M. C. Beaton: Death of a Witch

Genre:
Mystery - Scottish, contemporary, a traditional cozy

Escape Experience:
Home is a quaint and tidy croft in the Scottish Highlands, nestled amidst mountains and a loch. You spend your days tending sheep and chickens. You take long rambles around the loch with your dog in the mornings, followed by leisurely strolls through the quiet village in the evenings. You know and love every inch of the land and every eccentric inhabitant of the village. Happy and content, you wouldn't trade your idyllic existence for all the Crown Jewels.

Read this if you're into...
Wearing L.L. Bean from head to toe (almost): woolen caps, flannel shirts, corduroy trousers, cozy fleece pullovers, outerwear and footwear. A frugal consumer with a casual, sometimes rustic, but always appropriate style, you indulge in one luxury: cashmere socks by Pringle of Scotland to keep your tootsies toasty on those early morning scrambles through moors and mountains.

Plot:
Beautiful Catriona Beldame, a practitioner of the black arts, has moved into Lochdubh and is dealing Spanish fly to middle-aged men, sending their shocked wives to the local pastor in droves to seek advice and voice complaints -- generally driving the town folk into a frightful tizzy. So at Mrs. Wellington's request (she's the wife of the local pastor), Constable Hamish Macbeth tries to put a stop to the nonsense. Then ding-dong the wicked witch is found dead, and poor Hamish is the prime suspect.

Pace: Reading this is like walking in a pair of...
Practical, sturdy L.L. Bean boots, rambling around the perimeter of a blue mountain lake with your dog Midget, a lumbering, slobbering Newfie-Rottie mix.

Cast of Characters:

• Constable Hamish Macbeth - This local bobby is devoted to his little hamlet of Lochdubh: he'll do anything to avoid getting promoted out of his village. For long, lanky, red-headed Hamish is not your run-of-the-mill bobby: he solves homocides like nobody's business, accompanied by his furry side-kicks (a dog named Lugs and a wildcat named Sonsie). A wickedly sharp intuition, a penetrating eye, a compassionate understanding and an innate ability to coax the truth from people are powerful tools in his crime-solving arsenal. (Read more about Hamish.)





• Chief Inspector Blair - Hamish's supervisor and archenemy, the alcoholic, apoplectic Blair is ever alert to ways of discrediting his direct report. Much to his consternation, however, Macbeth always manages to outwit and outmaneuver him.
• Detective Inspector Jimmy Anderson - One of the best examples of operant conditioning in man: Hamish plies Jimmy with whiskey to get Jimmy to reveal case information not readily available to the local bobby. 
• Priscilla Hallburton-Smythe - Lovely, graceful and gracious, yet emotionally cool, Priscilla is Hamish's one-time fiance and one true love. For the women who harbor romantic aspirations about Hamish (like Elspeth below), Priscilla becomes an insurmountable barrier to capturing Hamish's heart.
• Elspeth Grant - Hamish's on-and-off-again (when Priscilla isn't around) romantic interest, Elspeth is a newspaper reporter with a gypsy heritage and a flair for clairvoyance. She'd run into Hamish's arms at the slightest wiggle of his forefinger (if he'd only bother).
• A recurrent assortment of colorful, eccentric villagers - Angela Brodie, Hamish's pet-sitter and the most undomestic wife of the local physician; Jessie and Nessie Currie, the town's gossiping spinster twins; Willie Lamont, Hamish's former direct report and a neat-freak with a propensity for malapropisms; Angus Macdonald, a crusty septuagenarian and the local seer; Mrs. Wellington, stentorian spouse of the local minister -- just to name a few.

Books in the Macbeth Series:

1. Death of a Gossip
2. Death of a Cad
3. Death of an Outsider
4. Death of a Perfect Wife
5. Death of a Hussy
6. Death of a Snob
7. Death of a Prankster
8. Death of a Glutton
9. Death of a Travelling Man
10. Death of a Charming Man
11. Death of a Nag
12. Death of a Macho Man
13. Death of a Dentist
14. Death of a Scriptwriter
15. Death of an Addict
16. A Highland Christmas
17. Death of a Dustman
18. Death of a Celebrity
19. Death of a Village
20. Death of a Poison Pen
21. Death of a Bore
22. Death of a Dreamer
23. Death of a Maid
24. Death of a Gentle Lady
25. Death of a Witch
26. Death of a Valentine

Other authors you might like:

• Agatha Christie (of course) - For traditional, well-plotted cozies, dip into the Jane Marple series with The Murder at the Vicarage.
• Catherine Aird - Discover the Sloan and Crosby series in The Stately Home Murder.
• Caroline Graham - Sample the Tom Barnaby series in Death of a Hollow Man.

Links:

• About the author: Official site; Wiki site
• Hamish Macbeth TV series: About the TV series; buy the DVDs
• Although the village of Lochdubh is fictional, the TV series was filmed in Plockton, in the Scottish Highlands, in the county of Sutherland.
• Tourism websites: visithighlands.com; visitlochalsh.com; plockton.com
• Local cuisine: Haggis, blood pudding
• Fishing holidays in Scotland