Death of a Valentine

M. C. Beaton

Book 26 of Hamish MacBeth

Language: English

Published: Jan 12, 2010

Description:

From Publishers Weekly

In bestseller Beaton's enjoyable 25th Hamish Macbeth mystery (after 2008's Death of a Witch), a Valentine's Day parcel explodes in the face of the Scottish Highlands' Lammas festival queen, Annie Fleming, as soon as she tries to open it, killing her instantly. Hamish Macbeth, newly promoted to sergeant, would rather investigate with only his trusty pets in tow, but is instead forced to tote along his new constable, the less than professional Josie McSween. Considered prim and proper and a right innocent, Annie turns out to have been leading a less than virtuous double life, with no shortage of suspects in her murder. A much sought after bachelor, Hamish desperately tries to break the case, while Josie, with dreams in her eyes, strives to crack Hamish's heart. Will Josie succeed in getting Hamish to say I do at the altar? For all the book's farcical moments, Beaton takes care as usual to provide a satisfying police procedural. (Jan.)
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From

Beaton’s cozies set in the fictional Highland village of Lochdubh and starring the crusty village constable Hamish Macbeth are sometimes so predictable in their “stranger comes to the village and gets murdered” or “irascible villager gets murdered” plotlines that the cozy quickly becomes a drowsy. It seems that Beaton bestirred herself for this, the twenty-fifth in the series. It combines her gift for scenic description with an inventive, constantly surprising plot. Two women are at the center of the action: one is a constable from Strathbane, assigned to work for Macbeth, who lives in perpetual fear of being transferred to the urban blight of Strathbane. The other woman is the town beauty, queen of the Lammas Fest, who dies after opening a letter-bomb Valentine. This beauty queen is, we learn, what Scotland Yard terms a “murderee,” someone whose life invites violence. Both Beaton fans and newcomers to cozies will find her latest explosive and engaging. --Connie Fletcher