Book Review: Death of a Poison Pen

Reviewed By: Luke Croll - RAM

Death of a Poison Pen     Amazon US PB Amazon US HC Amazon Canada PB Amazon Canada HC
M. C. Beaton
Class/Genre:   Mystery   Cozy   Police Procedural
Series: Hamish MacBeth # 20
February 2004, Mysterious Press, 256 pages

'Death of a Poison Pen' is the latest in M. C. Beaton's long-running Hamish Macbeth series. In this new cozy mystery story, Macbeth is investigating a spate of poison pen letters in the village of Braikie. It appears nothing too serious, but things take a deadly twist when the postmistress is murdered. As Macbeth investigates, he also finds himself stuck between two women who are pursuing him for his affections. Can Hamish manage to achieve another successful conclusion?

Reading a Hamish Macbeth novel is always a pleasure. Set in a tiny Scottish village, it is so different from the usual big city stories, making a refreshing change. Braikie and Lochdubh are as far away from Ian Rankin's Edinburgh as you can imagine. Nevertheless, this does not prevent M. C. Beaton from writing a mystery in which there is plenty of plot. Macbeth is confronted with a long list of suspects and to have two women vying for his affections adds humour to the novel.

'Death of a Poison Pen' is an easy read and Beaton's conversational style will soon have the reader racing through the chapters. For once, it appears that Macbeth will achieve happiness at the end, but at the last moment, Beaton throws a spanner into the works, allowing for plenty of plot development in the next novel. Although this is the twentieth in this series, it still feels fresh and I am certain that there is a lot of life in Hamish Macbeth yet. Cozy mysteries do not get much better than this.

Luke Croll - RAM

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Luke Croll - RAM

Luke Croll - Conference interpreter and translator
http://lukecroll.translatorscafe.com