Lettres fatales

Hamish Macbeth #19

by M.C. Beaton

Une série de lettres anonymes sème le trouble à Lochdubh. Truffées d’accusations farfelues, elles pourraient prêter à rire, mais lorsque la receveuse des postes est découverte pendue, un message cruel sous ses pieds ballants, la petite ville bascule dans l’horreur. Persuadé qu’il s’agit d’un meurtre, Hamish Macbeth ameute la presse.
Son attention est toutefois détournée par une amie de son ex-fiancée venue semer la zizanie dans son ex-couple, et par la journaliste Elspeth Grant, prête à tout pour élucider l’affaire... Pris entre deux feux, Hamish doit se concentrer sur son but : freiner au plus vite les ardeurs de cette plume assassine.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Cozy Mystery, Crime, Audiobook, Scotland, Cozy

291 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 1, 2004

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Marion Chesney Gibbons
aka: Ann Fairfax, Jennie Tremaine, Helen Crampton, Marion Chesney, Charlotte Ward, Sarah Chester.

Marion Chesney was born on 1936 in Glasgow, Scotland, UK, and started her first job as a bookseller in charge of the fiction department in John Smith & Sons Ltd. While bookselling, by chance, she got an offer from the Scottish Daily Mail to review variety shows and quickly rose to be their theatre critic. She left Smith’s to join Scottish Field magazine as a secretary in the advertising department, without any shorthand or typing, but quickly got the job of fashion editor instead. She then moved to the Scottish Daily Express where she reported mostly on crime. This was followed by a move to Fleet Street to the Daily Express where she became chief woman reporter. After marrying Harry Scott Gibbons and having a son, Charles, Marion went to the United States where Harry had been offered the job of editor of the Oyster Bay Guardian. When that didn’t work out, they went to Virginia and Marion worked as a waitress in a greasy spoon on the Jefferson Davies in Alexandria while Harry washed the dishes. Both then got jobs on Rupert Murdoch’s new tabloid, The Star, and moved to New York.

Anxious to spend more time at home with her small son, Marion, urged by her husband, started to write historical romances in 1977. After she had written over 100 of them under her maiden name, Marion Chesney, and under the pseudonyms: Ann Fairfax, Jennie Tremaine, Helen Crampton, Charlotte Ward, and Sarah Chester, she getting fed up with 1714 to 1910, she began to write detectives stories in 1985 under the pseudonym of M. C. Beaton. On a trip from the States to Sutherland on holiday, a course at a fishing school inspired the first Constable Hamish Macbeth story. They returned to Britain and bought a croft house and croft in Sutherland where Harry reared a flock of black sheep. But Charles was at school, in London so when he finished and both tired of the long commute to the north of Scotland, they moved to the Cotswolds where Agatha Raisin was created.

Reviews

[Bobby Underwood · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Highlands are habitually rife with humor and delicious mystery between the covers of every Hamish Macbeth book from author M.C. Beaton. Constable for a patch of Scotland where gossip and superstition often exasperate Hamish Macbeth, he nonetheless loves his fair Lochdubh and its quirky residents. The mysteries are certainly fun, but it is the atmosphere which keeps readers coming back time and again. Finishing a Hamish book always seems to lighten our load and remind us it is the small things in life which really matter.

Jenny Ogilve arrives from London to eyeball the constable she's heard so much about from Priscilla, who has become engaged to someone other than Hamish. Jenny would like nothing better than to make Priscilla jealous by snagging the ever-elusive Macbeth. With reporter Elspeth diverting Jenny's amateurish attempts at every turn, however, and Hamish with a suicide to investigate, the task at hand becomes quite tricky. Once Hamish realizes what she's up to, he takes Priscilla's advice and lets her help him question the residents of Braike. Before this one is over, he'll wish he hadn't!

Hamish isn't buying the death of the Braike postmistress as suicide. A murder soon follows that death and Hamish suspects poison pen letters may somehow be at the heart of it all. The headmistress might have had a wee bit more interest in a couple of her female students than was proper, and the murder victim may have been having an affair. Jenny gets sidetracked while helping Hamish. leading to some typically hilarious doings; a perfect example of why readers love this series so much.

The dubious seer, Angus, the Currie sisters, Lugs and all the other quirky characters of Lochdubh we've come to enjoy visiting so much are all present in this one. The combination of mystery and humor with a Highland setting is irresistible. There is something wonderful between the covers of a Hamish Macbeth book that nearly defies description, and must be experienced by the reader. A fine entry in a marvelous mystery series. Highly recommended!

[Marilyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like the character Hamish Macbeth and this series HOWEVER I have a problem with this particular book. Hamish remembers that a dentist had been killed in Braikie (Death of a Dentist) and that an elderly man, Fred Sutherland, lived above the dentist's office. He wondered whether Fred still lived in that same place. SERIOUSLY??? Certainly Hamish has found lots of dead bodies in various places, but HOW WOULD HE HAVE FORGOTTEN that Fred was killed not long after the dentist??? WHERE ARE THE COPY EDITORS??? WHY can't authors keep track of the stories they have created?

[Zena · Rating 4 out of 5]

Czytam o przygodach H. Macbetha w zupełnie przypadkowej kolejności, co - jak się okazuje w trakcie lektury - nie wprowadza żadnego zamętu w głowie czytelnika. Historię oceniam jako całkiem udaną, troszkę zawikłaną - może dlatego, że posterunkowy jest rozpraszany przez dwie piękne oobiety. Dobrze oddane ludzkie charaktery, odrobina humoru i świetny szkic małej szkockiej społeczności. Innymi słowy idealny relaks dla miłośników cozy crime.

[Marianne Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another Great Hamish Macbeth Story

Hamish is investigating who is behind a series of poison pen letters in the village when things become even more serious with two mysterious murders linked to the letters. Hamish 's love life becomes even more complicated when reporter Elspeth Grant and Jenny, a friend of Hamish's former fiancee Priscilla compete for his attention. Lots of danger, intrigue and classic Highland humor abound

[~☆~Autumn · Rating 5 out of 5]

This one is very surprising and enjoyed the tiny bit about the fairies again. Death of a Kingfisher had some fairies also. When I was in first grade I knew a girl who believed in fairies. It made me laugh!

[Ivonne Rovira · Rating 4 out of 5]

Poison-pen letter writers populate a number of early 20th century Golden Age mysteries, but, what with the backwardness of author M.C. Beaton’s Scottish Highlands, she makes it plausible that poison-pen letters might still upset a small village like Braikie, near PC Hamish Macbeth’s patch of Lochdubh.

The village postmistress, Amy Beattie, is found hung, an apparent suicide, a poison-pen letter beneath her. But Hamish quickly figures out that Miss Beattie was murdered. Despite his boss’ constant attempt to undermine Hamish, our red-headed copper ends up solving the crimes (yes, there are several). It’s a fun, humorous cozy that’s a quick read, and that’s more than enough.

[Ali · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 stars.

[Margitte]

Blurb: When the residents of Lochdubh begin receiving poison pen letters, no one takes them seriously. But Constable Hamish Macbeth fears them, and his instincts prove correct when the postmistress is found hanging from a rope with a vicious poison pen letter at her feet.

Jenny Ogilvie was jealous of Priscilla Halburton-Smythe. Priscilla had it all. A successful fiancé, beauty, breeding, and gracefulness. Why then was she constantly talking about the village constable, as though he was the most important person in her life. So, Jenny decided to take a holiday in Lochdubh and overhaul Priscilla's happiness a bit ... well, claim some of it for herself ...

An atmosphere of threat and suspicion was hanging over Braikie town's residents ever since the letters were being delivered to homes in which the people's darkest secrets were implied. Some reacted with fear, and others with anger, and Hamish knew something seriously bad was going to happen. And then it did. With an adult insouciance, teenager Penny Roberts, the pet pupil of Miss McAndrew, the school principal, led Hamish onto a path nobody ever envisioned, which rocked the village. Macbeth is determined to prove that a suicide was in fact a murder. It opened up a Pandora's box of secrets and heartaches, but in the process more than one murder was finally solved. There were as much sorrow as joy in the unraveling of the residents' personal histories. Finding the author of all those nasty letters, was just the beginning...

This was a riveting tale, with many characters, and a fast-moving plot. A quick, cozy, compelling drama in 227 pages.

[Julie Durnell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great twisty plot-didn't see the solution coming-loved the ending!

[Nathalie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love the Hamish Macbeth mysteries by M.C. Beaton! This is my second time through this particular title. I really like reader Graeme Malcolm who just personifies Hamish to me. Hamish is the village bobby in Lochdubh (pronounced Lor-Doo) in Scotland. He is brilliant but is not ambitious, preferring to stay in his little police cottage with his few sheep and hens and his dog. He was once promoted to sergeant and had to move to the drug infested Strathbane which he hated. In this book, poison pen letters have been sent to many villagers-- some filled with wild and laughable accusations such as Hamish having an affair with the paragon wife of the local clergy but some having hit their mark. The town's postmistress is found dead...is it suicide or murder as Hamish's instincts lead him to believe. Who is willing to kill to prevent the truth being known? Mix in the local colorful characters of the village and you are in for a pleasant mystery-filled visit to Lochdubh. Havers!

[Adam · Rating 1 out of 5]

A few disclaimers before I go on with this review. 1. This was a free Barnes and Noble serial read so I didn't choose it, it chose me. 2. This is the 19th book in a series (great starting point B&N!) so I do not know all the nuances of the life and times of Hamish Macbeth overall, just this little slice of it. 3. Spoilers obviously follow. 4. On to the review.

This is titled Death of a Poison Pen, but I think it really should have been called Everyone in this book is lousy at their job and should be fired (or every woman wants to hop into bed with Hamish Macbeth and everyone in this book is terrible at their job).

The premise here is that in a little Scottish town called Lochdubh (pronounced Lockdoo) there is someone writing awful letters about people, threatening to expose some secret or other of theirs. The letters are basically based on hearsay or just flat out made up material. Hamish Macbeth the local detective is on the case and is going to stop this letter writer and catch the person doing it before the letters drive someone to suicide. Hamish, our local hero has recently broken up with his fiance. The fiance has a friend who has heard so much talk about Hamish that she thinks it's a good idea to go to Lochdubh and basically try and snag Hamish for herself. So bad letters and a chance for romance. So far so good. What crime the letter writer is committing unless maybe blackmail, was unclear.

Jenny, the woman who is going after Hamish because of some stories she heard decides to basically be MIA from her job for a few weeks and try to land the guy. She's pretty dumb though considering she never looked at a picture of the guy and is super disappointed when she sees him yet she still tries to date him because, um, I dunno it wasn't clear. There's also a reporter named Elspeth who wants to date Hamish and doesn't like the new girl because obviously a rival. Jenny's boss should definitely fire her.

Hamish is really bad at his job because bodies start dropping all over town and he can't figure out who the hell is writing these letters. He takes the letters to a handwriting expert which I thought was good idea until I realized what that meant in this book. I thought they would be like ok, we will take writing samples of things we see around town and try to match the handwriting and stuff and then we will know who the criminal is. NOOOOOOPE. The handwriting expert is like "because the O's are this way, this person has something to hide", etc. This is dis-proven junk science people! I mean I know this is the 19th book in a detective romance series but come on, do a little more research than a really bad Law and Order episode please.

Also, Jenny decides to stick around to try and date Hamish more even though she hates the town, can't really get into Hamish and doesn't seem to understand that when you are outside of London there might be people who don't wear high heels. There was also a completely ridiculous incident involving thong underwear and old ladies finding said underwear that I refuse to get into right here.

Then, in the least ethical move ever, Hamish decides to basically take Jenny around town with him while trying to interview people about these deaths. Uh, dude, I am pretty sure you should fire him for that alone. This leads to Jenny being kidnapped because, well, she is dumb and thinks she can help this other reporter guy to get a job and be his wife by solving a case and getting a story for him. Good luck with that. That guy, I think his name was Joe or John or something. Definitely with a J. Look that doesn't matter, he plagiarized Elspeth to get hired by national newspapers and blamed everyone else. Elspeth on the other hand plagiarizes the cooking column in her paper but apparently that is less of a fireable offense than the other guy doing it. The Joe or John, let's just call him Mr. J cause I wasn't caring to pay that much attention at this point, helps Jenny to steal a doctors note (illegal apparently) so she can fake sick longer and not go back to work. Hamish finds out and decides to do nothing. Awesome police work Hamish!

Ok but onto the really weird stuff. One of the people who dies is a teacher who is really mean to most students except for a couple of girls. She seems to have gotten close to one girl, then stopped helping her and also decided to get close to this other girl. Hamish and Jenny and Elspeth seem to come to the conclusion that this makes the teacher a lesbian and the way that this was written it makes you think that everyone in town thinks lesbians are evil. I really hated that aspect of this book, flat out, no apologies, could not stand that. In one part Hamish asks Amy (I think it was her), one of the girls the teacher got close to, if she knew the teacher was a lesbian. Amy says no, I didn't know she was Greek. So Hamish thinks, ah well at least Amy is still an innocent girl. So a few things to unpack here. 1. That means that if you know of, or have met a lesbian, you are not "an innocent" person. 2. Amy was supposed to be an A student and really bright. I mean I know Scotland is more remote than some countries but lesbians exist there too, and not just the kind from Greece. If she had any brains in her head, she knew what Hamish meant.

Then there is this other incident at an old folk's home where they show people movies. Without even pre-screening it the worker there puts in a video that shows one of the murders. I'm sorry, I have worked in both old folk's homes and schools and there is one thing I know. Do NOT put in a video unless you have pre-screened the thing. Anyway, panic ensues, old people are detained and grilled and Hamish is still as dumb as a brick about who did it.

Turns out that this girl Amy was adopted and apparently that is so shameful that her adoptive parents are willing to kill people to hide it. It was never really clear to me why that would drive someone to multiple murders but I can let that slide a little because, hey, real people in real life do murder people for idiotic reasons at times. What I can't let slide is the scene where they are caught because they have kidnapped Jenny and take her out to this quarry, Hamish and Elspeth following and the wife is afraid of faeries. Yes, you read that right. The murdery criminal wife is defeated by a reporter who shouldn't be there in the first place (sign my fire Hamish Mcbeth petition below) making spooky ghost noises to sound like a faerie. It somehow works, Jenny is saved, bad guys are arrested and only like three people in town had to die before Hamish could get it together enough to have a reporter help him arrest people.

Then at the end of the book, Priscilla, the ex-fiance (you knew this was coming) comes over to see Hamish because she read about her friend being kidnapped. Guess what he is doing? Yes you got it, he was doing Elspeth. Despite being told by like six people that she should come back at a different time, Priscilla walks in on them. That ended the book and really, really did not make me want to continue the series to find out who wants to marry Hamish next.

Petition to Fire Hamish Macbeth

I hereby petition that Hamish Macbeth should be fired for the following reasons:
1. He brings civilians out to do investigative research who have no qualifications and are not authorized to even be there.
2. He lets crimes he actually sees and has proof of slide.
3. He doesn't even radio in where he is going half the time and never takes police backup although, he might bring civilians.
4. He seems to have been dating so many women, he is probably most guilty of spreading social diseases around town, and possibly into London
5. He can't even make his own scary ghostlike faerie noises. What kind of cop is that?

Sign here if you agree____________

[The Flooze · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's amazing how increasingly complicated these stories get. What starts as an irritating case of poison pen letters ends with multiple shocking deaths in the village of Braikie.

Hamish's investigations are helped and hindered by two women. Though both have an interest in him, their motivations are muddled. Jenny, a visitor with a jealous streak, is mostly eager to put Priscilla's nose out of joint. Elspeth, the local reporter, is genuinely attracted to the man but is also very keen to find a story.

On the balance, I like Elspeth. But I think both she and Hamish are not completely themselves with each another. I find myself hoping they won't become a proper item. Still, her presence in the story gives Hamish someone clever and invested to discuss ideas with - someone more down-to-earth than Perfect Priscilla.

Both this book and the last make particular use of the ferocity of the Highland weather. Beaton often emphasizes the dangers of not giving nature its due respect, but here and in Death of a Village, the consequences are striking. Her description of violent waves battering houses, cars, and people is frightening. It reminded me of why I've never loved driving along coast roads in Ireland.

After lots of death and scandal, it's only fair that Beaton wrap everything up with a bit of humor. I find any time the villagers of Lochdubh all get together for a gossip or on a mission, hilarity is soon to follow. The final scenes do not disappoint. Ah, Hamish. How the locals do despair of you and love you all at once.

[Jenn Mattson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Since I’ve been re-reading these so fast that I forgot I had read this one, but since I’ve been reading these close together, I did not forget the fate of Fred Sutherland in Death of a Dentist, so that made me slightly grumpy, but I love these so much and I love the audiobook reader.

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

Boy, I tell ya, taking a holiday in the Highlands sounds awfy risky . . .

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Going to try something new. This book is available as a serial read on Barnes and Noble. So you are allowed a bit of the story to read each day of the month. I have read a few of the author's other books so I thought I would give this a try. We shall see how this goes. Hope it is worth the torture of waiting to read the next part. Well it did not take a month to read the whole book and it was entertaining but I struggled with having to stop at a good point and waiting until the next day to read it.

Some one in down is sending out nasty letters to their neighbors. They are silly overall except they are worrying Hamish McBeth. As constable , McBeth is concerned that the poison pen letters might lead to something worse. Sadly, he is correct. The post mistress is found dead hanged in her apartment and their is a poison pen letter laying on the ground before her. Constable McBeth needs to track down a killer but his personal life is complicating everything. A friend of his former fiance has come to town and she seems to be attracted to Hamish. So tracking down a killer becomes more complicated when Hamish is dodging women and he still does not know if the nasty letters caused the death of the postmistress until another death occurs. Who is writing these Letters? Is the writer of these nasty letters the killer? if not, who Is? Constable Hamish McBeth has his plate full tracking down the answers to this problem but only if he does not get bogged down by his personal life.

This book was enjoyable. I am not sure if I would really give it a 4 star rating but since I cannot give it a 3.5 star review up to 4 it goes. If you noticed, this is the 19th book in the McBeth series. I felt as if I was missing some parts of the overall story by jumping in the middle of the series. The personal history and recurring characters already had been established and while I got the general background I still felt like I was missing something. McBeth is a good character in solving murder but as a man he is annoying. He seemed clueless that a girl shows up in down for no reason except to catch his attention. Hamish seems likes he is attracted to a news reporter friend but he is also pining for his ex-girlfriend who is now engaged to another man and lives away. Since I do not know all the personal history between these people, I can only go on my impressions from this story and my impression is this man needs to take a good hard look at how he feels about each woman in his life and get his act together in his love life. I enjoyed the mystery and overall the characters in this book but I feel I would have enjoyed it better if I had read the series from the beginning. So I recommend if you like a cozy mysteries, it is a good read but starting at the beginning of the series might be best if you like knowing your characters.

[Dale Safford · Rating 5 out of 5]

I listened to this book once, then had an unexpected trip come up and it was what I had available, so I heard it again, all within two weeks. It was just as good the second time! I love these characters. The dry humor is very entertaining, especially when mentioning lesbians, and an innocent schoolgirl responds "they didn't look Greek to me." :-) And the old biddies finding "thong" underwear, and telling the owner of them to "get a respectable pair of knickers that are tight at the knee." LOL The only criticism is that the conclusion leaves you hanging, and I had to listen twice to make sure I wasn't missing something; I wasn't - it just STOPS.

A friend of Hamish Macbeth's love interest Priscilla named Jenny Ogilvie comes from London intent on stealing her friend's guy. She arrives as Hamish and newspaper reporter Elspeth Grant are investigating poison pen letters that several people have received. Then the postmistress is found hanging with one of the letters at her feet. Hamish's superiors think it is a clear case of suicide, but things don't add up to him and he suspects murder (said with a wonderful Scottish lilt!). Will he, with help from Elsbeth and occasionally Jenny, be able to solve this murder before another one occurs?

[meghann · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was the Barnes and Noble Nook serial read for the month of January.

It's always a bit odd to jump into a series at book 19. I do feel like this did a good job of summarizing the important parts of what happened previously so that I was not lost. I really liked Hamish and would be interested in reading more of this series because of him. But I don't think I have ever read a book with so many characters I just could not stand. Jenny is probably the worst I have ever come across. She is feeling jealous of her best friend, so she decides to secretly travel to said friend's hometown and try to hook up with her ex. Lovely. Pat also falls into the category of horrible people, and I really felt like he and Jenny got off easy in this book. The good news is that I don't think they would be in other books in the series, but I wonder if the others are full of characters like that as well. I'm on the fence with Elspeth and was not a fan of the ending when it came to her, but I've also missed out on all the history in the early books.

The mystery itself was full of twists and turns. I thought the motives were a bit far-fetched when all was revealed, but I still enjoyed the story.

[C.J. Prince · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was disappointed in #19 and was going to set Hamish Macbeth aside for a bit. However, driven by curiosity, I grabbed this one and found Hamish to be his own charming self.

M.C. Beaton is increasingly clever in plot lines and murder and the entangled complexity of who-dun-it.

Someone knows something about the locals, details that will humiliate, anger or set one off for revenge. Poison pen letters, details that can injure in a small town. All the ingredients for a murder.

Now, will Hamish ever get his love life together? Just when we're sure he's over Priscilla,some twinge of interest floats through his mind. He's attracted to Elspeth Grant in the last few books but is often rude or bumbling and nothing happens.

After book #20, I do hope M.C. Beaton will allow Hamish a way to develop a relationship with a woman. He is not that inept. And it is what he wants except when he's stumped by cirucmstances and thinks sleeping with Lugs, his dog, is quite perfect.

[Yolanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am loving this series of mysteries set in Scotland and the bumbling redheaded Detective Hamis MacBeth. I love the setting of this book and the interesting characters that populate village life here in the North of Scotland and the sexual tension that abounds between Elspeth and him.
In this Mystery someone is sending poison pen letters causing people to die and Hamish must find out who and why along the way fighting off the advances of Jenny.
In Beatons description of the North of Scotland you learn a lot about this area and the people and customs of this part of the U.K.

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another fun small village mystery in this series. There isn't much more that I haven't said about this series, but I continue to enjoy it. I love how Hamish is casually smarter than everyone else. And how the author can write very silly characters who aren't too over the top, but are sometimes hard to believe. Nosiness and jealous always seemed to prevail over common sense, typically getting people into trouble. Hamish being attracted to everyone women he's with (it seems) may get old, but luckily it's usually presented in such a fun way.

[Dany · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 Stars! I love Cozy mysteries, but this one had very little mystery and pages and pages full of stupid characters. Every single person (except for the main character) was either stupid or incredibly mean and self-centered.
This is the first book I’ve read in this series, so I don’t know if I just picked a bad one or this is just the way things are in these books. I really liked Hamish, but that’s about it :(

[Will Bellais · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just finished this one. Great fun story of prudish, religious types who let their fear of "bastard-hood" create a terrible chain of murders. The touch of Scotland in this one is strong. I always enjoy Hamish MacBeth -- and I've been M.C. Beaton long before she started the successful mystery series. (There are two continuing series).

[Greg · Rating 3 out of 5]

Exactly what a cozy is supposed to be: cozy, perfect for a lazy afternoon with a cuppa. I'm halfway through Gyorgy Spiro's astonishing "Captivity" and needed to step back for a breather. So, a huge thanks to M.C. Beaton for providing this very cozy cozy.

[Patricia Mack · Rating 4 out of 5]

I m endlessly delighted with this series and the main character, Hamish MacBeth. Clever casting, ingeneous story lines and gentle humor. .. what could be better

[Rose Blum · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thoroughly enjoyable ~ great mental picture of the Highland scenery ~ excellent detective work ~ Hamish Macbeth at his red headed best!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :)

[Niki · Rating 4 out of 5]

was really pleased to read a "hamish macbeth" whodunit again - a few twists, some humor, and the wonderful atmosphere of the Highlands

[JZ · Rating 5 out of 5]

My favorite one so far. I particularly loved the ending. lol

[Catherine Pinkett · Rating 2 out of 5]

Worse one in the series I've read

[Elaine · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have all 18 books leading up to Poison Pen and enjoyed them all; just some more than others. Poison Pen is enjoyable, fun and cozy but not my favorite in the series. a poisoned pen letter writer is afoot in the northern Scottish villages that Hamish must protect as constable. He is warned that the letters could lead to someone getting killed. They certainly have everyone upset (even the ladies with the underwear that has elastic at the knees - picture that!). Anyway, I enjoyed all the colorful village characters, culture, superstitions, weather (ugh) and complicated plot. Hamish has 2 women throwing themselves at him for once. I was somewhat surprised that Hamish shares so much inside police information with the local newspaper woman and another lady visiting from London, but they do assist him. Hamish is once again aggravated by the police detectives from Strathbane who want to come in a quickly lay blame and find a suspect, jealous of Hamish's understanding of the local communities. Lots of people are hiding secrets and it takes a while for Hamish and his lady helpers to get them to tell what they know. Throw in a lovable mutt, Scottish idioms and gossip all around and you will love these books.

[Natalie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Trouble has found it's way to Lochdubh in the form of "poison pen" letters. I'd actually never heard that term before. It's easy to figure out from context though - letters sent filled with nasty accusations and meant to upset people.

Most people think they're annoying but harmless. Hamish worries that they might lead to more drastic actions if some hard truths are revealed.

Hamish's worst fears comes to life when the postmistress winds up dead, possibly by suicide. When the poison pen writer herself is also murdered Hamish will have to dig deep into some secrets of the townsfolk.

The ending and motivation for the murders was an odd one in this one. I didn't quite buy it, but as I've said, when I'm with Hamish I'm happy, and honestly 80% of the joy in this series comes from the atmosphere and Beaton's delightfully humorous writing.