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Type of bind: Mass Market Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 813
EAN num: 9780446606011
ISBN number: 0446606014
Label: Grand Central Publishing
Manufacturer: Grand Central Publishing
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 256
Printing Date: July 01, 1998
Publishing house: Grand Central Publishing
Sale Popularity Level: 59251
Studio: Grand Central Publishing
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Product Description:
In this addition to Beaton's series featuring unassuming Scottishpoliceman Hamish Macbeth, Hamish finds himself precipitated by a vicious toothache into the world of Dr. Frederick Gilchrist.Gilchrist is a local dentist best known for his eagerness to replace healthy teeth with inexpensive dentures, and infamous for his hard hand on the drill. Maggie Bane, his lovely assistant with a harsh and unlovely voice, surprises Hamish with her hostility, but he is even more astonished to find the dentist's dead body reclining in his chair with mysterious drill marks on his teeth.Delving deeper into the village's rural dish in search of the murderer, Macbeth uncovers long-buried relationships, an illicit local still, a robbery that is not what it appears, and the expected deceptions and partial truths his countrymen tell the police for reasons only a local character like Hamish can understand. Once again, he has occasion to contact his former love, the adamantine Priscilla Halburton-Smyth, and her friend, Sarah Hudson, even helps Hamish hack into police records for his investigation. Macbeth's efforts bustle charmingly along against the background of quirky Scots dialect and rustic pubs. And Beaton's tangled web of a mystery is tidily resolved to the satisfaction of the locals and, surely, for all the devoted fans of this winning series. --Barbara Schlieper
Amazon.com Review:
In this addition to Beaton's series featuring unassuming Scottish policeman Hamish Macbeth, Hamish finds himself precipitated by a vicious toothache into the world of Dr. Frederick Gilchrist. Gilchrist is a local dentist best known for his eagerness to replace healthy teeth with inexpensive dentures, and infamous for his hard hand on the drill. Maggie Bane, his lovely assistant with a harsh and unlovely voice, surprises Hamish with her hostility, but he is even more astonished to find the dentist's dead body reclining in his chair with mysterious drill marks on his teeth.
Delving deeper into the village's rural dish in search of the murderer, Macbeth uncovers long-buried relationships, an illicit local still, a robbery that is not what it appears, and the expected deceptions and partial truths his countrymen tell the police for reasons only a local character like Hamish can understand. Once again, he has occasion to contact his former love, the adamantine Priscilla Halburton-Smyth, and her friend, Sarah Hudson, even helps Hamish hack into police records for his investigation.
Macbeth's efforts bustle charmingly along against the background of quirky Scots dialect and rustic pubs. And Beaton's tangled web of a mystery is tidily resolved to the satisfaction of the locals and, surely, for all the devoted fans of this winning series. --Barbara Schlieper
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Rated by buyers 
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Hamish Macbeth is in agony, and for once it is not about his love life! In desperation he has decided to take a chance on the nearest dentist, despite his terrible reputation rather than drive to his usual doctor. By the time he arrives for his appointment though his toothache has subsided, good thing because Hamish finds the dentist's dead body. Soon Hamish is on the case, and as always against the wishes of his boss, Blair. This time Hamish is not aided by the once again missing Priscilla but instead by one of her friends, a lovely computer expert who is quite willing to assist with police inquiries.
This is the thirteenth in this series of popular cozy mysteries featuring the lovable but lazy Hamish Macbeth. As is the norm with this series the true attraction here is not the mystery but is Hamish's life in the small village of Lochdubh. Those familiar with the series will not want to miss an opportunity to see how all their old friends are doing, particularly to see if Hamish and Priscilla will ever get together for more than a few pages. Cozy fans unfamiliar with the series will do better to begin at the beginning or as close to it as possible and then proceed in order.
Rated by buyers 
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The reader, along with Constable Hamish Macbeth, wonders how odious men attract beautiful women. But they do say, "Pretty is as pretty does," and Dr. Gilchrist, the local dentist, has a fatal attraction to fancy cars, expensive homes and lovely women. Macbeth, incapacitated by the pain of a toothache, is forced to see the nearest dentist for relief. When he comes for his appointment he finds the doctor dead, sitting in the dental chair, with a hole drilled through every one of his teeth. A dramatic end for a flamboyant character. Dr. Gilchrist was reknown for high living, bad manners, and a propensity to extract every one of his patients' teeth so he could collect greater renumeration from the national health service. Was his death the revenge of a woman wronged? Or does it have something to do with the illegal activities of some of the Highlands less law-abiding populace? As Macbeth looks for the murder's solution in the victim's romantic and business affairs, he also tries to make sense of his own love life and disinclination for promotion beyond the level of constable.
I have read several Macbeth mysteries and I am a bit bored by his querulous romantic life, but I don't think I will ever tire of the quirkly characters populating the Scottish Highlands. Their lifestyles may seem remote and quaint, but their inconsistencies and alliances are cozily familiar. This is a well-paced novel that makes terrific bedtime reading.
Rated by buyers -
When I need to turn to lighter subjects and a good mystery, I often turn to M.C. Beaton. As the author of two delightful series, and stand alone mysteries as well, she is one of the best at cozy mysteries.
Life in the Highlands is apparently never boring for Hamish, the under achieving Highland Police Detective. Hamish is off on another adventure featuring a denture doling dentist who gets knocked off near the Christmas holiday and sends Hamish off to solve the crime in stormy, snowy weather.
If you haven't read a Hamish Mystery, this is a good one to start with, they can all be read as stand alone. Death of a Dentist is a good mystery with plenty of action and twists with a touch of romance for the love starved, but charming Hamish.
There are lots of Highland characters that you will enjoy in all of the books. Hamish is always quite the hero, even if he doesn't really want to be.
If you enjoy cozy mysteries, look no further - Hamish is your man. Give Agatha Raisin a try too - both of M.C. Beaton's mystery series are winners. Plus, there are plenty to read as both series have many stories to their credit.
Rated by buyers -
M.C. Beaton specializes in finding a scoundrel to kill off. Many times the person isn't so much an evil-doer as an unpleasant person. Some of the stories aren't quite as strong because removal of the obnoxious isn't nearly as interesting as elimination of the truly bad apple.
Death of a Dentist contains one of M.C. Beaton's most detestable victims, Dr. Frederick Gilchrist. The not-so-good doctor is famous for pulling teeth which can be saved (which his impoverished patients don't see as such a drawback), destroying perfectly good teeth with a slip of the drill ("The Great Australian Trench), and taking advantage of any woman who attracts his attention.
Normally, Hamish Macbeth, Lochdubh's finest police constable, attends an excellent dentist in Inverness. But excruciating pain drives Hamish very first to Dr. Brodie who diagnoses an abscess which requires antibiotics before any dentist will be able to help him. No sooner does Hamish return to the station, and he learns of a large robbery of cash from a not-so-safe (which has a wooden back rather than reinforced steel). By the subsequent day, Hamish is back in great pain and decides to look in on Dr. Gilchrist in near-by Braikie (an inspired choice of a name) rather than driving all the way to Inverness. Arriving at the office, no one's there. Hamish discovers one very dead dentist.
As usual, everyone else wants the credit for finding the thief and the murderer. Hamish, however, thinks that he should locate both because the crimes are on his patch.
No one is willing to tell Hamish what Dr. Gilchrist was really like. Hamish keeps prodding until clues start to spill out about the doctor's fondness for the ladies . . . that the ladies usually don't want to say much about.
As Hamish checks out matters, it's clear that other false notes are being sounded. What else are people hiding?
In the middle of the muddle, a beautiful hiker appears who turns out to be a friend of Priscilla's. Hamish is immediately smitten, but Sarah Hudson seems more interested in Hamish as a friend than as a lover. But Sarah does have one Priscilla-like ability; she is soon helping Hamish investigate and unravel the riddles.
Soon, Hamish has fallen into a bigger mess than he realized, and Sarah's help becomes crucial.
Before the book is done, you'll find that three crimes need to be solved and many major and minor mysteries resolved.
The misdirection in Death of a Dentist is excellent, and the plot will delight those who like lots of action and challenge in their Hamish Macbeth stories.
Rated by buyers -
This is a really strong entry in the Hamish Macbeth series. In it we see a dentist from the neighbouring village of Braikie get murdered. He was apparently not a very good dentist, and was rather fond of "drawing the tooth" rather than repairing it, but Hamish has an incredible toothache, and needs it taken care of right away. He goes to this dentist and finds him dead in his chair. As he delves into the life of Dr. Gilchrist, he finds angry husbands and jilted lovers galore in his past. The problem is not who has the motive, but which one. Hamish sets out to find the murderer in his unpreposessing, but charming way. I really like this series. The people from the sleepy little village of Lochdubh and it's neighbouring villages are eccentric and delightful. It's always fun to see what they're up to next. My personal favourite is the fisherman with the nagging wife - Archie Macleod.
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