Death of a Charming Man

The usually lacklustre village of Drim is experiencing some excitement for once: a very beautiful Englishman, Peter Hynd, has moved in and all the middle-aged village women are panting for a sight (and more) of him. However, it’s not long before the women are all squabbling amongst themselves, and the menfolk are finding their tedious lives even more unhappy. Police Sergeant Hamish Macbeth doesn’t get over to Drim very often, but it is on his beat and he therefore tries to do something about the curdling atmosphere of the place; however, nothing seems to work until Peter suddenly leaves the place and one of the village women is found dead of a fall. The death is ruled an accident and the leave-taking of Peter is assumed normal, but show more Hamish has some qualms about both interpretations and decides to investigate further….One thing I enjoy about the Hamish Macbeth books is that the crime often occurs in a new Highland village, where the reader encounters entirely new characters and environments; Drim seems especially bleak and it inhabitants exceptionally dull, which serves to make Hamish’s home village of Lochdubh that much more lively and enjoyable. This time around the relationship between Hamish and Priscilla is front-and-center, and there is indeed trouble in paradise, but the distraction of the crime allows both Hamish and the reader to put such things aside and just enjoy the mystery; recommended. show less

"With this tenth book in a series that fans of British mysteries have come to relish more than fish 'n chips and a pint at the pub, M.C. Beaton returns with another baffling case for Hamish Macbeth, the stubborn, red-haired, one-man police department of the Highland village of Lochdubh.

...

"Hamish Macbeth's unofficial engagement to the stunning Priscilla Halburton-Smythe is reminding the constable of the old adage about answered prayers. His lovely fiancee has replaced his cozy wood stove with a modern electric one and is busy trying to 'make a man of him.' The only man Hamish wants to be is the one who slouches about the village, gossiping, fishing, and deftly solving a crime or two. Deciding that this may be a good time for a little show more retreat, Hamish ambles over to the nearby backwater of Drim--ostensibly to check out a posh English chap who's causing a most unusual problem.

"Single, wealthy, and terribly attractive, newcomer Peter Hynd has thrown the middle-aged matrons of Drim into a flutter, and put their men, dour Highlanders whose feelings run deep, on a slow burn. Hamish's instincts tell him this seemingly charming young man likes to stir up trouble, and it's not long before the seething emotions transform the sleepy village into a hotbed of threats, domestic rows, and violent murder. With Hamish's own relationship raising doubts about hearts and flowers, he's more than ready to do what he now must--investigate the darker side of love.
~~front & back flaps show less

This series is the absolute definition of a comfort read for me. What elevates them is MC Beaton's wry humor and relatively unromantic view of the people and geography of the Scottish Highlands. I'd still like to live in Lochdubh, but I know what I'm in for.

This installment concerns the death of the titular "charming man," a newcomer who has all the village women putting on makeup and going to workout classes, competing to catch his attention. When he disappears suspicion falls on a number of the village men. There are murders along the way, and the villain turned out to be somewhat unexpected (for me at least). In terms of Hamish's ongoing personal saga, he's engaged to Priscilla Halburton-Smythe, but it's not going well.

Death of a Charming Man isn't one of M.C. Beaton's best entries in the Hamish Macbeth mystery series. From the contrived premise to Hamish's mulishness to his fiancée's coolness and pride, this 10th novel in the series just doesn't come up to the usual standard.

Now Hamish Macbeth can be stubborn and self-pitying, but he really becomes almost clownish in this tale of a gorgeous but malicious English incomer to the Scottish Highlands. Blond, charming Peter Hynd settles in the dull and desolate village of Drim, located near Hamish's Lochdubh; no sooner does Hynd settle there than the village women begin to primp and make fools of themselves over him. The arrival begets jealousy among the Drim men and then jealousy between the women who show more each fancy themselves to be in the running for Hynd's main squeeze. When Hynd disappears without anyone seeing him leave, Hamish suspects the worst.

Beaton's premise that a pack of badly aged biddies could imagine that a man in his 20s with movie-star looks was really going to take up with any of them simply strains credulity. We're not talking the svelte women of Cougartown here. Charm or no charm, I would know better than to be taken in my a smooth-talker like Peter Hynd, and I doubt that in reality these women -- unsophisticated or no -- would fall prey. In addition, both Hamish and his fiancée, the posh Priscilla Halburton-Smythe, behave like stubborn children, taking offense and refusing to speak up to clear up matters. Actually, the break-up of their engagement actually made me sigh with relief. They are so ill suited that such a marriage could only prove disastrous. We also see the re-emergence of the annoying, mooching, indolent, unambitious Hamish of yore. He just can't seem to grow up.

All in all, I recommend Death of a Charming Man only to those who never fail to be charmed by Hamish Macbeth. At less than 200 pages, it's OK for a rainy weekend when you can't get to the library. show less

I very much enjoyed this 11th entry in the Hamish MacBeth series by M.C. Beaton. There are 32 books in this series and in this case I'm glad I have that many in front of me. By this time I know all of the characters in the Highland village where MacBeth is a P.C. The mystery in this book takes place in an even smaller village that falls within MacBeth's territory.

A very handsome and charming man comes into the village, buys an old home and begins to make improvements to it. He also flirts with all the women, has a short affair with a few, and makes all of the husbands enraged. And then, disappears. This was a good puzzle and MacBeth makes a mistake solving it, earning a demotion.

At this point in the series MacBeth has been further show more developed as a character and has been a bit updated. He's still on the lazy side, still poaches fish and still loves Towser his mixed breed dog. He and others in the village are fun characters. show less

Death Of A Charming Man (1994) (H. Macbeth #10) by M.C. Beaton. Peter Hynd has the looks and charm of a young movie star. That alone would have Hamish Macbeth wondering why such a man would ever buy a small house in the town of Drim. This is a place set between two dark mountains along a black as night loch and with people as cold as the fish at the bottom of the loch. But there Mr. Hynd is, flattering the local women into making fools of themselves and driving their husbands into fits of jealousy, and anger, and perhaps worse.
The young girls raised in Drim head off for the big cities once free of school leaving only a gaggle of middle-aged, and beyond, biddies behind. They flock off to the only beauty salon and jump about in the show more suddenly popular exercise class. Hamish comes along because Drim is part of his policing area, and upon arriving he gets a very bad sense of the mood of the place.
A short while later he gets a call about a body being found there. Not Hynd as he suspected would happen Instead it turns out to be a local woman who appears to have had a small accident walking in spike heels upon the pebbled beach of the loch. Hynd himself appears to have left a few weeks earlier like so many other new-comers to the wilds of Scotland.
None of this makes Hamish feel right and the young daughter of the dead woman says things that make him feel there is much to be discovered. In an attempt to flee from his faltering relationship with Priscilla, he takes a wee vacation to travel to London in search of the missing man, but ends up in Drim himself. Using his natural charm and ability to gossip, he wiles himself into the heart of the small community and manages to uncover the surprising truth.
And he uncovers another body to seal the story.
Reluctantly Hamish Macbeth manages to solve the mystery, uncover the killer and get demoted by doing so. All very complicated and a nice cosy case. show less

Macbeth and the Outsider
Review of the Grand Central Publishing paperback edition (1994) of the Constable & Robinson hardcover original (1993)

After reading and enjoying "Death of Yesterday" due to its Estonia connection I started to search out some earlier Hamish Macbeth mysteries and Marian at my favourite Toronto independent book shop Sleuth of Baker Street had several (some used) in stock.

Charming Man has Macbeth investigating a disappearance and then a death in a small village called Drim which is within his Lochdubh beat. Everyone else dismisses his suspicions but Macbeth perseveres as usual with his casual methods.

i'm thoroughly enjoying this M.C. Beaton series and am going to try to catch up on it in order from now on as Macbeth's show more personal relationships over time are best read in the proper order. show less