Death of a Snob

Down with a cold, an already grumpy Hamish Macbeth discovers he can't go home for Christmas in one of the most hilarious yet poignant entries in this marvelous mystery series by M.C. Beaton. This is one of my all-time favorites in this delightful series set in the Scottish Highlands. Feeling sorry for himself and nye on the verge of death - at least in his own mind - Hamish will see a light at the end of his predicament which will lead to a windy and eventful holiday.

When a miserable Macbeth discovers he can't go home for Christmas because a relative who intensely dislikes him is also coming, things could not look bleaker for our favorite constable. Even a visit from Priscilla can't cheer the bloke up, especially since she is sending an show more acquaintance by for him to help in spite of the fact he is so near death's door! Jane is all cleavage and legs, espousing trendy babble from magazines, so Hamish quickly dismisses her suggestion that someone wants her dead this holiday season. Once he discovers there is a big Christmas feast planned at her Happy Wanderer health farm, however, the always eager-to-mooch-a-meal constable decides the lass may need protecting after all.

The guests include Jane's ex and an odd assortment of people which prove to be the ingredients for murder. It is not the fun holiday Hamish had planned. A cookbook writer named Harriet offers a nice distraction for a time, but when someone is discovered with their neck broken on the hillside, and the local constabulary rule it an accident, Hamish puts in a call to Jimmy. The call brings the bane of Hamish's existence, Blair, to the health farm, just in case Blair's least favorite constable is correct in calling it murder.

Switched jackets and a trashy romance novel muddy the case, keeping Hamish working through the holiday. If that isn't enough to make Hamish's Christmas a blue one, Priscilla offers to deliver his presents to his parents and siblings, and ends up having the best Christmas of her entire life! In fact, a fun feel of Christmas pervades Death of a Snob, and there is more than a touch of poignancy at the conclusion in Glasgow.

This is an early one in the Hamish canon. Macbeth still has his dog Towser for company when the romantic disappointment of the lovable constable rears its ugly head. Beaton always writes with a keen and observant eye for human nature, and never have the situations been quirkier or Hamish's reactions to them more bitingly hilarious than in Death of a Snob. Fans of this wonderful series will find humor and charm at the description of him speaking quite seriously to a Fiat truck! A real winner in the series, and one of my personal favorites. show less

Hamish Macbeth is miserable with a lousy cold, but he’s looking forward to Christmas at his family’s home with his parents and all his (much) younger siblings. Alas, his mother calls to tell him that an aunt who cannot stand Hamish is coming over from North America, so he must be uninvited. Luckily for him, Priscilla lets him know that a friend of hers needs his help; this is Jane Wetherby, who owns a health spa on the remote island of Eileencraig. Because of a couple of incidents, she has gotten it into her head that someone might be trying to kill her, and she enlists Hamish’s help in uncovering the plot. Once on the island, though, it is not Jane whom everybody wants to kill, but one of her guests, a complete snob by the name show more of Heather Todd. Unless, of course, the killer mixes up the two women in a fatal mistake…. I am enjoying the Hamish Macbeth books; the series is very much a light snack, happily munched and then forgotten. That is not a criticism; I think such amusing light tales are hugely beneficial, especially in our strikingly perilous times. Ms. Beaton’s characters are always sharply drawn, if not always terribly deep, and Hamish himself is quite refreshing as an unambitious man who doesn’t understand why people consider him lazy when really he’s just enjoying the slow pace of his life. Recommended. show less

This was a straightforward little mystery wherein Hamish Macbeth acts like a pansy because he thinks he's dying of influenza when he catches a cold and later indulges in some slut shaming because calmly refusing a woman who makes a pass at him isn't acceptable; he has to try to make her feel ashamed for her behaviour. Give me a break. Oh, and Priscilla gets some much needed rest.

At least the book called out the ridiculousness of a romance plot (in a book) where the heroine falls in love with her rapist.

Macbeth and the Health Farm
Review of the Blackstone Audio Inc. audiobook edition (2013) of the St. Martin's Press hardcover original (1991)

After discovering M.C. Beaton's Hamish Macbeth cozy mystery series due to the Estonia cameo in "Death of Yesterday", I started to seek out the earlier books by finding several at Toronto's Sleuth of Baker Street. I enjoyed those and found them to be an especially delightful diversion during this continuing pandemic. My next plan was to go back and read the series in order. I then discovered the rather terrific bonus that most of the books are available for free on Audible Plus, a service that I had previously been underwhelmed by (some early attempts with longer books had audio difficulties, with show more book narrations freezing in midstream). Beaton's shorter books (usually 4 to 5 hours on audio) seem to be perfect for this medium.

Death of a Snob is the sixth of the series and continues the audiobook editions with the voice of Shaun Grindell in an ongoing excellent performance. Macbeth is forced to spend Christmas away from his Highland family and is instead a guest at a health farm on Eileencraig Island. One of the snobby guests is murdered and our favourite village constable has to solve yet another mystery. show less

This series is always nice when I want a short quick audiobook that doesn't take too much concentration. After being disappointed in the last Hamish Macbeth book I listened to I was hoping for one that was a little more engaging. This one was entertaining enough but I felt that the mystery wasn't so much investigated as it was a theory pulled out of midair and then confirmed.

Anyway - as with most books in this series there is a cast of quirky characters. Some fun and some clearly just there to be awful people as red herring suspects in the murder of another awful person.. I enjoy the quirky and fun ones much more.

This time around Hamish is out of his hometown and on an isolated island on the coast of Scotland at Christmas time. He's show more there because the owner of a health farm thinks someone is trying to kill her. It was interesting to have Hamish away from his home turf but still close enough that the regular police he interacts with were there.

These will never be considered great books but I do enjoy listening to Shaun Grindell and sometimes just want something short and quick as a palate cleanser between other audiobooks. show less

Hamish has a bad cold and no one to
cater to him. His old flame Priscilla drops by with a friend named Jane
Wetherby who thinks that someone is trying to kill her. So, Hamish accepts
Jane's invitation to spend the holidays at her health farm on the Scottish
island of Eileencraig, and try to figure out just which of her other guests
has it in for her. In his heart, Hamish believes the lady is a wee bit
daft, but upon his arrival at the spa, he feels a prickle of foreboding.
The locals are openly threatening, and the other guests, especially a
terrible snob named Heather Todd, are barely civil. So when Heather meets
an untimely end, even though the authorities all declare her death to be an
accident, Hamish is sure there is more to it show more than that. The only problem is
that all the guests were in the house when Heather vanished. Hamish finds
one friend among the hostile guests, an older woman named Harriet Shaw who
writes cookery books, and he allows his attraction to her free rein. But is
Harriet being truthful with Hamish? This time, he might well be in over his
head.

Another fine Scottish romp with my favorite constable, and what a delight to
have it take place over Christmas! A good strong episode in this franchise.
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Christmas finds Hamish at a loose end. When he receives an invitation to a health farm on a rural island he jumps on it. The other guests include Heather Todd, a snob who fancies herself the toast of Glasgow society. She proceeds to annoy everyone at the resort. When she turns up dead no one seems to be all that sorry, and just about anyone could be responsible. As per usual, Hamish's arch-nemesis Blair is anxious to get the incident declared an accident so that he can go home. It will be up to Hamish to prove that the death was a crime.

This was certainly an enjoyable installment in the series. I have yet to be disappointed by one of the Hamish Macbeth books. I do wonder about the extent of the hostility towards outsiders that is show more supposedly displayed on Eileencraig. Do such places really still exist? I wonder. show less