M. C. Beaton

When society widow and gossip columnist Lady Jane Winter's body is fished out of the river, Lochdubh Constable Hamish Macbeth and Priscilla Halburton-Smythe navigate the choppy waters of the tattler's life to find a murderer. Reprint.

Death of a Gossip

Barbara Williford

The murder of Lady Jane Winters shocks a tiny Scottish town in the highlands. Although he is only a small town “Bobbie”, Hamish starts sleuthing around to solve the murder and no one is who they seem.

A little cozy mystery that is a quick, enjoyable read.

Trigger warning: graphic language

M.C. Beaton

When society widow and gossip columnist Lady Jane Winters joins the local fishing class she wastes no time in ruffling the feathers - or should that be fins? - of those around her. Among the victims of her sharp tongue is Lochdubh constable Hamish Macbeth, yet not even Hamish thinks someone would seriously want to silence Lady Jane's shrill voice permanently - until her strangled body is fished out of the river. Now with the help of the lovely Priscilla Halburton-Smythe, Hamish must steer a course through the choppy waters of the tattler's life to find a murderer. But with a school of suspects who aren't willing to talk, and the dead woman telling no tales, Hamish may well be in over his head for he knows that secrets are dangerous, knowledge is power, and killers when cornered usually do strike again.

Sonja H

Die Hauptfigur gefällt mir besser als Agatha Raisin!

The murder of Lady Jane Winters shocks a tiny Scottish town in the highlands.  Although he is only a small town “Bobbie”, Hamish starts sleuthing around to solve the murder and no one is who they seem.

A little cozy mystery that is a quick, enjoyable read.

The murder of Lady Jane Winters shocks a tiny Scottish town in the highlands.  Although he is only a small town “Bobbie”, Hamish starts sleuthing around to solve the murder and no one is who they seem.

A little cozy mystery that is a quick, enjoyable read.

Trigger warning:  graphic language 

Sarah Escorsa

I haven’t read that many Hamish Macbeth mysteries so far but I have also found them entertaining and fun, if quite light reading material. 

I’m actually glad I rarely read series in their supposed order because had I read this instalment first I probably would have stayed away from the rest of the books. The plot is very weak and the characters are not only one dimensional, they are also very stereotypical and quite annoying. I didn’t even like Hamish Macbeth much in this instalment… 

I think if you are going to read this series it’s better to stay away from Death of a Gossip and start with Death of a Cad (book #2) directly.

The very first Hamish Mcbeth crime mystery, delightfully recovered and re-issued for all the fans of Agatha Raisin.

Amanda Wells

I have very fond memories of watching Hamish Macbeth with my parents when I was probably too young to watch it, and I was pretty excited to pick up the first in the series to break up my Agatha Raisin obsession. And it was a pretty fun read, with a few disappointing elements that brought it down to a low three for me. The line about the character of a certain woman being enough to bring a saint to violence really didn't sit well for me - I know the book is of its time, but come on... And once that was said I had a hard time identifying a female character that I liked, or who was rendered complexly. Unusual coming from a female author... 

Oh well! I won't let it tarnish my memories of the TV series, and I may give the next one a go just to see, but my Agatha obsession hasn't transferred here, sadly.

Man, M.C. Beaton let me down. We have most of the story told through the eyes of an insipid woman, more like a girl, who thinks sleeping with a man means love and then marriage. The murder doesn't even happen until halfway through the book. I'm unsure if I like this style or not, as it was obviously needed to set up the characterization. It just was a tiresome read for me. I like the character of Hamish, but he wasn't in the book until the very end. I wonder if later books utilize him more?

At the price I've seen M.C. Beaton books pull, I won't be trying a second in the series. Especially when the Agatha Raisin series is so much better.

Molly Shipley

Travel to the Scotland Highlands with this classic Hamish Macbeth cozy mystery where an unladylike gossip columnist meets an untimely and watery death. From the author of the Agatha Raisin series. When society widow and gossip columnist Lady Jane Winters joined the fishing class, she wasted no time in ruffling the feathers--or was it the fins?--of those around her. Among the victims of her sharp tongue and unladylike manner was Lochdubh Constable Hamish Macbeth. Yet not even Hamish thought someone would permanently silence Lady Jane's shrills--until her strangled body is fished out of the river. Now with the help of the lovely Priscilla Halburton-Smythe, Hamish must angle through the choppy waters of the tattler's life to find the murderer. But with a school of suspects who aren't ready to talk and dead women telling no tales, Hamish may be in over his head, for he knows that secrets are dangerous, knowledge is power, and killers usually do strike again.

Death of a Gossip

Reviews