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Death of a Hussy (A Hamish Macbeth Mystery) | 
 enlarge | Author: M.c. Beaton
Publisher: Ivy Books
Category: Book
List Price: £6.99
Buy Used: £1.61
You Save: £5.38 (77%)
Used (9) from £1.61
Rating:  3 reviews
Sales Rank: 313545
Media: Mass Market Paperback
Edition: Reprint
Pages: 160
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 6.9 x 4.2 x 0.5
ISBN: 0804107688
Dewey Decimal Number: 813
EAN: 9780804107686
ASIN: 0804107688
Publication Date: June 1, 2004
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: Brand New, Perfect Condition, Please allow 4-14 business days for delivery. 100% Money Back Guarantee, Over 1,000,000 customers served.
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| Customer Reviews:
Wry humour February 7, 2008
Claire King (UK)
If you are coming to this from either the TV programmes, or the same author's Agatha Raisin series, you will not be disappointed. The books have a more subtle humour than the TV programmes and the characters are more carefully drawn than in the Agatha Raisin series. A highly entertaining read that will have me hunting out the others in the series.
The Best Book in the Hamish Macbeth Series! January 12, 2007
Donald Mitchell (Boston)
What's a hussy? The definition that fits this book is "an immoral woman." As you can imagine, hussies are not well regarded in the conservative Scottish highlands. Put a hussy in that locale, and the results can be explosive.
If you love Hamish Macbeth mysteries, you have a great treat ahead of you with Death of a Hussy. But if you haven't read any of the books in the series, you owe it to yourself to begin with the excellent, Death of a Gossip. Then go on to read the books in order of their publication. You'll enjoy the development of the ongoing characters better that way.
As the book opens, Hamish has been banished to Strathbane to be beat officer. His new partner there proves to be a good foil for lots of humor. But he misses Lochdubh. Feeling forlorn, rescue comes from an unexpected direction: New resident Maggie Baird suggests that the locals make up imaginary crimes to force the powers to be to send Hamish back . . . even though she's never met him. Strathbane capitulates and Hamish returns. Then the story leaps forward in time as Maggie retires from the scene to work on recovering her previous good looks from the days when she was a highly sought-after companion for rich men. Her timid niece, Allison, remains behind with one thing on her mind: Becoming a driver. Hamish is pressed into duty as her driving instructor. The book alternates between Hamish and Allison as the narrators, and the contrast enlivens the story development. Maggie unexpectedly returns, much thinner, more toned, with freshly dyed and cropped hair, and wearing expensive clothes. But she's in a bad mood. She has set up four of her former lovers in competition to marry her for her money. In the meantime, Maggie makes life difficult for Allison, her heir. When Maggie dies following a suspicious car fire, the criminal investigation part of Death of a Hussy begins. You probably won't have any trouble figuring out who the murderer is, but it's a most enjoyable story. There's also a development on the Priscilla-Hamish front to look forward to.
Death of a Hussy has several qualities that make it stand out from other books in the series:
1. The subplots are long, interesting, and invariably humorous.
2. The time involved isn't compressed into just a few days. As a result, there's more room for interaction and development in relations among the characters.
3. There's more variety of locales than usual.
4. The humor is much stronger throughout the book. You almost get a sense of M.C. Beaton as being a perfectly happy person in reading this book.
5. The plot nicely brings out new dimensions of the on-going characters in ways that strengthen the series for future books.
This book shows much more care in planning and execution than the earlier or later books in the series. It's as though M.C. Beaton realized that she had a potentially bigger winner on her hands if she made some mid-course corrections in the series . . . and those corrections are perfect!
A great book! January 7, 2004
Kurt A. Johnson (Marseilles, IL USA)
4 out of 5 found this review helpful
This is the fifth in a series of mysteries featuring the detective work of small town, Highland Scottish detective Hamish Macbeth, P.C. In this story, Maggie Baird, a rich Londoner of more than somewhat checkered history, moves into Lochdubh for peace and quiet, but then finds it too peaceful and quiet. Deciding that she needs to marry again, she invites four old suitors to her house and then announces that she'll marry one, and bestow all her money on him. When Maggie ends up dead, its up to Hamish to find out who did it and why.My wife has been a big Hamish Macbeth fan for years, and now I know why. This story was a great deal of fun to read. I enjoyed the characters that Ms. Beaton created, finding them interesting and well developed. I enjoyed her setting of small town Scotland, and found the story and setting believable and captivating. If you are interested in a story set in modern Scotland, or just a good mystery, then I highly recommend this book to you.
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