Death of a Village

M. C. Beaton

Feb 2003 · Blackstone Audio Inc. · Narrated by Graeme Malcolm

About this audiobook

The aromas of wild thyme and Highland heather waft through Lochdubh, home to M. C. Beaton’s lanky policeman, Hamish Macbeth. Yet what the likeable village constable senses in his latest case is the acrid scent of fear as an entire town is entrapped in something dark and deadly.

Yet, as he deftly investigates the summer’s high crimes and misdemeanors, he attracts the attention of his superiors. They feel a promotion and transfer will give him a larger playing field than his small village, but that’s the last thing Macbeth wants. Now the likeable constable needs a clever way to quash the move without losing his job entirely.

Ratings and reviews

Wonderful descriptions of place. I didn't like the artificial means of keeping Elspeth and Hamish apart. It feels a bit like one M. C. Beaton wrote the first book with Elspeth and then some other M. C. Beaton wrote the next couple, twisting Elspeth away from who she was to make her a romantic flop. Parts of the story do strain credulity, but it's good fun as usual. The reading as always with Graeme Malcolm was excellent.

About the author

M. C. Beaton (1936–2019), hailed as the “Queen of Crime” by the Globe and Mail, was the author of the New York Times and USA Today bestselling Agatha Raisin novels—the basis for the hit series on Acorn TV—as well as the Hamish Macbeth series. Born in Scotland, Beaton also wrote nearly one hundred historical romances under several pseudonyms. Her books have been translated into nineteen languages and sold more than twenty-two million copies worldwide.

Graeme Malcolm was an actor and winning audiobook narrator who earned twelve AudioFile Earphones Awards. He has performed on Broadway as Pharaoh in Aida and as Sir Edward Ramsay in The King and I. His television appearances include Law & Order, Follow the River, and Mr. Halpern and Mr. Johnson (with Laurence Olivier). His film credits include A Further Gesture, The Adventures of Sebastian Cole, and Reunion.