The Scottish brogue and good story made for an excellent listen. Perfect for a walk or drive.

They just keep getting better - can't put them down. I have no idea really what the appeal is to me. They are entertaining without being taxing is the best I can think of.

I also really disliked the character that got murdered in this one!

Another good English mystery by Beaton. Want to read all of her books.

In Death of an Outsider, Hamish Macbeth gets sent on what is clearly a punishment assignment to the town of Cnothan, which is like Lochdubh’s mean older cousin who wears funeral black and never makes tea for guests. Hamish, bless his scruffy heart, has barely unpacked his toothbrush before the local community decides they hate him. Why? Because he’s from somewhere else. And Cnothan does not do outsiders.

So when the town’s other most-hated outsider — William Mainwaring — ends up murdered and fed to lobsters, the community is… less “shocked” and more “mildly inconvenienced.”

Let me say that again: lobsters. This man’s corpse was stuffed in a tank and picked clean by crustaceans. Like some kind of Highland seafood horror movie. And not a single person is sorry.

Mainwaring was an Englishman with a special talent for insulting everyone he met — judgmental, controlling, and wildly smug. He made enemies like it was a competitive sport, so narrowing down who wanted him dead is like picking a needle out of a haystack full of pitchforks.

Now here's the kicker: Hamish is totally alone here. No Priscilla. No cozy village support network. No one bringing him scones. Just icy looks, dodgy stories, and a looming sense that someone in this town is watching everything. He’s used to flying under the radar — now he is the radar, and every move he makes just puts a bigger target on his back.

Emotionally? Hamish is fraying. He misses Lochdubh. He misses connection. There’s this subtle thread of melancholy here that cuts deeper than the murder mystery — Hamish is starting to realize that his quiet life might be too quiet. He’s craving real connection, maybe even love, but he’s stuck solving puzzles in places that want nothing to do with him.

And the suspects? Whew. We’ve got a sketchy artist with a temper, a housekeeper who knows more than she lets on, and a local priest who’s giving off “definitely hiding something” vibes. Nobody in this town is telling the truth. The whole book is a slow unraveling of secrets, class resentment, religious hypocrisy, and that deeply human impulse to protect your own — even if it means letting a man get eaten by shellfish.

The final twist? Super satisfying and slightly tragic. Beaton doesn’t just hand you the answer — she lets Hamish dig, observe, and peel back the layers until you realize this wasn’t just a murder. It was retribution. Ugly, communal, and decades in the making.

Four stars. Because Death of an Outsider is not just a mystery — it’s a cold, quiet scream of a book. It’s about being unwelcome. About what people do when no one’s watching. And it’s about Hamish, quietly trying to be good in a world that’s often deeply not.

I've said it before and I'll say it again. Hamish Macbeth is my happy place. This series just charms the socks off of my with its ridiculous and charming MC and it's over the top characters. My one complaint about this one is that it takes place in another town, so all my favorite recurring characters aren't in it. But other than that the murder is interesting and different and I could not guess the culprit at all.

Third in the series, this mystery was set in Cnothan where Constable Macbeth is covering for the local bobby who left town. Because of this, I missed the "locals" who I have come to know and love in the other books in the series. I was also disappointed in the "fling" of PC Macbeth--smacked of James Bond. However, Beaton has unique murder plots and this was no exception--even the book jacket tells you that the victim falls into a lobster tank and all that is left is the skeleton. Ewww!

I love the earlier books in the Hamish MacBeth series. They’re so much less rote than later books. They’re cozy, and a little predictable (you know Blair will be an asshole, you know Hamish will solve the crime, you know Hamish will probably have a love interest and will be trying to forget Priscilla Halburton-Smythe, etc.). I love the village characters (caricatures really), and while you usually know who’s going to get murdered within the first 40-50 pages (due to the title), that doesn’t spoil the story or the resolution.

Look carefully at the cover picture! Now ... what do you think?

Hamish has the ability to view anything he doesn't want to address with vacant stupidity and gets away with it. Sly, crafty detective that he is. The Lowland Scot in this instance, decided not to pursue the matter of the dog on the bus seat any further, since he regards all Highlanders as inbreds anyway.

Dreary, dark and twisted sort of village of Cnothan's most hated man is dumped into a tank filled with lobsters then eaten in Britain's best restaurants. Exiled there for three months with his dog Towser, Hamish Macbeth misses his beloved Highland village Lochdubh, Priscilla, and easy lazy days. His superiors want the business hushed up, Jenny Lovelace, a dark-haired Canadian lass wants his body, and a killer is out for more blood.

This was a gruesome utterly terrifying atmospheric experience. Yikes! But fascinating all the same. Hamish Macbeth is helping out in a central Sutherland village of mostly crofters, where the people are just weird. And the clock is set back a hundred years. There's Cnothantis everywhere - Don't tell anyone anything. They're close, secretive, overly religious, intimidating, rude, revengeful and stiff upper lip to outsiders, or interlopers as the outsiders are called.

Instead of losing his temper once in two years, Hamish loses his temper twice in one day. In one incident with a fuel attendant: That's a nasty, stupid face you've got, you unfriendly, horrible man.

However, one outsider, the despicable William Mainwaring, (his wife's name is Agatha) deserves everything that's coming his way. He's a sarcastic upper-class-accented fiend; a know-it-all; a pillock; a stuck-up bastard; and his final destination is delectable, for the London high society, those toffs. I don't think I will ever want to eat lobster EVER AGAIN! Oh, such hypocrisy. We eat chicken and pork too, and nobody blinks an eye.

Blair and his sidekicks, Jimmy Anderson and Harry Macnab are cluttering up the police station....and the investigation again, but Hamish, outsourced to the icy, slippery, freezing cold county to do the mundane rounds, is getting the murderer again, much to the chagrin of Blair. Again. Bear in mind in winter, the sun rises at 9h00 and sets at 14h00. Yep. This is dark. Really dark.

With his gift o' the gab, Police Constable Hamish Macbeth leaves Cnothan as a much respected, friend. It so happened, uhuh, that Priscilla Halburton-Smythe was on her way back home from London, and could give Hamish and Towser a lift to Lochdubh. They pretend not to have missed each other, while they both deny the power of telepathy that kept them connected.

Halloween in August - for me. This read. But totally entertaining and compelling. Way to go, Hamish! Let the good times role. 194 pages of drama and fast-paced suspense. Brilliant.

Now and then you just have to stop and read a short British/Scottish, small village
murder mystery before moving through your reading list.

Definitely an investigation of an unusual death. Set in an imaginary location in the Highlands where life is well situated in the past and locals are firmly closed to outsiders.
My enjoyment of this series is focused on the various narrators' ability to personalize characters through Scottish accent and speech variations that bring the story to life. I am not in agreement with all the actions or expletives, but there is enough enjoyment of the narration for me to focus on that.
Plus the Canadian character adds an extra link to reading connections.

These stories never get boring!! Love M C Beaton

2014 REVIEW - RATING 3.5 (rounded down to 3) STARS

I am back into Hamish MacBeth's world and really enjoyed it. It seems like the books get better as the characters grow. Hamish is away from away and his crush Priscilla ready to get in a different kind of trouble lol. I listened to this on audio and greatly enjoyed the narrator.

2014 REVIEW - RATING 3.5 (rounded down to 4) STARS

Hamish has been exiled away from his small village by his superiors. He is sad to be away from Lachdubh and Priscilla, and I was sad to be away from the quirky villagers. This series has been perfect for some tedious days of Excel spreadsheets at work.