Death of a Green-Eyed Monster

In the 34th mystery starring Highlands bobby Hamish Macbeth (after Death of an Honest Man), Hamish is engaged to the lovely Dorothy McIverir, his new constable, and all eyes are on the impending nuptials. The celebratory mood vanishes when a man is found shot, execution style, in Hamish’s bucolic village of Lochdubh. It quickly emerges that the victim had ties to the notorious Macgregor crime family in Glasgow. Just as Hamish and Dorothy begin their investigation, Hamish’s bent and odious nemesis, Detective Chief Inspector Blair, returns to the village wreaking havoc. The tension escalates when Hamish realizes that Dorothy’s vagaries about her past may well be connected to the murder inquiry causing him to question who exactly the future Mrs. Macbeth is. Beaton, the grand dame of the cozy mystery genre, passed away in late 2019. Beaton chose her friend and fellow writer Green to continue her Hamish Macbeth and Agatha Raisin mystery series (most recently, Green wrote the Agatha Raisin installment Down the Hatch), and he delivers the charge most admirably. This Hamish Macbeth novel maintains Beaton’s distinctive voice and includes the usual village eccentrics, loads of Scottish lore, and the light humor that Beaton fans have loved through the years. Most important, the book ends with a teaser that seems to promise more and even wilder adventures for Hamish.