, if you don't want to do your job, I will... "Death of a Gossip, you are the weakest link - goodbye!"

As the first in a series, I gotta say it doesn't do a lot to make a body want to pick up future titles. Constable Macbeth is always "ambling" around or "easily" agreeing with things. Apparently there are wheels turning because he solves shit, but it's kind of hard to tell when he seems like a simple goofball. There were a lot of characters to make for many suspects, but every time they were gathered, it felt like, oh, this person's gotta say something, now this person's gotta say something. And don't forget about this person. But never really dropping any clues. This is a weak effort of a novel, and I found it unpleasant with the gratuitous use of "bitch" in the early chapters. Why never "bastard" or "prick" in novels, primetime, or anywhere? A question for another day, I guess.

In conclusion: meh, I hate cozies anyway. If you like them, you may find more to like in Death of a Gossip than I did.