Death of a Bore

It is shocking how pleased one is when someone in Hamish Macbeth's Scottish village gruesomely murders the mean, pretentious, and self-obsessed writer who offered classes to the villagers and then mocked their hopes and their attempts to interrupt his song of himself. Hamish's former flame arrives to cover the murder story, her fellow reporter falls for a local school teacher, a visiting English television crew filming a script by the deceased offers multiple nutball suspects, and the new, overbearing female chief inspector is chronically drunk and sexually harassing Macbeth. What a joy. Graeme Malcolm's cool, dry chameleon voice moves from one well-thought-out choice for a character to the next, giving not just their many different lilts but also their personalities, with the deftest of touches. B.G. (c) AudioFile 2005, Portland, Maine

January 31, 2005
Only established fans will enjoy M.C. Beaton's Death of a Bore: A Hamish Macbeth Mystery, this predictable series' soporific 21st installment (after 2004's Death of a Poisoned Pen), in which the contrary constable investigates the mysterious death of a self-styled "literary writer" and world-class bore in that Scottish Shangri-La, the village of Lochdubh. Should the U.K. TV series based on Beaton's Hamish Macbeth novels reach the U.S., expect more readers to wake up and pay attention. Agent, Barbara Lowenstein. .