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Type of bind: Mass Market Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 823.914
EAN num: 9780446615471
ISBN number: 0446615471
Label: Grand Central Publishing
Manufacturer: Grand Central Publishing
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 272
Printing Date: January 01, 2008
Publishing house: Grand Central Publishing
Sale Popularity Level: 43567
Studio: Grand Central Publishing
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Mrs. Gillespie is famous around the northwest of Sutherland for being the best charwoman ever. Of course, if anyone has any social pretensions one does not say charwoman, one talks about 'my maid'. Hamish Macbeth wins Mrs. Gillespie's services in a church raffle but spends most of the day trying to avoid her. She is a malicious gossip and she bangs around the furniture and clanks pots--he wonders how on earth she managed to get such a good reputation. Then she is found dead in a large house belonging to a retired professor who was out the day she was killed. She has been struck down by a metal bucket of water. Remembering Mrs. Gillespie's malicious gossip, Hamish is sure she delighted in finding out secrets and probably searched through the drawers of the houses she cleaned, which means everyone whose home she cleaned could be a suspect.
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Rated by buyers -
After Constable Hamish Macbeth wins the cleaning services of Mrs. Mavis Gillespie in a church raffle, he wonders why anyone would hire her. She does a terrible job of cleaning and he suspects she's up to something when a personal letter of his goes missing. Macbeth suspects Mrs. Gillespie is trouble and isn't terribly surprised when she is murdered. He has plenty of suspects including many of her customers and he has to solve the case while ducking the attention of a documentary crew. When he's not trying to solve the murder and avoid promotion, he is wondering about the relationship between his ex-girlfriend Elspeth Grant and Luke Teviot. Who says village life is quiet?
"Death of a Maid" is another nice entry in M.C. Beaton's charming Hamish Macbeth cozy mystery series. I love my visits to Lochdubh and all the familiar elements that make this series so delightful are in this book - Hamish hiding his intelligence in order to avoid promotion; his mooching meals; his odd pets; Blair; the village people; Hamish's tangled love life. Hamish is a multi-layered character - despite his appearance of laziness he is a hard worker who really cares about the people in his village - his reaction when fisherman Archie Maclean is about to lose his boat is one of my favorite moments in the entire series. The mystery itself is well written with plenty of suspects, although I did figure out who the murderer was pretty early on.
There were a couple of things I didn't like about "Death of a Maid". While Hamish's being unwilling to commit to a relationship is a running and sometime humorous theme in this series, it wore thing for me in this book. I was pleased there was no Priscilla in this book, but I felt there was a bit too much Elspeth. Also, the book could have ended earlier, I felt the last few chapters were unnecessary - they felt written just to up the page count. But, despite those flaws, I really enjoyed "Death of a Maid".
Rated by buyers 
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This was my very first Hamish Macbeth book, and maybe I picked the wrong one to start with, but I just can't see what all the fuss is about. I found it to be poorly plotted, with characters sketched so lightly that I knew absolutely nothing about them. Well, I know one lady liked to wear tweed.
There was no way a reader could figure out the mystery: absolutely NO clues or paths of inquiry were given that the reader could follow or piece together in his or her head. Hamish spends the entire book going from one suspect's house to another, with each conversation lasting a mere page or two before moving elsewhere. He will discover something in each conversation that could not have in any way, shape, or form been figured out by the reader, and frankly in many instances, it was amazing that Mrs. Gillespie was able to figure them out as well. I didn't feel any true motivation from any character. The murderer is discovered with about 45 pages left in the book, and I simply could not believe that the story kept going and going...and....going. The last 45 pages of the book (with the exception of an incident or two that, frankly, were forced and out of place) are concerned mostly with Hamish's personal life and have nothing to do with the mystery at hand!
The writing was just AWFUL. It was so bland and characters behaved in ways that didn't seem true to life at all. Hamish will ask where someone was on the day of the murder, and that person will begin screaming at him to get out of the house. What?? I get that these books are supposed to be kind of comical, but I didn't feel any humour or warmth emanating from a single page. Again, maybe it's because I haven't read any of the previous novels, but nothing will take away from the fact that the writing was painfully amateurish and simple at points. I actually winced at times because plot points were introduced so bluntly and without any exposition.
All in all, I was extremely disappointed with this novel, and I don't think it would be an understatement to say that I ended up hating it in a way I haven't hated a book in years. I love reading mysteries and have been looking for a new series to get into. On the surface, this one seemed to have it all: eccentric policeman, far-off setting, cozy atmosphere, etc. In the end, it was boring, plodding, and (worse than anything) not written very well. I felt like it was less of a mystery and more like "a day in the life of Hamish Macbeth as he does his job."
I'm sure that many will disagree with me, but this book was just not my cup of tea. Or whiskey, as Hamish would probably say.
Rated by buyers 
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espcially in a remote location like Lochdubh, a remote village in the Scottish Highlands. When the laid back (lazy?) local PC Hamish Macbeth won the services of one of the local cleaning ladies, Mrs Gillespie he thought it was a good thing. That changed once he realized that Mrs Gillespie spent as much time gossiping as she did cleaning. Hamish did not particularly want all the details of his personal life, or lack thereof, spread about the village and was trying to get rid of her when somebody did it for him, permanently. Soon Hamish was once again on the trail of a murderer, and along the way unearthing more about his sleepy little village than he had ever suspected. To further complicate matters an old flame, Elspeth has returned to the Highlands and Hamish has once again managed to irritate his superiors.
As always with this long running cozy series the mystery takes a back seat to the on going trials of Hamish's life and loves. Many old friends from the village appear to delight long time fans. Those who are familiar with the series will delight in this one, those cozy fans new to this series will probably do better to start at the beginning. Those who are looking for a challenging mystery to solve though would probably do better to look elsewhere.
Rated by buyers -
This book is just what you expect from the Hamish McBeth series -- short, easy to read, entertaining.
Rated by buyers -
If you like cozy mysteries, this one is a hit. M.C. Beaton continues to delight. I can't wait for more of Hamish's adventures.
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