What do You think about Death Of A Prankster (1993)?
This is my second visit with Scottish constable Hamish Macbeth. Not much has changed in Hamish's world; his tiny police station still has no central heating, his off/on relationship with the refined Priscilla Halburton-Smythe is still, well, off and on and murder still has the bad taste to disrupt the idyllic Highlands.This time the victim is malicious prankster Andrew Trent, who has gathered his family to Arrat House under false pretenses. Why? So he can humiliate them for his personal glee. None of his jokes are funny (well, I did laugh at the whoopee cushion)...most of them are just mean and before long someone reaches their limit with the old man.The plot is a standard: family gathers, murder occurs, detectives called, solution reached. The saving grace in what otherwise would be formulaic is the fact that M.C. Beaton takes time to develop select members of the cast, making the reader more engaged in following their journey.A light, quick read.
—M.
"When Police Constable Hamish Macbeth receives the news that there has been a murder at Arrat House, home of the relentless practical joker Arthur Trent, he doesn't exactly race to the scene of the crime. After all, the last time Macbeth was called to investigate a death at the isolated Scottish manor, the 'victim' turned out to be Trent's manservant coivered in fake blood, who gave poor Hamish the shock of his life when he jumped up and revealed himself to be very much alive,"Thus prepared for another prank, Hamish arrives to find that Trent is most decidedly dead, having been stabbed and stuffed in a closet. For suspects, there is a houseful of greedy relations, all of whom are more interested in the contents of the will than the crime at hand. To complicate matters further, Chief Inspector Blair, Hamish's old nemesis, arrives on the scene as determined as ever to stand in the way of Macbeth's investigation."When his former flame Priscilla Halburton-Smythe gets involved as well, Hamish quite nearly has his hands full. Accordingly, the charming constable must enliven his sleepy style of detection ..."~~front & back flapAh, our old friend the English country house mystery. Complete with the usual assortment of unlikeable, egocentric, grasping relatives. And as is generally the case, the murderee is the chief unlikeable character, and has seemingly brought his demise upon himself with his nonstop annoying and dangerous pranks.I think if every one of this series was set in Lochdubh, we'd get tired of it, so the occasional excursion to another part of Hamish's patch is always most welcome.
—Kate
Constable Hamish MacBeth becomes involved in a murder mystery of a multi-millionaire found dead in his manor in Scotland. The rich man was a difficult prankster who pulled all sort of pranks on both relatives and those who lived in the small village near the manor. He contacted all his relatives and told them he was ill and soon to die and wanted to see them. So they all came and he barraged them with his pranks, they discovered the man was not ill at all but if they wanted to be in his will they had to stick around. While everyone is gathered there the millionaire is murdered and Hamish is on the case. It is a quick read and interesting how he and his associated solve the case.
—Jim
