Saturday August 26

My Heart is in the Highlands

Categories: Mystery & Suspense , Rediscoveries , Staff Picks , Fiction

I've been so busy at work lately.  Flying from one thing to the next, hurry, scurry out to the reference desk and then back to the office to work on everything else I have to do.  Busy is good.  It's fun to be involved in all the great things the library is doing, but sometimes when I get home I need a little help winding down.

Enter Hamish MacBeth.  No, I haven't found a pleasant Scotsman to greet me at the door with dinner when I arrive home; Hamish is a character in a series of books by M.C. Beaton.  A cozy mystery with a pleasant main character is a great way to unwind, and though Hamish can't beat an actual man bearing dinner, he is pleasant to curl up with nonetheless.

 

Possibly my favorite MacBeth story is the first one, Death of a Gossip. In this story, the modest constable is required to seek out the guilty party among tourists lodged at the local fishing school.  It's a simple enough plot, with a nice range of potential villians, a lovely upper-class sidekick/love-interest, and Hamish endeavoring to solve the case while avoiding promotion (a common theme throughout the series). What makes it great reading for winding down after work is its simplicity and the charming persona of Constable MacBeth.

So, I have a new love to curl up with on the couch.  He's sweet, sensitive, and not at all ambitious.    Hopefully, with 21 books in the series this affair won't be too fleeting!

Permalink Posted by Maria

1 Comment

O, beware o' bonie Hamish. He's equally seductive on film as played by Robert Carlyle of "The Full Monty" fame. A friend of mine was one of many women who lost their hearts, and minds, to Carlyle for a year or so after "Monty" was released actually, some have never recovered (see the site of the Robert Carlyle Works discussion list, http://www.geocities.com/robert_carlyle_works/.) My friend even bought a converter for watching European PAL-format videos of "Hamish" and other great Carlyle productions from British television. The TV series, which is much more humorous than the books, eventually ran on BBC America, although a wee bit censored, and the first season is "available" at the Library. I've had a Hold on it since May. BTW, in "Monty," when Carlyle comes on stage, he looks startled by the uproarious applause, then whispers "Hamish" to a fellow stripper by way of explanation.
August 26 | 02:04 PM kate Thingg

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