Hamish Macbeth wishes that everything would stay calm and tranquil in the remote patch of the Scottish Highlands that is his to patrol, but somehow, it never is.
In Death of a Liar (#480), the latest entry in M.C. Beaton's entertaining cozy mystery series, Hamish responds to a call from a woman who claims she's been assaulted. When the local doctor proves the assault couldn't have happened, Hamish isn't so quick to believe Liz Bentley when he receives another phone call from her, saying someone is breaking into her house. When Hamish's conscience prods him to drive clear up to Cromish to check her story the next morning, he finds that she was, indeed, telling the truth. And what about those nasty neighbors who have bought the old Lochdubh schoolhouse? They made no friends in town, but no one wanted either of them dead, either. If only Blair and Daviot, his superior officers in Strathbane would leave him alone to solve the three murders, he could get on with things. But Daviot would like nothing better than to close down the Lochdubh police station and Blair will actively sabotage his work and take credit for any progress on the cases.. Nothing is going right in his personal life, either. He wants to get rid of Dick Fraser, his partner, who has settled comfortably into Hamish's police station as his roommate. Sure, he can cook and clean, but Hamish would rather have a wife to do that, and Dick is definitely cramping his style!
How Hamish Macbeth still manages to come out of the whole messy affair smelling like a rose, and with his own world back to a peaceful equilibrium makes for a highly entertaining tale. And yes, you can pick up Death of a Liar and read it as a stand alone mystery, but I think if you do, you'll probably want to go back and find out just how things came to be at such a pass with Hamish and Elspeth, and Priscilla, and Dick Fraser, and Blair and Daviot...
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