M.C. Beaton

It's springtime in the Highlands but storms are brewing for Hamish Macbeth. His life is going to pot. He has - horrors! - been promoted, his new boss is a dunce, and a sinister self-proclaimed gypsy and his girlfriend have parked their rusty eyesore of a van in the middle of the village.

Hamish smells trouble and as usual he's right. The doctor's drugs have gone missing. Money vanishes.

And neighbours suddenly become unneighbourly. Nobody wants to talk either, so canny Hamish faces the delicate task of worming the facts out of the villagers. In the process he uncovers a story so bizarre that neither he nor the locals may ever be able to forget it...

Sergeant Hamish Macbeth - Scotland's most quick-witted but unambitious policeman - returns for the latest mystery in M.C. Beaton's New York Times bestselling series. Nobody loves an honest man, or that was what police sergeant Hamish Macbeth tried to tell newcomer Paul English.

Paul attended church in Lochdubh. He told the minister, Mr. Wellington, that his sermons were boring.

He told tweedy Mrs. Wellington that she was too fat. Angela Brody was told her detective stories were pap for the masses and it was time she wrote literature instead.

He accused Hamish of having dyed his fiery red hair. He told Jessie Currie - who repeated all the last words of her twin sister - that she needed psychiatric help. 'I speak as I find,' he bragged.

Voices saying, 'I could kill that man,' could be heard from Lochdubh to Cnothan. And someone did. Now Hamish is faced with a bewildering array of suspects.

And he's lost the services of his clumsy policeman, Charlie, who has resigned from the force after throwing Chief Inspector Blair into the loch. Can Hamish find the killer on his own?Praise for M. C.

Beaton'The much-loved Hamish Macbeth series . . .

a beguiling blend of wry humour and sharp observations of rural life' The Good Book Guide 'It's always a special treat to return to Lochdubh' New York Times 'First rate . . .

deft social comedy and wonderfully realised atmosphere' Booklist'M C Beaton's Hamish Macbeth books are a delight: clever, intricate and sardonic' Kerry Greenwood

A dead witness. A forgotten crime. Hamish Macbeth never had it so hard as in this newest Highlands mystery!Morag Merrilea is working at the Shopmark Fashions factory during her summer holidays to earn some extra cash.

But when the art student complains to Hamish about the theft of her sketchbook in the pub, he doesn't take her too seriously. After all, she had been drinking and can't quite remember what happened... and then turns out to be snippy when Hamish questions her further.

But then her body is discovered - and Hamish is forced to investigate a crime where the only witness has been murdered . . .

'The detective novels of M. C. Beaton, a master of outrageous black comedy, have reached cult status' Anne Robinson, The Times 'The much-loved Hamish Macbeth series .

. . beguiling blend of wry humour and sharp observations about rural life' Good Book Guide

The first book in M.C. Beaton's charming Poor Relation series. What do you do if you are of noble stock, but impoverished, and living in London with a certain style to maintain? One has to work... but One's relatives will be appalled when One turns One's hand to trade - and opens a hotel, The Poor Relation, offering employment to others of the same social standing and in the same awkward situation. This is precisely what Mrs Fortescue decides upon and, together with friend Colonel Sandhurst, transforms her decrepit Bond Street home into a posh hotel, offering guests the pleasure of being waited upon by the nobility. So with the help of other down-and-out aristocrats they do just that - and London's newest, and most fashionable! - hotel is born... much to the dismay of the Duke of Rowcester, Lady Fortescue's nephew, who is convinced his aunt's foray into trade will denigrate the illustrious family name!'Romance fans are in for a treat' - Booklist'[M. C. Beaton] is the best of the Regency writers' - Kirkus Reviews