Death
of a Gentle Lady: A Hamish Macbeth Mystery ,
by M.C. Beaton (Read by Graeme Malcolm)
Mrs. Gentle… what a perfect name for such
a fine, genteel newcomer to the bucolic town of Lochdubh,
Scotland! Hamish Macbeth, the town's constable, may be the
only person who suspects Mrs. Gentle is not the sweet, kind
old woman she pretends to be. Because he's still a bachelor,
and Lochdubh is relatively crime-free, his supervisors decide
to save money by closing his station house and moving him
to a police barracks in a larger town. This is dreadful! Not
only will he lose his comfortable little cottage, but he'll
have to give up his unattractive, but loveable and faithful
dog and cat. Ever the clever detective, Hamish realizes that
if he were to marry, he wouldn't be able to move into the
men's police dormitory, but he's already alienated and rejected
the two women he might have asked. Just as in the movies,
a damsel in distress unexpectedly appears in his police station.
Mrs. Gentle's beautiful foreign maid, Ayesha, needs a husband
if she wants to stay in Scotland, so Hamish asks her to marry
him. Hamish's wedding day is marred first by a missing bride
and then by the murder of Mrs. Gentle. With the instant crime
wave, there is no doubt that Lochdubh needs a full time constable,
but Hamish finds his life becoming even more complicated as
he attempts to solve the murders and repair damaged relationships.
M.C. Beaton's latest entry in her Hamish Macbeth
series is entertaining from beginning to end. Not only are
the characters well-drawn, but the plot provides just enough
suspense to keep the listener eagerly feeding CDs into the
player, while dreaming about pastoral Scottish landscapes.
As tiny as Lochdubh is, it's a booming metropolis compared
to the village in the highlands that Hamish visits looking
for clues. Thanks to Beaton's descriptive prose, the listener
gets a travelogue and geography and history lesson while enjoying
a suspenseful story. The reader, Graeme Malcolm, does an outstanding
job of narrating this book. Each of the accented voices conjures
up the image of a distinct character in Hamish's world. For
a short time, the listener is transported to a small Scottish
town and immersed in the culture of rural village life.
It might be insensitive to describe a murder
mystery as delightful, but that's just what this audio book
is. With all his bumbling and lack of grace, Hamish is appealingly
likeable. Even when he's the butt of jokes, as when the villagers
find out he almost married a prostitute, he manages to keep
focused on his goal of finding the murderer who is terrorizing
his hometown. Humorous situations and conversations keep the
mood light in this charming murder mystery.
Ruth
Mormon
5/9/08
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