Hamish is concerned that the prison pen letters being received in a neighbouring village will cause trouble. When a woman is fo uni of an apparent suicide, Hamish is not convinced it really is a suicide and when another woman is found stabbed to death in her bed he is sure. With the help of a local reporter Hamish is able to follow the trail and discover the murders. An enjoyable read.

I really wish that these stories would spend a little less time on Hamish's love life and the random women that seem to drift in and out and more time on the actual mystery. I really didn't care for the addition of Priscilla's random, petty friend, Jenny. The actual mystery was pretty grave for this light-hearted series but it was intriguing.

I read this book as part of the B&N Nook Readout. I have never read any of the other books in this series but it was enjoyable. I like Hamish's character. I will probably start this series at some point with book #1.

Meh... I skimmed to the end just to find out "whodunnit," but I wasn't satisfied. Not very realistic, and quite silly, really. The only thing I liked was the setting.

What can I say... Murder and highlander hijinks continues.

I started in the middle of the series and I’m reluctant to go back, but I may have to at some point if I work my way to end. So far I’m still invested in this series. I love the characters and the fact that the stories, albeit are about solving murders, are light and fun reading. And who doesn’t love Constable Hamish Macbeth, I ask you?

The setting detail was fabulous; it was done so much better than so many cozies written by someone who spent two weeks in Scotland and then thinks s/he's an expert.
The plot was fair to partly cloudy. The villain wasn't obvious until near the end.
But the characters were cartoonish. They lacked even the tiny bit of depth of characters in the average cozy. They were laughably bad.
I will not bother to read another book by this author.

Death of a Poison Pen by M.C.Beaton

Blurb

When the residents of Lochdubh begin receiving poison pen letters, no one takes them seriously. But Constable Hamish Macbeth fears them, and his instincts prove correct when the postmistress is found hanging from a rope with a vicious poison pen letter at her feet. 

My Opinion

Another short but entertaining visit to Lochdubh. A cosy, quick read that will keep you guessing. After discovering this series, I am working through them as quickly as the audiobooks are available from my local library - there is just something about the writing that allows me to read them back to back.

Rating 4/5

The Highlands are awash with poison pen letters and while most are unconcern Hamish is sure it's all going to end in death. Unaspiringly Hamish is bang on and we soon find the local postmistress hanged with one of the letters at her feat. Has the letter pushed her over the edge or was it murder?
Hamish is quickly on the case and quickly has a suspect in his sights but with another dead body turning up could they be dealing with multiple murderers?
Adding to Hamish's woes are two ladies who catch his eye but sadly an unscrupulous journalist is also turning heads. Will a new arrival ruin any chance he has with Elspeth? With Elspeth lose her job to the new journalist? Will Hamish ever settle down?
This is a fun read with some good twists. There are a few scenes that are rather more brutal than Beaton's usual but nothing too bad. I'm getting a bit fed up of the drama around Hamish's love life but Beaton has tried to do something different in this book. The murder mystery is decent but the solution felt a little like Beaton was clutching at straws.

What can a letter do? Plenty when it's a poisoned pen letter and leads to murder. Th good people of Lochdubh have started to receive letters filled with wild accusations. They all dismiss them as nonsense but the keen instincts of Hamish Macbeth village constable, say otherwise. When the village postmistress is found hanging in her home with one of the vicious letters at her feet, Hamish is unfortunately proven right. The arrival in town of Jenny Ogilvie, a friend of Priscilla Halburton-Smythe, determined to seduce Hamish in order to rub it in Priscilla's face only means trouble with a capital "T". Failing in her attempt, Jenny turns her attention to solving the murder on her own which puts Hamish in a race to find the killer(s) before anyone else dies, including Jenny herself. An extremely good read, on of the best so far.

A will written mystery

#19 is a will written mystery with the usual interesting well developed characters. Several murders are waiting for Hamish's skills at solving the mysteries. Our hero comes through with help from his Highlander friends. Hamish love life is still in trouble. I would recommend this series too anyone who enjoys a will written mystery. Enjoy reading 2015

Six-word Review: Hamish manages women, bosses, and job.

Another delightful romp through the Scottish Highlands with Hamish Macbeth. There's a murder in Blaikie a nearby village, and then another both occurring in the midst of a spate of poison pen letters. Hamish figures out who was sending the poison pen letters but can't get a handle on who the killer or killers could be.

Things become even more complicated when Jennie Ogilvie from London decides she will seduce Macbeth. He's not really interested though and has another woman, Elspeth, a local reporter who he has some interest in. His ex-fiancee, the beautiful Priscilla Halliburton-Smythe is always in the back of his mind. Needless to say, there are many misunderstandings and complications as the story unfolds.

Eventually, Hamish figures it all out but others get the credit, which is fine with Hamish.

I use this series as an escape. The books are usually short, around 200-250 pages, and move quickly from one plot point to another. As I've read dozens of these. the characters in the village of Lochdubh are like old friends with all their peculiarities, which makes reading each story very relaxing.

I don't necessarily read them in order and it doesn't really seem to matter. Someone else might feel differently. But, however, you do it, I guarantee an enjoyable experience.

Not one of my favourite Hamish Macbeth books.

I "read" the audiobook and had a much harder time than usual keeping track of the characters. It looks like the author (and editor) did, too.

One character whom everyone thinks is "old", based on her appearance, turns out to be only 36. That could be plausible. The fact that her sister, whose age isn't specified but seems likely to be only a few years old, also has grey hair could, perhaps, be explained by genetics. But the fact that the character's former highschool classmates are described as having "white hair" or "thinning hair" makes me wonder what happened to their high school class to make everyone in it look two to three decades older than would typically be associated with their biological age.

Edited to add: I did enjoy the feisty crime-fighting seniors in this book!