Review of "Death of an Outsider: A Hamish Macbeth Mystery" by M.C. Beaton

In this 3rd book in the 'Hamish Macbeth' series, the police constable is temporarily assigned to patrol a new town. The book can be read as a standalone.

*****



Police Constable Hamish Macbeth lives and works in the Scottish village of Lochdubh, where he patrols the community, raises a few sheep, and roams the countryside with his dog Towser.



Macbeth loves Lochdubh and is chagrined when he's temporarily assigned to the town of Cnothan, when the only cop there takes a vacation.



The people in Cnothan are notoriously cold to outsiders, and won't even provide directions to the police station. Hamish has the gift of gab, though, and manages to befriend everyone.....



except for William Mainwaring - a bully who delights in putting people down.



As Hamish chats with the residents of Cnothan, he realizes that almost everyone hates Mainwaring, including the man's long-suffering wife.



Most people in Cnothan are farmers, but the town also boasts the 'Fish and Game Company', an enterprise that raises lobsters and ships them to high-end stores and restaurants.



One night, after alcoholic security guard Sandy Carmichael shirks his duties at the Fish and Game Company, a skeleton turns up in the lobster tank....the remains of a person eaten by the crustaceans.



Sandy panics, fishes the skeleton out, and hides it. Later that that day the lobsters are sent off to be sold and consumed.



The skeleton incident turns into a missing persons case, and then a murder investigation. As usual Hamish's superior Inspector Blair - a nasty boob who loves to see his picture in papers - rushes to Cnothan with his team, to investigate and get publicity.



When Blair realizes the human-eating lobsters have been shipped and consumed, he's desperate to hide the fact that Britain's hoity-toity have become inadvertent 'cannibals' - fearing he'll be blamed.

As Blair ties himself in knots trying to investigate while hiding the lobster incident, Hamish quietly goes about uncovering the murderer.



While Hamish is in Cnothan he also romances a Canadian artist;



Catches the eye of a gorgeous married woman;



draws an eccentric old man out of his shell;



and generally lifts the spirits of the community.



I enjoyed this cozy mystery, which has an intriguing plot and an interesting variety of characters.

Rating: 3 stars