Death of an Addict

M.C. Beaton strays from her usual cozy style in the 15th novel in her Hamish Macbeth series; usually, the perennial unambitious but preternaturally curious Constable Macbeth secretly investigates a closed case after being warned off by his superiors and manages to solve the crime and make the jealous Inspector Blair look foolish and spiteful. In Death of an Addict, Macbeth goes undercover in an elaborate international drug sting operation after poking his nose into the supposed suicide of the titular reformed heroin addict. While Macbeth carries off his undercover work implausibly well, it’s still a pretty good read. The culture shock between Macbeth and his Glaswegian partner and superior proves interesting, and I loved the softening show more of the hard-nosed Detective Inspector Olivia Chater as she gets to know Hamish and the slower-paced Highlands of Scotland better. I hope we get to see more of the clever and pretty Olivia, and the ambiguous ending makes me think I’ll get my wish.

Longtime readers will find Death of an Addict a wonderful change of pace; however, a pointless subplot involving a pair of scam artists running a religious cult slows down the action enough to knock the book into three-star territory. Even so, it’s still worth the trip to the nasty Highlands village of Drim to see Hamish far outside his comfort zone. show less

Parry McSporran is a crofter who has built several small holiday chalets, which are now let to two tenants: Felicity Maundy, a hippy-ish English woman and Tommy Jarret, a young ex-addict who is writing a book. When Parry finds Tommy dead of an apparent overdose, nobody thinks too much about it, except for Police Constable Hamish Macbeth who had thought well of the young man when he met him. But the police are satisfied that it was an accidental overdose, so Hamish tries to forget about it, until the lad’s parents ask him to investigate further because they are certain that he was murdered. One thing leads to another, and soon Hamish finds himself impersonating a big-time drug dealer in a scheme meant to net a number of villains - but show more there is one villain that he has not considered, a very bad villain indeed….This entry into the Hamish Macbeth series brings all the miseries of urban life to the small villages of the Highlands, which is a bit depressing, but once again Hamish’s intuition and cleverness help to save the whole story from falling into despair. He’s even got a bit of a romance going this time, although one never knows how these things will work out for Hamish, given his independent spirit and lack of ambition. Recommended. show less

#15 Hamish MacBeth Scottish police cozy mystery. A young man who is renting a cottage in a remote part of Hamish’s patch ends up dead of a supposed overdose shortly after Hamish met him while visiting Parry MacSporran, the crofter who owns the place. The red-headed policeman is sure that the lad wasn’t on drugs and had kicked his habit, but the Strathbane usuals swarm in and close the case without so much as a by your leave and tell Hamish to mind his own business.

Hamish promises the boy’s parents he’ll investigate on the QT and requests some time off—he always seems to have extra holiday time to spare so he can take a couple of weeks off! LOL He heads off to Strathbane to check out a rather cultish upstart church that Tommy show more was interested in—and starts out posing as a homeless man living in his car and willing to work in the church for minimal money…but somehow ends up instead in the middle of a big drug sting, wearing an Armani suit and a Rolex and posing as a drug kingpin with an attractive DI from Glasgow posing as his wife! The next thing you know, they’re off to Amsterdam.

Holy whirling dervish, Batman—this book was all over the place and unlike Lewis Carroll’s Red Queen, it not only *believed* six impossible things before breakfast, it DID them. My goodness! Still, as I was scratching my head and rolling my eyes, I was reading on and mostly enjoying the story even though I knew most of it was purely improbable rubbish. I just like Hamish, even though Beaton’s plots seem to have gotten more and more bizarre as the series has gone on. show less

"In the far north, isolation drives some men to drink and shelters others from the temptations of modern life. The drink might explain the reports of a sea monster near the dour village of Drim. The latter led young, recovering addict Tommy Jarret to rent a chalet from a local crofter. Despite the fears of some Lochdubh citizens, Hamish Macbeth didn't believe the fresh-faced lad would go back to drugs willingly ... even when Tommy was found dead, apparently of an overdose.

"Suspecting the Loch Drim monster is a hoax, and unable to forget Tommy's death, Macbeth goes to Strathbane, a nearby town, to infiltrate the local heroin trade. It's a daft scheme -- and perhaps the most courageous thing Macbeth has ever attempted. It may also be the show more last thing he ever does.

"Strathbane's chief superintendent is thrilled with Hamish's plan, so thrilled, in fact, that he brings up a notorious detective inspector from Glasgow to run the operation. The copper in question is Olivia Chater -- aka 'Concrete Knickers.' Beautiful but cold, the tough-talking Olivia will pose as Macbeth's wife.

"Thus begins a charade that would push two stubbon personalities into a war of wills and put an intractable Highlander in an Armani suit among the circling sharks of the underworld. And in either chilling situation it would be fatal for the constable to show vulnerability. Or fall in love.

"... a Highland fling of a mystery, filled with intriguing red herrings, authentic characters, and a place as unforgettable, and magical, as Brigadoon."
~~front and back flaps

Rather a radical departure from the usual murders Hamish gets involved in, farfetched in some ways and quite believable in others. For my tastes, a bit less than satisfying, as I like village cozies better than big city semi-violent mysteries. But of course, it's a very understated example of the latter, given that it's our Hamish at the center of the proceedings. show less

Normally, the overdose death of a heroin addict would hardly raise police suspicions, but our favorite Scottish constable, Hamish Macbeth, is unlike most police and he wonders about more than a few incongruities. And what does it all have to do with new sightings of another monster in the local loch. Hamish suspects nothing more than a new family of seals. In order to collect more information about the heroin overdose, Hamish, with the surprise approval of his Strathbone superiors, goes undercover, literally and figuratively with a notorious detective inspector posing as his wife. Those knowing Hamish will recognize the scenario for trouble and sure enough. But the real trouble is caused by that pesky detective inspector Blair, who show more remains so envious of Hamish's local success. show less

There's not really much I can add to a review of an M.C. Beaton book. They're my guilty pleasure. They're kind of fluff reading but I just can't walk away from Hamish and Agatha. The mysteries are always good and the characters always get into the funniest scrapes. Love them!

This started off very good: a nice cozy set in Scotland. I liked the setting in the rural highlands, and the detective, an unambitious country policeman. But about 1/3 to 1/2 way through it turned insipid. I did not finish it.