Death of a Witch
Posted: Mon Mar 09, 2009 8:59 am
This is the latest in M.C. Beaton's Hamish Macbeth series. I love these because I can figure out the Scottish Highland murders right alongside Hamish. I love getting to know the Highlands, learning all the quirks of language and usage there and getting a peek at how folks live there. I try to imagine living there and wonder whether I'm eccentric enough to fit in. 
Returning from a disappointing holiday Spain, Hamish Macbeth is worried because he senses a dark cloud of evil hanging over the Highland village of Lochdubh. He learns that a newcomer, Catriona Beldame, is regarded as a witch and various men have been seen visiting her. Hamish himself is charmed by her until he finds out she has been supplying dangerous potions. At first the villagers won't listen to him, saying that the loveless Hamish has turned against all women. He threatens to kill her so that when she is found murdered, he must clear his name and then work to solve yet another murder to bring peace and quiet back to his beloved village. His investigations are complicated by a romance with a female forensic expert while the two other women in his life remain involved in the case as well. All the while he has to deal with the incompetancies of his superior officer.
Returning from a disappointing holiday Spain, Hamish Macbeth is worried because he senses a dark cloud of evil hanging over the Highland village of Lochdubh. He learns that a newcomer, Catriona Beldame, is regarded as a witch and various men have been seen visiting her. Hamish himself is charmed by her until he finds out she has been supplying dangerous potions. At first the villagers won't listen to him, saying that the loveless Hamish has turned against all women. He threatens to kill her so that when she is found murdered, he must clear his name and then work to solve yet another murder to bring peace and quiet back to his beloved village. His investigations are complicated by a romance with a female forensic expert while the two other women in his life remain involved in the case as well. All the while he has to deal with the incompetancies of his superior officer.