Death of a Dustman

“What evil’s come to Lochdubh?” — Mrs. McClellan

“Whatever it is,” said Hamish grimly, “Fergus Macleod did something to bring it here.”


Wildly politically incorrect and laced with hilarious dark comedy, this delightful mystery series set in the fictional village of Lochdubh in Scotland is a hoot. It features Hamish Macbeth, a tall redheaded policeman whose knack for solving crimes makes it difficult for the unambitious copper to avert promotion so that he can remain in the quirky village. This series is a refreshing change from just about everything else out there. Sure, they’re all a bit similar, but that makes them no less enjoyable. Fans adore Hamish and the quirky residents of Lochdubh. Each visit moves at a breezy show more and enjoyable pace, has a murder or two, a few wistful moments, and plenty of laughs derived from biting social commentary so contrary to the uber-sensitive crowd run amok, that we’d all like to live in Lochdubh were it not for the high mortality rate!

In Death of a Dustman, bossy Freda Fleming arrives from Strathbane to use her new position as Officer of Environment to “green” up Lochdubh, and get her face in the papers. If you’ve ever read a Hamish Macbeth mystery you’re probably already imagining the adverse reaction of the residents of Lochdubh. It is made worse by drunk dustman (garbageman) Fergus Macleod, who lets his laughable, sparkly new uniform and higher salary go to his head. Soon, everyone in Lochdubh is ready to murder the wife-beating lout. When the Currie sisters report a bad smell coming from one of the huge recycling bins, Hamish discovers someone has acted on their impulse.

In Death of a Dustman, Hamish has a new helper named Clarry. Big and slovenly, Clarry loves to cook more than he loves policing, and is soon sweet on Martha, the beleaguered wife of Fergus. This of course makes him a top suspect in the eyes of Blair, the bane of Hamish’s existence. The situation quickly goes from bad to worse as Hamish discovers that Fergus may have been blackmailing his beloved neighbors. As if that weren’t enough to make the lanky Hamish irritable, Priscilla has a new beau, and it turns out that her father, the Colonel, may have been the last to see Fergus alive. Mix in a pretty new schoolteacher, a second murder, and a shady new hotel owner, and you have the makings for another delightful mystery filled with laughs, and a few poignant moments.

Just a fabulous series that will certainly offend those who are offended by everything nowadays anyway, but delight a great many more readers. Death of a Dustman is another great read in a popular series full of them. Though there are murders, this series is as much about Hamish and the quirky villagers of Lochdubh we’ve come to love over the years. Putting on your mystery solving cap is really unnecessary when reading a Hamish Macbeth novel — and might in fact impede your enjoyment of them. A Hamish Macbeth mystery is the next best thing to actually visiting the Highlands, and Death of a Dustman is a nice vacation from weightier reads. Highly recommended! show less

Beaton is such a delight. She has such a way at describing the idiosyncratic characters that populate her books. In this latest Hamish Macbeth story, Hamish has been promoted to sergeant and he now has to supervise a new constable, Clarry, who has few genuine police skills but is a great cook. Freda Fleming, a power-seeking environmentalist recently elected to Strathbane Council, decides that Lochdubh (pronounced Lockdoo) is perfect to use as a vehicle to bring herself to national attention, so she enlists the aid of their local dustman (garbage collector) to enforce some stringent new rules regarding the collection of trash. Fergus Macleod, the dustman and local wife-beating drunk, revels in his new uniform and power and immediately show more proceeds to make enemies of everyone in town. He also gets himself murdered. Unfortunately, Hamish has a surfeit of suspects, including Clarry, who had fallen in love with Martha McLeod, Fergus’s wife. But many others, it turns out, had reason to intensely dislike the dustman. Hamish and Priscilla are still not married, but still warily circling each other, both threatening to become involved with others. Hamish loses his stripes by lying about how a helicopter was brought down. You’ll have to read the book to find out more, but it will be well worth it. show less

I stopped reading M.C. Beaton’s Hamish Macbeth series a few years ago. I really don’t remember why. Was it because I couldn’t get the books in the audio format I preferred? Did one of the books strike a sour note? I just don’t remember, but on a whim, I picked up the next one in the series. (Yes, I was keeping track.) It proved to be a good decision.

I read this book in a single day. If that’s not a recommendation, I don’t know what is. Lots of twists and turns and proof that even a small village like Lochdubh has plenty of secrets. Ones worth killing over.

Macbeth and the Garbage Man
Review of the Blackstone Audio Inc. audiobook edition (2015) of the Grand Central Publishing hardcover original (2001)

Death of a Dustman has Lochdubh village constable Hamish Macbeth fighting off the outside forces of a self-promoting politician attempting to leech off the popularity of eco-trends in a not very cooperative Highland environment. The cranky village garbageman is promoted as an environmental recycler and proceeds to blackmail various residents with the finds from their discards resulting in their own murder. Macbeth has to solve the case as usual.

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 show more 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 book narrations freezing in midstream). Beaton's shorter books (usually 4 to 5 hours on audio) seem to be perfect for this medium.

This edition on Audible Audio has narrator Graeme Malcolm in place of series regular Shaun Grindell. Malcolm does an excellent job as well. show less

MC Beaton is my guilty pleasure. Her novels are repetitive and somewhat shallow as far as real substance goes, but I can’t seem to get enough. In this installment, Hamish is, of course, content with his laid back life as a rural constable, having no success in his love life, butting heads with Blair, and putting up with the quirky villagers. So pretty much exactly the same as in the first 15 books in the series. However, the highland setting is terrific, the antics of the locals are hilarious, and the mystery is detailed and easily misleading.

"They are still called dustmen in Britain. Not garbage collectors or sanitation engineers, but dustmen. And Lochdubh's dustman is a drunk named Fergus Macleod who lives in a run-down cottage and abuses his wife and four small children. His lot in life seems to improve with the arrival of Freda Fleming, an environmentalist recently elected to Strathbane Council who intends to 'green' Lochdubh. Setting up an elaborate recycling center, the politically ambitious councilwoman doubles Fergus's salary as the new 'environment officer.'

"The developing plan worries Constable Hamish Macbeth. The astute lawman knows that power corrupts and that the machinations of the overbearing Freda and Fergus will come to no good. Soon enough, Fergus becomes a show more bullying tyrant, issuing unwarranted fines and enforcing petty rules. When he's found murdered, stuffed in a recycling bin, no one's sorry, including his long-suffering family.

"Thus begins a difficult eyesore of a case for Macbeth, one in which the list of suspects is literally the size of the local phone book. As Macbeth soon discoveres, the widely detested Fergus was also involved in a blackmailing scheme, yet the victims are strangely reluctant to give out information. Now Hamish must quickly sift through the litter of lies and dark secrets, for a murderer stalks the small town, overrunning it with fear and deathly grime."
~~front & back flaps

A nice little story involving environmental concerns and battered wives. And a naif, charming love story intertwined with the murder investigation. I enjoy the way the author often incorporates subjects of interest to us all in her mysteries, spotlighting them without preaching or browbeating her readers. show less

This book follows the typical Hamish Macbeth plan. Someone obnoxious gets killed, most people presume that life is much better without the deceased. In this case the undesirable is the drunken, wife-beating trash collector, Fergus MacLeod. His body winds up in a trashcan. The investigation uncovers numerous village secrets and pits Hamish against his old nemesis Blair. By this point we all know how things will end up. Hamish alone will figure out who the bad guy is, he'll nearly get fired in the process, but all will be right in the end. Oh, and Priscilla. There's still sexual tension with Priscilla.