Death of a Travelling Man

Rating:
Summary: Death of a Travelling Man
Review: "Death of a Travelling Man" is the ninth Hamish Macbeth mystery by M. C. Beaton, a series set in the Scottish highlands in the town of Lochdubh. Hamish has been promoted to sergeant, and has a helper in P.C. Willie Lamont. With so little crime in Lochdubh Willie is usually either cleaning the station or spending time at the Italian restaurant with the lovely Lucia. Sean Gourlay and his girlfriend Cheryl Higgins roll into Lochdubh in an old bus converted into a travelling home. Hamish knows they are trouble and orders them to leave. The townspeople think he is being too harsh, and the pair soon park their bus in back of minister Wellington's home. Soon after their arrival, many of the women of the town start acting strangely. Four vials of morphine vanish from Dr. Brodie's office and one hundred pounds disappear from the Mother's Union. Then Sean is found murdered in the bus. Who killed him? Was it one of the women of the town whom Sean had been blackmailing? Was it Willie Lamont, who learns that Lucia had kissed Sean Gourlay? Could it have been Sean's girlfriend, Cheryl? Hamish once again sorts through everything and solves the murder. An interesting turn takes place in Hamish's relationship with Priscilla Halburton-Smythe. "Death of a Travelling Man" is an excellent novel and a very entertaining read.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent and Very Entertaining
Review: Death of a Travelling Man is an excellent addition to the Hamish Macbeth series. In it we see a newly promoted Hamish trying to put up with a trying police constable (P.C Willie Lamont). All Hamish wants is the privacy of his home back without the arduous efforts at cleaning by Willie. A man can't even relax in his home - Hamish thinks. Then something happens to really upset the applecart in the village of Lochdubh. A "traveller" arrives in town, and seems intent on staying. Hamish, for some reason can't stand the man, but all the village ladies seem to think he's marvellous, at first. Then it appears that some of the women in town have had a sudden change in personality, and the peace of Locdubh is ruined. When Sean, the traveller, is found bludgeoned to death in his trailer (or caravan as the English call it), Hamish can't help breathing a sigh of relief, but peace doesn't return and he realizes that it won't until he finds the killer. Hamish is his usual lovable and charming self, but he finds he has to get tough with some long term Locdubh residents in order to get to the truth. This is probably one of my favourite Hamish stories so far.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent and Very Entertaining
Review: Death of a Travelling Man is an excellent addition to the Hamish Macbeth series. In it we see a newly promoted Hamish trying to put up with a trying police constable (P.C Willie Lamont). All Hamish wants is the privacy of his home back without the arduous efforts at cleaning by Willie. A man can't even relax in his home - Hamish thinks. Then something happens to really upset the applecart in the village of Lochdubh. A "traveller" arrives in town, and seems intent on staying. Hamish, for some reason can't stand the man, but all the village ladies seem to think he's marvellous, at first. Then it appears that some of the women in town have had a sudden change in personality, and the peace of Locdubh is ruined. When Sean, the traveller, is found bludgeoned to death in his trailer (or caravan as the English call it), Hamish can't help breathing a sigh of relief, but peace doesn't return and he realizes that it won't until he finds the killer. Hamish is his usual lovable and charming self, but he finds he has to get tough with some long term Locdubh residents in order to get to the truth. This is probably one of my favourite Hamish stories so far.

Rating:
Summary: Manages to be at once both slight and offensive.
Review: Death of a Travelling Man is the first I've read of the Hamish MacBeth series, and it doesn't particularly inspire me to go back for seconds. Both the titular sleuth, an easygoing yet somewhat crotchety everyman police officer, and the small Scottish town of Lockdubh, while not the simply enchanting hamlet the PR material would have one believe, have promise, but the story is unambitious and largely mediocre, and the book's cavalier attitude toward its crimes and victims - impatient, desultory, and eventually devolving to the point where what is essentially a rape is milked for laughs - derails it. Could've used more compassion and depth, a bit more investment in its setting and characters; the resolution of the mystery is rather trite as well. Don't bother.

Rating:
Summary: Manages to be at once both slight and offensive.
Review: Death of a Travelling Man is the first I've read of the Hamish MacBeth series, and it doesn't particularly inspire me to go back for seconds. Both the titular sleuth, an easygoing yet somewhat crotchety everyman police officer, and the small Scottish town of Lockdubh, while not the simply enchanting hamlet the PR material would have one believe, have promise, but the story is unambitious and largely mediocre, and the book's cavalier attitude toward its crimes and victims - impatient, desultory, and eventually devolving to the point where what is essentially a rape is milked for laughs - derails it. Could've used more compassion and depth, a bit more investment in its setting and characters; the resolution of the mystery is rather trite as well. Don't bother.

Rating:
Summary: A fun Hamish Mac Beth mystery
Review: Hamish is trying to deal with his promotion and new constable Willie. Willie is a clean freak and is driving the laconic Hamish crazy. The police station is also abnormally busy. Two travellers arrive in the village in a beat up bus. Everyone but Hamish seems to be charmed by the couple. The local reverend even lets him park his bus on the grass next to the manse. Then odd crimes occur. Money is stolen from the Mother's Union fund, and morphine is missing from Dr. Brodie's office. Priscilla's scarf is taken, then found, and finally, the Currie sisters have put their house up for sale. Mrs. Brodie, Mrs. Wellington, and Jessie Currie are miserable. Hamish thinks that it has something to do with the Travelling Man. Soon after, Sean turns up dead, beaten to death with a sledge hammer. Hamish is terribly afraid that one of the villagers committed the crime.

This was a funny mystery. Hamish is lazy on the outside and busy in his mind as usual. Willie's romance with the beautiful Lucia is hysterical. I love the way his scrubs his way into her heart. Hamish's devious solving of the crime without effort or getting promoted is very entertaining.

Rating:
Summary: A fun Hamish Mac Beth mystery
Review: Hamish is trying to deal with his promotion and new constable Willie. Willie is a clean freak and is driving the laconic Hamish crazy. The police station is also abnormally busy. Two travellers arrive in the village in a beat up bus. Everyone but Hamish seems to be charmed by the couple. The local reverend even lets him park his bus on the grass next to the manse. Then odd crimes occur. Money is stolen from the Mother's Union fund, and morphine is missing from Dr. Brodie's office. Priscilla's scarf is taken, then found, and finally, the Currie sisters have put their house up for sale. Mrs. Brodie, Mrs. Wellington, and Jessie Currie are miserable. Hamish thinks that it has something to do with the Travelling Man. Soon after, Sean turns up dead, beaten to death with a sledge hammer. Hamish is terribly afraid that one of the villagers committed the crime.

This was a funny mystery. Hamish is lazy on the outside and busy in his mind as usual. Willie's romance with the beautiful Lucia is hysterical. I love the way his scrubs his way into her heart. Hamish's devious solving of the crime without effort or getting promoted is very entertaining.

Rating:
Summary: HAMISH MACBETH STRIKES AGAIN!!!
Review: I have read nearly all the series up to and including this one. I think this may be the best one of all. Hamish now has a side-kick by th name of Willie Lamont. Hamish would love to get rid of him so he could go back to his old way of doing things. The travelling man is Sean Gourlay, a traveller, something like a gypsy. He parks his bus on the Pastors property and Hamish cannot make hom leave. Then things begin to disappear, and people begin to change. Hamish is sure Sean is behind it. Then Sean is murdered. Hamish is really glad but he has to find the killer. Seems Sean was getting close to four ladies in town. Any of them would have done it. Also the restaurant owner wanted to kill him. But who did? Hamish also has to fight Inspector Blair, who wants to discredit Hamish before he gets another promotion. Will Hamish find the right killer? Will he ever propose to Priscilla? Will what the four ladies did be found out? Need to read to find the answers. I think you will enjoy the book. Great Scottish words and country.

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Summary: hamish mcbeth satisfies once again
Review: once more i was entralled by the adventures of Police Constable hamish mcBeth. I love this series and Death of a Travelling man was exceptional. When a suspious looking man and woman camp in Lochduhh hamish smells trouble. When the man is killed it's up to hamish to find out who did it and why. It seemed that the man really turned on the charm with the ladies of the village. Happy reading!

Rating:
Summary: A fun, readable story and a likeable character.
Review: This is the 8th Hamish Macbeth novel (c 1993), but the first time I've encountered him. He's drawn with humor and compassion by the author of the Agatha Raisin books. But Agatha is sometimes hard to like, whereas Hamish is very likeable and kind. The mystery follows an unusual path and has a satisfactory conclusion. The little Scottish town is going to be fun to visit, but in this book it's only a skeleton sketch of a place. I'm sure, as with the Agatha books, that it develops more of a sense of place as its description unfolds in the other books. The same goes for the town's characters. Here they are mostly just cutouts. But the "temporary" villains are well done. Still, it's a fun story and a charming character.