Showing results by author "M.C. Beaton" in Police Procedurals

A missing person report is not usually something that Hamish Macbeth sees as cause for undue distress. Should a child or a vulnerable person vanish, it's an urgent matter that needs to be treated seriously, but in Macbeth's experience, most other people who go missing tend to turn up again before long. So when Kate Hibbert disappears after having last been seen struggling along the road with a heavy suitcase, he is convinced she has gone travelling and reluctantly goes through the motions of investigating.

Mrs. Gillespie is famous around the northwest of Sutherland for being the best charwoman ever. Of course, if anyone has any social pretensions one does not say charwoman, one talks about "my maid". Hamish Macbeth wins Mrs. Gillespie's services in a church raffle but spends most of the day trying to avoid her. She is a malicious gossip and she bangs around the furniture and clanks pots--he wonders how on earth she managed to get such a good reputation.

All Sergeant Hamish Macbeth ever wants is a quiet life in the tranquil surroundings of Lochdubh, his home village in the Scottish Highlands. Although the area he polices is vast, he's happiest when he's working alone, yet the police authorities insist he has an assistant. In the past, they have supplied a variety of problematic misfits, but they surpass themselves with their latest effort - an American named James Bland.

Not bored to death but murder most foul... Celebrated author John Heppel is known in Lochdubh as a self-important bore, prone to belittling the scribblings of the locals in his creative writing class. So when he's found dead, his mouth oozing ink, it seems a fitting fate. But for PC Hamish Macbeth, the murder is more than a disruption of idyllic village life - especially when the media arrive, trailing in their wake DCI Heather Meikle, a maneater with a taste for bachelor police constables.

She couldn't paint to save her life - so someone's given her a lesson by taking it! Most newcomers don't stay long in remote Lochdubh - usually boredom, dampness and nosy locals drive them out. But it looks as if artist Effie Garrand has come to stay. When Hamish Macbeth calls on her he's amazed to find the woman in residence after a particularly harsh winter. Unfortunately, Effie is also quite delusional, having convinced herself that fellow local artist Jock Fleming is in love with her, and that they are engaged.

Nobody loves an honest man, or that was what police sergeant Hamish Macbeth tried to tell newcomer Paul English. Paul attended church in Lochdubh. He told the minister, Mr. Wellington, that his sermons were boring. He told tweedy Mrs. Wellington that she was too fat. Angela Brody was told her detective stories were pap for the masses and it was time she wrote literature instead. He accused Hamish of having dyed his fiery red hair. He told Jessie Currie - who repeated all the last words of her twin sister - that she needed psychiatric help.

Sergeant Hamish Macbeth is alarmed to receive a report from a woman in the small village of Cronish in the Scottish Highlands. She has been brutally attacked and the criminal is on the loose. But upon further investigation, Hamish discovers that she was lying about the crime. So when the same woman calls him back about an intruder, he simply marvels at her compulsion to lie. This time, though, she is telling the truth. Her body is found in her home and Hamish must sort through all of her lies to solve the crime.

Amazing news is spreading like wildfire across the Scottish countryside: the most famous of all Highland bachelors, police sergeant Hamish Macbeth, is planning to marry at last! Everyone in the village of Lochdubh adores Josie McSween, Hamish's newest constable and blushing bride-to-be. While locals think she is quite a catch, Hamish has a severe case of pre-nuptial jitters... after all, if it wasn't for the recent murder of a beautiful woman in a neighbouring village there wouldn't be a wedding in the first place.

James Harrison has recently moved to a restored hunting lodge in Sutherland with his gorgeous private nurse Gloria Dainty. When Hamish visits Mr. Harrison to welcome him to the neighborhood, the old man treats him very rudely. Gloria apologises for her employer's behavior, and Hamish takes the plunge and invites her out for dinner. On the appointed evening, Hamish waits for Gloria at the restaurant. And waits. But Gloria never shows up. Four days later, Gloria's body washes up on the beach near Braikie.

Celebrated author John Heppel is known in Lochdubh as a self-important bore, prone to belittling the scribblings of the locals in his creative writing class. So when he's found dead, his mouth oozing ink, it seems a fitting fate. But for PC Hamish Macbeth the murder is more than a disruption to idyllic village life - especially when the media arrive, trailing in their wake DCI Heather Meikle, a maneater with a taste for bachelor police constables. Hamish must rekindle an old flame to escape her clutches and pull out all the stops to find the killer . . .

PC Dorothy McIver quickly shows how determined she is to win over the locals, and she certainly seems to bring out the best in Macbeth. Then comes a brutal murder, and the pair find themselves plunged into a tangled web of conspiracy that acquires a sinister strand when the chilling shadow of Glasgow's underworld creeps to the Highlands and the peaceful village of Lochdubh.

PC Hamish Macbeth can't help but admire the resourcefulness of the Highlanders during the recession - in tough times they have to lure tourists to their sleepy towns and the quaint village of Braikie has come up with a novel solution. It really doesn't have that much to offer apart from a place of rare beauty called Buchan's Wood, which the clued-up local tourist board director has rechristened "The Fairy Glen" and has had brochures printed with a beautiful kingfisher rising from a lake on the cover.

When Sergeant Hamish Macbeth is sent to investigate reports that the wealthy new laird of the remote Naglar House has disappeared, Scotland is hit by the worst storm in living memory. The road is washed away, phone lines are down, mobile reception is dead and his police radio is out of order. He is trapped with the laird's high-class house guests. Then he discovers the laird's body. Forced to remain overnight at the house, he interviews each of the guests and pieces together an alarming picture of clandestine infidelity, vicious jealousy, deadly revenge, lust, greed and fear.

All Hamish Macbeth ever really wants is a quiet life in the peaceful surroundings of his home in the Highland village of Lochdubh. Unfortunately for him, the time he would normally find most relaxing, after the tourists have gone and before the winter sets in, turns out to be far from peaceful. The new love in his life, Claire, is keen for them to take a holiday and Hamish is mulling over the idea when his newly-assigned constable arrives, presenting Hamish with both a surprise and a secret.

Most newcomers don't stay long in remote Lochdubh - usually boredom, dampness and nosy locals drive them out. But it looks as if artist Effie Garrard has come to stay. When Hamish Macbeth calls on her he's amazed to find the woman in residence after a particularly harsh winter. Unfortunately, Effie is also quite delusional, having convinced herself that fellow local artist Jock Fleming is in love with her and that they are engaged. But after a lover's scrap with Jock, Effie is found dead, poisoned by hemlock.

Wenn der Müllmann ins Gras beißt... Als Fergus Macleod, der schnell beleidigte und oft betrunkene Müllmann von Lochdubh, zum Leiter des örtlichen Recyclingzentrums und zum Umweltbeauftragten ernannt wird, wittert der schottische Dorfpolizist Hamish Macbeth bereits Ärger. Fergus wird durch seine neuen Befugnisse tatsächlich zu einem Tyrannen, und als seine Leiche in einer Mülltonne gefunden wird, tut es niemandem leid - noch nicht einmal seiner Familie... An Verdächtigen mangelt es also nicht.

Eigentlich will Hamish nur seinen Schnupfen auskurieren, als er die Einladung in ein Wellnesshotel auf der schottischen Insel Eileencraig annimmt. Seine Gastgeberin Jane dagegen bangt um ihr Leben und hofft, dass Hamish sie vor allem Arg beschützen kann. Kaum ist er da, gibt es tatsächlich eine Leiche. Allerdings musste nicht Jane ihr Leben lassen, sondern die schrecklich arrogante Heather. Verdächtige für die Tat gibt's unter der exklusiven Gästeschar genug - denn auch in der High Society tun sich erschreckende Abgründe auf.

In welchen trüben Gewässern muss Hamish diesmal angeln? Eigentlich ist Tommy Jarret auf der Suche nach einem Seeungeheuer in der Nähe des Dorfes Drim. Aber dann ist er plötzlich tot. Offenbar starb er an einer Überdosis Drogen. Hamish Macbeth findet das Ableben des Jungen ein bisschen sehr merkwürdig - und seine Spürnase hat den schottischen Dorfpolizisten noch nie getäuscht! Daher beschließt er, undercover zu ermitteln, und schleust sich in den illegalen Drogenhandel im nahe gelegenen Strathbane ein.

Do pobliskiego miasteczka Drim przyjeżdża Peter Hynd, elegancki kawaler z niezłymi dochodami. Małomiasteczkowe panny natychmiast rozpoczynają rywalizację o względy arakcyjnego mężczyzny. Na początku ich niegroźne kłótnie są dla Hamisha Macbetha miłą rozrywką. Do czasu. Gdy pojawiają się groźby pozbawienia życia i pobicia, sytuacja staje się niepokojąca. Wreszcie dochodzi do morderstwa. Hamish musi na chwilę zapomnieć o przygotowaniach do ślubu z Priscillą Halburton-Smythe i skupić się na odnalezieniu zabójcy.

Kiedy Jane Wetherby zaprasza posterunkowego Hamisha Macbetha do swojego SPA "Szczęśliwy Wędrowiec" na wyspie Eileencraig, ten z radością przyjmuje zaproszenie. Niestety, wizyta nie ma nic wspólnego z relaksem. Mieszkańcy wietrznej wyspy nie chcą u siebie ani SPA, ani jego właścicielki. Goście Jane też nie należą do sympatycznych. Wszystkim na nerwy działa zwłaszcza Heather Todd. Kiedy więc zostaje znaleziona martwa u stóp klifu, nikt nie wydaje się przejęty jej śmiercią. Ale nie Hamish.