Lovelorn PC Hamish Macbeth, a policeman in the village of Lochdubh in the Scottish Highlands, is rather challenged to keep the peace in his usually so tranquil neighbourhood, when a TV crew from Strathbane Television invades the tranquillity of Lochdubh and threatens to produce rather slanderous documentaries on Highland life. Several villagers are made a fool of in front of TV cameras and accused of various unsavoury things that could potentially ruin their lives. Nobody is safe, from the shop-lifting bank manager's wife to an elderly shopkeeper selling damaged cans of food. Following the principle that everybody's got skeletons in their cupboard, presenter Chrystal French and her team of researchers dig into every local scandal in order to produce one of Britain's most vicious shows.Before long the TV show's horrible presenter Chrystal, an ambitious young women intent on sleeping her way to the top, is murdered. Her death is initially believed to be a suicide, but Hamish soon realises that murder most foul has taken place in Lochdubh once again. Things come to a head when researcher Felicity Pearson is also murdered and one Lochdubh villager takes her own life. Where will the evil influence of TV end?Having had his heart broken by the gorgeous, but frigid Priscilla Halburton-Smythe, Hamish Macbeth is "off" women in this novel. Hamish learned through a third party that precious Priscilla is getting married to some chap in London. Why didn't she have the guts to tell Hamish herself? It is outrageous and frankly, unforgiveable.News of Priscilla's impending marriage and being "off women" doesn't stop the flame-haired copper from getting rather more friendly than is good for him with reporter Elspeth Grant, who works for the local newspaper office. Soon Elspeth fills the void Priscilla left behind when she departed for London. Elspeth gets involved with Hamish's murder investigation and serves as his side-kick in a similar way that Priscilla did. But emotionally things are very different. While Elspeth is keen on romance with the copper, Hamish is too heart-broken to take the plunge into a new emotional entanglement.Hamish's life is made even more difficult by his temporary boss Carson, who is standing in for Detective Inspector Blair. Blair is on holiday. Carson believes the investigation should only be carried out by CID personnel, but soon falls in love with life in Lochdubh, learning to respect the village copper's insightfulness and clever detecting skills.This time, MC Beaton seems to concentrate on the theme of relationships, with the two murders being more or less incidental to the underlying theme. Hamish's relationship with women in general and Elspeth in particular comes under scrutiny, but also his attitude to his CID colleagues in Strathbane and his new boss, Carson. At the end of the book, Hamish wonders if his aversion to promotion isn't at the bottom of a lot of his relationship problems.Served up with the usual quantum of black humour, this is a far more introspective Hamish Macbeth murder mystery than we have seen before. It's an enjoyable read, as usual with Hamish Macbeth novels the reader is enchanted by the old-fashioned Scottish Highland way of life presented here, the natural beauty of the location and Hamish's humanity and kindness.
Beaton has certainly written books with more ponderous plots, so I don't know why I felt kind of "meh" about this one. I guess it just felt like too many elements were thrown in to see what would happen -- especially in terms of some relational subplots. I probably enjoyed the development of Carson's character the most, and the complexity he showed. Ultimately, this book is probably more important in the series in terms of how Hamish's attitudes about women seem to be shifting. The plot was just so-so, though, and it almost felt like Beaton didn't make up her mind how to resolve it until quite late in the book. It's hard to explain, but I've read other books with complex plots, and you get a sense it's deliberately so -- the author has very deliberately chosen to approach the resolution this way. But this felt more like Beaton was kind of feeling her way along, and either didn't have or take the time to go back and tighten things up later, once she'd decided how to resolve the story. In fact, there's one part of dialogue early on that misses a rejoinder from Jimmy Anderson. I counted several times, and there's a missing comment. Hamish speaks twice in a row somewhere, or the punctuation got messed up. But even more generally, I got confused about who was saying what in that passage, because it didn't definitely demonstrate either man's knowledge or voice. I don't feel like I wasted my time by any means; this book was perfectly fine entertainment, and I appreciate Beaton making a more interesting choice in terms of the ultimate villain (more realistic "casting," if you will, than several of her earliest choices), but it just didn't hold together as strongly for me as some of her best books in the series.
What do You think about Death Of A Celebrity (2003)?
I've been in love with Hamish Macbeth for a long time but had forgotten my passion until I discovered that my library has ALL the latest in this series in Kindle editions. WOOT! This one is particularly nice - Priscilla is currently not in Lochdubh but a charming down-to-earth part-gypsy named Elspeth has moved in. The plot is good as always (villainness you love to hate) and the byplay is entertaining - Scottish villagers forming a line dance club and several typically Hamish romantic misadventures. These are like jellybeans, you can't have just one, so why fight it, just take out the whole jar and have at it...yum!
—Sara
Death of a Celebrity By MC BeatonThis is the 18th Hamish Macbeth book in this long running murder mystery series and sadly after reading this book the series seems to be getting a bit tired, plots are getting boring, characters bland and predictableThe small highland village of Lochdubh is quiet and anonymous until a television company takes interest in all the scandals that have happened there over the years making the reporter Crystal French a rather unpopular person. As usual the suspects are numerous and it is Macbeth versus the big boys at Strathbane CID. The book failed to grasp my attention and as the plot meandered round and round, I got the impression that the plot was drawn out just so the author could fulfill her word quota set by the publisher.Having read all the previous Hamish books, I am inclined to give the next one a go but with this one I was really close to giving up on it, only persevering because I don't give up on books lightly and with it being part of a series I felt obliged to finish it. The most disappointing Hamish book so far.
—Elisabeth
Death of a Celebrity is the eighteenth book in Beaton's cozy mystery series featuring Constable Hamish MacBeth.This time, a beautiful yet slutty news reporter named Crystal French is the victim. Crystal has always tried sleeping her way to the top with no luck, until she catches her lucky break as the eyes and ears behind scandal in the sleepy town of Lochdubh. To maintain the high ratings for her show, the catty Crystal drudges up old news and rumors on the village's inhabitants, which brews up new feelings of hate for Crystal. When Crystal's body is discovered and the signs point to foul play, our trusty Hamish MacBeth starts nosing around to reveal the true murderer.As with all the other books in this series, Death of a Celebrity is an amusing, fun, quick read for a lazy afternoon. The plot's formula is consistent; village newbie/outcast is found dead, Hamish employs the help of an attractive woman to aid in the investigation although he is ever smitten over Priscilla Halburton-Smythe, and finally, Hamish solves the crime only to allow another officer to take the credit so Hamish can live peacefully and lazily in his humble Lochdubh abode. Hamish's musings at the rudeness and inhospitality of his fellow villagers is always entertaining, especially since by now, all of us readers are incredibly familiar with the cast of characters. Death of a Celebrity introduces us to Detective Chief Inspector Carson, who has temporarily stepped in for Inspector Blair; slightly opening up the ongoing storyline regarding Hamish's reputation and clever investigating skills. Despite being constantly talked down to by the other officers in his division, Hamish's kindness once again shines bright and true when he welcomes Carson into his home.The dated lifestyles of the Lochdubh people is always comical -- it's like they're all stuck in an alternate universe or time-warp in which internet exists but cell phones do not. For example, one of the main clues in this novel are hairpins, where there is some confusion behind missing hairpins since the victim was wearing her hair up. According to the dialogue, it appears all Lochdubh women use hairpins to wear their hair up. Is there no such thing as rubber bands or even scrunchies, for godsakes?! It's not like the book occurs during wartime. Also, why is wearing brown hairpins in blond hair suspicious? Do the Scottish not like to wear contrasting colors? Curiouser and curiouser, indeed.Visit http://dreamworldbooks.com for more book reviews.
—Sarah
