I did enjoy catching up with both of Hamish's ex-fiancees - and had a bit of a smile at the thought of them being Dorothy's attendants at the wedding.

Hamish Macbeth first aired on television in 1995 on a comedy-drama series formed by BBC Scotland. Marion Chesney claims that the only things that remained the same between the television series and the book series were the names of Hamish Macbeth and the small town, Lochdubh. The concept of a small town policeman butting heads with higher officials was also laced into the plotline, as it was a popular theme for BBC mystery shows (such as Inspector Barnaby in Midsomer Murders and the famous Inspector Lynley in the Lynley series).MY THOUGHTS: Apparently M.C. Beaton was working on this story at the time of her death. I enjoyed Death of a Green-Eyed Monster, but perhaps not as much as some of the earlier books.

May 19, 2022 Update Made a minor edit to correct the numbering of the Hamish Macbeth novella Death of a Laird from #34.5 to #33.5. Beaton has often been left out of plans for her own creations. "They wanted to do a making of Hamish Macbeth without even mentioning me at all," Beaton joked. "However, it does lead to ideas to killing people." [4] It is with some relief that I can say that Death of a Green-Eyed Monster hopefully sets a renewed steady course for the future of the Hamish Macbeth series after the disappointments of the previous books, esp. Death of an Honest Man (2018 - Hamish Macbeth #33) which I reviewed as Not My Hamish. Colonel George Halburton-Smythe – Priscilla's snobbish father. He dislikes Hamish immensely and considers him a most unsuitable friend for his daughter.Green provides us with a terrific Foreword in which he not only pays fine tribute to Beaton but also talks about Sergeant Hamish Macbeth, perhaps her greatest fictional creation. Murder is his business, and the patch he calls home is Sutherland in the northernmost part of the Scottish mainland. Statistics show that there are approximately 60 murders in Scotland each year, with half of those taking place in the much larger cities of Glasgow and Edinburgh. Hamish’s territory averages around one murder per year. Yet Beaton found enough interesting mysteries to keep him busy for years, and DEATH OF A GREEN-EYED MONSTER is no exception. The fictional village of Lochdubh is set in the real county of Sutherland. Although Lochdubh and the neighbouring town of Strathbane are fictional places, the series refers to real Scottish towns such as Dornoch, Dingwall and Inverness.

Hamish is happy because Priscilla has agreed to marry him, and he is enjoying a blissful time with his beloved fiance. The police Sergeant is free to go fishing, drink a lot of coffee, and be lazy all day, as the crime rate in the village of Lochdubh has decreased significantly. Until now, of course! Robert Carlyle is a very fine actor but I got fed up with the whole lot of them. He insisted that Hamish Macbeth smoked pot and said if he wasn’t allowed to smoke pot he’d leave the series. It wasn’t the way I saw it. They work well together solving the few crimes that happen in ‘their patch’ as Hamish refers to it. Then, there is a murder, and ‘special’ investigators from Strathbane and even Glasgow descends on their peaceful little world. One of those investigators is DCI Blair who hates Hamish with a passion. Blair is the epitome of a dirty cop – Hamish knows it – Blair knows Hamish knows it. Hamish just can’t prove it – yet. Hamish and Dorothy conduct their own investigation since they’ve been told to stay out of the official one. It really gets personal for Hamish when Douglas (Dougie) Tennant is beaten and left to burn to death in his cottage near where the murder happened. I was worried that Hamish's romance with Dorothy was moving too fast and that she was too good to be true. Was I right? You'll have to find out for yourself. Things could not be more tranquil until an actual murder breaks the serenity. Dougie Tennant hunts down Hamish and Dorothy to report a dead man slumped inside a car, shot through the head gangster-style. Hamish is now on the lookout for anyone out of the ordinary in their sleepy little village and pulls over an Aston Martin that’s been speeding. The occupants are indeed strangers --- one a Yank and the other with a Glaswegian accent. Hamish writes them up and warns them off.

Review of the Grand Central Publishing audiobook narrated by Graeme Malcolm, released simultaneously with the Grand Central Publishing hardcover (February 15, 2022) The Marion Chesney estate must be happy as well with how the continuation series is proceeding as a novella Death of a Laird: A Hamish Macbeth novella (expected March 8, 2022, Hamish Macbeth #34.5) [ correction: Death of a Laird is actually #33.5 as it was released in Kindle format February 15, 2022 prior to Death of a Green-Eyed Monster, it was the Audible Audio edition that was released later on March 8, 2022] and the next novel Death of a Traitor (Expected February 2, 2023; Hamish Macbeth #35) have already been announced.

Lately, our television channels have been swamped with modern police shows, all with the same basic protagonist. Generally speaking, we have a leading lad or lady who is too big for their job, believes themselves smarter than the office above them, and who tends to ignore direct commands in favor of a seemingly more morally-sound or logical quest.

Hamish and the Magic Golf Balls

M.C. Beaton (born Marion Chesney in Glasgow, Scotland) is the original author of both the Agatha Raisin and Hamish Macbeth books. I was at a fishing school in Sutherland in the very north of Scotland, and I thought, what a wonderful setting for a classical detective story, 11 people isolated in this Highland wilderness. So Hamish Macbeth was born." [3] Recurrent characters [ edit ] In Lochdubh [ edit ] She wrote a number of historical romance books under her maiden name and various other pen names, but since her success with the pseudonym M.C. Beaton, everything has now been attributed to that name. Is this to be the last we see of Hamish? I don't think so. Mr Green tells us that M.C. Beaton left several outlines to be completed. So we may have more Hamish coming, but we may have to get used to a slightly different Hamish; a changed man.