The village of Braikie has created a place called “The Fairy Glen” as a place to entice visitors to come and spend money. It is a natural beauty spot and the added publicity is a stab at making up missing monies due to the current recession. Part of the PR includes a photo of a local Kingfisher. When the Kingfisher shows up dead at “The Fairy Glen,” things start to become difficult.

From the act of animal cruelty, things move to murder. While dealing with this, Police Sergeant Hamish MacBeth is dealing with his newest “assistant” Constable Dick Fraser, who was basically working out his time till he could retire. Hamish was to find out that Fraser had some excellent abilities that made up for his laziness and love of watching TV game shows.

This cozy series is a light and fun read. Hamish’s laid back demeanor doesn’t take away from his determined-ness to solve the crime presented, yet there are humorous situations that arise. It makes for a nice balance. ( )

Macbeth and the Bird Murderers
Review of the Grand Central Publishing hardcover edition (2012)

I'm closing in on the final half-dozen or so of the Hamish Macbeth cozy mystery series set in the Scottish Highlands centered around the fictional village of Lochdubh. I think I need to slow down my reading in order to make them last longer, but they are so irresistable that they have become my go to default read during this continuing lockdown (Ontario, Canada where I live is currently still in a stay-at-home order situation until possibly June 2021). Fortunately the library is still operating efficiently with their holds system and their curbside pickup.

Death of a Kingfisher is an oddity in the series in that the title refers to an actual death of a bird rather than a standard human victim. The said Kingfisher is one of the attractions of a tourist park set up in an economically depressed area of the Highlands. It seems that someone is seeking to sabotage the park and the death of the bird is one of their first attacks. But soon human murders follow and Macbeth again has to sort out the possible suspects among the locals vs. the incomers. There is an unpleasant pair of children at the heart of things and their plot tangents go off in some absurd directions. One of the murders as well was ridiculously elaborate a rocket fueled ride up a staircase through a window!?. The ending on this one was also unsatisfactory and seemed like an off note for the series.

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. In this case I was able to locate a hardcover copy through the library holds system, although they also have the audiobook in their Overdrive audio lending option. ( )

I'm a huge fan of the Hamish Macbeth series. I enjoy his character and the chaos and humor that goes along with him. This story started off strong with the elements I loved in the story. What kept this story from being a 5 star book was the ending. MC Beaton should have ended the story one chapter before she did. She dragged the ending out a little too long trying to wrap up loose ends that didn't really need to be wrapped up. ( )

Typical Hamish Macbeth novel.
A bird is killed in an area that is being cultivated as a tourist attraction. This, as usual, escalates to murder--and some particularly nasty ones at that.
The usual format is followed--Hamish is side-lined but does most of the detective work.
Nicely narrated as usual too.
Nice, light, undemanding read. ( )

I would have given this 4 stars but.... it left me with a disquieting uneasiness and definite distaste at the end (which I am not going to tell you about).

The local hunting box & faerie glen has under gone a change of ownership.... The faerie glen has now become a tourist stop and the scene of several crimes. Then there is murder, of the kingfisher & its chicks, the new owner of the hunting box, a local woman, the owner of the faerie box, and other unsavory people.....

Hamish has his hands full with: a seductress, police woman, new constable assigned to his station, two nasty children & their cantankerous grandmother, and the usual characters.

Such unmitigated greed, hatred, ugliness..... with a loose ending.... ( )