The latest book in the Hamish Macbeth series. Hamish is a police constable in a backwater town in north Scotland. He's smart and capable and always solves the case but he doesn't want promotion so he always sabotages himself or manages to give credit to someone else. Although enjoyable, this story was pretty hard to believe. It was narrated by Graeme Malcolm (mentioned above). And it was only 4 CDs long. ( )

Macbeth and the Conman Captain
Review of the Blackstone Audio Inc. audiobook edition (2011) of the original Grand Central Publishing hardcover edition (2011)

Hamish Macbeth ends up with several murders on his hands and the title's chimney sweep is only a sad collateral victim. This one gets immensely complex with an international conspiracy angle with a gang of criminals. It felt somewhat overly elaborate for the series with its wild diversions into American hideaways by the gang. There seems to be a general trend in the series towards more outside mayhem in these later books. M.C. Beaton was probably forced to involve elements beyond the cozy comforts of the Scottish Highlands in order to keep her plots from becoming too predictable. I am still in for the long run though as the full regular cast puts in their stock appearances and the Highland humour is always ready in reserve.

I've exhausted the availability of free audiobooks for the series from the Audible Plus option so I'm now seeking out the rest of the series from the Toronto Public Library. I'm still hoping to read them in order as much as possible. Fortunately, the Library also offers the books in their audiobook formats as there is always an extra pleasure to hear the dialogue read in a Scottish accent. This one was read by Graeme Malcolm is the regular narrator for the last half of the series. ( )

Death of a Chimney Sweep by M. C. Beaton is the twenty-seventh cozy mystery featuring Police Constable Hamish Macbeth. In Death of a Chimney Sweep, Captain Henry Davenport and his wife, Milly, have recently moved to the village of Drim. Davenport orders Milly to get the chimney cleaned and then goes for a walk. He and the chimney sweep end up dead. While it appears the chimney sweep is the culprit, Hamish Macbeth realizes that a more sinister killer is on the loose.

This delightful cozy set in Scotland is a simple police procedural and a quick read. While there are several murders, they are all carried out precipitously, and, along with some humor, Beaton includes enough plot twists and turns to keep any mystery fan interested. Obviously Death of a Chimney Sweep will greatly appeal to cozy mystery fans, especially those following the series.

Actually, this was my first Hamish Macbeth book. Even though I don't have a long history with the series and the characters, it was quite easy to read and character's were very accessible. No, the writing is not demanding and simple sentences abound, but Death of a Chimney Sweep follows the tried and true format of a cozy. Cozy mysteries are: always easy to read; set in a village or small town; the murders are quick and not detailed; there is no gritty language; and there is always an element of humor. In this case, Beaton's short, simple sentences and quick pace made this the perfect book to read at the end of a busy week.

Highly Recommended for fans of cozy mysteries; http://shetreadssoftly.blogspot.com/
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Truly, this was a waste of time & paper.....

The newcomer not only bullies his wife & shuns the townspeople, but has a secret life. He leaves his wife to go for a walk with orders to stay while the chimney sweep does his work, but his wife (being lonely) takes the opportunity to take a walk. When she returns she hears an annoying dripping sound coming from the fireplace, which turns out to be the blood of her dead husband who has been shoved up the flue. The sweep is found miles away dead as well.

The police decide that the sweep was the guilty party and try to close the case, but Hamish finds a way to have forensics go over the evidence and finds that the sweep was not the murderer, but a second victim.

The bully's sister comes to stay with the widow....she bullies the widow as well and begins to snoop in her brother's papers, where she finds a clue..... While in the midst of confronting one of the people her brother has bilked, she is murdered as well.....

From there the body count rises.......

Enter Elspeth on a news assignment.... Towards the end Priscilla makes a show up, but I never could figure out what the point was (except to reiterate the triangle).

Hamish was not his usual self, he was terse & barking a good part of the time.... The murders kept multiplying until one got tired of them..... Actually there wasn't as much character or plot development as usual and so the book fell short.

What a bore..........


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AUTHOR: Beaton, M.C.
TITLE: Death of a Chimney Sweep
DATE READ: 12/22/2015
RATING: 4.5/B+
GENRE/PUB DATE/PUBLISHER/# OF PGS Mystery/2011/ Grand Central Publishing/ 247 pgs
SERIES/STAND-ALONE: #27
CHARACTERS AUTHOR: Hamish Macbeth/police constable
TIME/PLACE present/ Lochdubbh-- Scottish highlands
FIRST LINES ."The village of Drim in the county of Sutherland at thenorthwest of Scotland was rarely visited by outsiders."
COMMENTS: A local chimney sweep goes to clean a chimney of a retired Captain in the army … little did he know this would be his last job. The chimney needs to be cleaned out -- but there is more than soot in there, the dead body of the Captain is found and since the chimney sweep may know something he is next on the list… I thought this one had a little more violence than the others but it was fine for me. The villains were more evil and some of the deaths were a bit more graphic than usual. I always enjoy this series. ( )