"... Now 'one of the warmest and quirkiest mystery series around' pits Constable Macbeth against a belligerent newcomer to Lochdubh, a bully flaiming to be a professional wrestler, who soon finds himself KO'd into the next world ..."Everybody in Lochdubh knew about the pro who dubbed himself the Macho Man. The huge, tattooed, mean-looking stranger won a willing audience for his bragging and tall tales by buying round after round at the local pub. But his nasty insults led to some vicious fights. His sneaking about the village aroused angry suspicions that he was fooling with some Lochdubh wives. And his sneerintg challenge to policeman Hamish Macbeth to a public bout triggered the constable's own temper, not to mention an epidemic of bookmaking."As the day of the big fight approached, excitement engulfed Lochdubh. At least half the village was betting on the Macho Man, eagerly anticipating Hamish to take a bloody pounding and perhaps lose his job. Then, on the night of the great event, the wrestler was found shot to death in his cottage. Hamish was both off the hook and in the doghouse."To save both his career and his life, Constable Macbeth has to delve into the shadowy --and unsavory -- past of the Macho Man. The trail leads to the unexpected: the hidden lives and buried secrets of a salty fisherman, a reclusive romance writer, a respectable matron, a restauranteur'[s wife, and even Hamish's ex-fiancee Priscilla Halburton-Smythe and her newest boyfriend."Hamish is sure that the murder of the Macho Manh was a crime of passion. He just isn't sure whether the passion was lust, greed ... or vengeance. One thing is certain, thought. M.C. Beaton has written another outstandingt mystery that exp0ertly peruses the pleasures of Scotland and the landscape of the human heart."~~front and back flapsGreat mystery read, even if a bit far-fetched in places. Those who seem too good to be true often are, and those who seem too gullible to live often don't. And those who don't know how to listen to their own hearts often suffer heartache.
M.C. Beaton's 12th installment in her uneven Hamish Macbeth series finds the lanky, lazy Highlands constable dealing with Randy Duggan, a boastful incomer from Glasgow who begins bullying those who’ve grown tired of his narcissistic and farfetched monologues. Eventually, Duggan challenges Hamish to a boxing match at midnight with villagers as audience. When Duggan turns up dead just hours before, the entire village of Lochdubh is thrown into a tizzy.Death of a Macho Man should have been titled Death of a Bully or Death of a Bore (Beaton saved the latter title for the 21st book), but that’s the least of the novel's problems. Hamish’s superior, the ever-spiteful and jealous Chief Inspector Blair comes across as too stupid and choleric to ever have made rank. Beaton depicts the villagers not as colorful, but as cartoons. The mystery is cleverly plotted — Beaton’s mysteries nearly always are — but Hamish relies on his knowledge of the Lochdubh villagers and human nature and preternatural intuition, as usual, rather than the usual methods. He’s so over the top in this novel that readers will actually sympathize with Hamish’s boss’ boss, the exasperated Superintendent Peter Daviot in Strathbane, who’s tired of the shenanigans by now and just wishes Hamish gone from the police force. The tiresome on-again, off-again relationship between Hamish and the icy English transplant Priscilla Halburton-Smythe continues fraught with avoidable misunderstandings and bouts of stubbornness and pique that serve to keep them apart. They’re both so immature that they don’t deserve to be together — or with anyone else, for that matter. Beaton clearly intends the mishaps to add comic relief from the mystery but instead just detract from the novel. All in all, readers should only turn to Death of a Macho Man if they’re full-fledged Hamish Macbeth fans — and then only if they can get it at the public library.
What do You think about Death Of A Macho Man (1997)?
Justice rules over law. Author Chesney always makes me smile. So far, whatever she writes, I read, catching up on series re-reads, starting from beginning. Can I read and review faster that Chesney can write? "It took guts not to kill Randy" p 98. No matter Hamish or Agatha Raisin series, author Chesney likes to make the victim a villain. That makes the back story a mystery we cannot possibly guess. Reminds me of TV Motive that starts with crime, then parallel histories of two unlikely far-apart seeming innocents who come together and explode. "Randy was drugged wi' chloral hydrate before he was shot .. sleeping draught" p 61. Hamish takes 'holiday' "swaying on his feet with fatigue .. with dyed-black hair and his scraggly black moustache". Hamish works hard to catch the right person for murders, whether a Lochdubh local, or visitor. I can remember who without why. But here I remember both. (view spoiler)[Gentleman Jim Master Criminal "reign of terror .. no one on the force knows who he is" p 169, and insider bank clerk girlfriend from big bank robbery are really hotel guests banker John Glover and fiancée Betty John. Jim told Betty to sneak in bed naked with exhausted Hamish to divert suspicion from murder. Caught by village and Priscilla, makes no difference what Hamish does or denies. Years ago, Jim secretly organized big bank robbery. Underling fled with money, used most for plastic surgery, changed name to Randy, did "body-building or taken steroids" p 170, hid in the sticks. Back in city, Jim killed real banker-fiancé. Here Jim shot Betty, who still thought Jim would let banker and girls go free, alive. "You heard me shout a warning" p 194. Hamish springs up from heather, knows required police warning gives time for Jim to kill Priscilla first. Hamish and Priscilla lie. (hide spoiler)]
—An Odd1
We're very fond of this low-key series about a northern Scotland village policed by their wily but unambitious constable Hamish Macbeth. Most of the novels follow a pattern of a murder in town, often a newcomer or outsider, and the ensuing investigation, which usually revolves around Macbeth's common sense prevailing over the bullying tactics of his superiors. In "Macho", a newcomer who buys everybody drinks and tells tall tales is found shot to death, and soon thereafter, a single woman who has come to town to write novels is murdered. Through very clever police work, Hamish identifies the culprit of the latter crime, but his boss man Blair elicits a confession to both murders and of course takes all the credit for solving both cases, even though Macbeth quietly opines that the perp lied about one of the murders. Macbeth then goes on to pursue what really happened and in the end outwits everyone.In this particular tale, Hamish's long-time girlfriend Priscilla encounters dire perils in a plot more complicated and intriguing than usual. Macbeth's efforts were not merely clever, but his heroics saved the day at potentially great personal cost. So Beaton has not merely charmed us as usual, but this story, with more than a few twists and turns, was suspenseful to the end -- one of the best entries in this long-running set!
—Jerry
Carsley (Agatha Raisin) and Lachdubh (Hamish Macbeth) must be awful places to live, or more appropriately, to die! There is always murder taking place in both locations and in 'Death of a Macho Man', it is no different.A loud-mouthed, supposedly American, is killed early on and then as Hamish Macbeth attempts to discover the murderer, albeit handicapped by his chiefs from Strathblane, another, seemingly unconnected murder takes place.After much investigation, with plenty of suspects in evidence, Hamish has a moment of inspiration and, despite instructions to the contrary, trips off to Glasgow and Inverness and eventually discovers the truth.Despite his success his superiors want him sacked but common-sense prevails and he continues to delve into other murders that will undoubtedly take place in and around Lochdubh.
—Gerry
