Book Review: Death of an Outsider (1988)

by StevenHelmer

A review of the Hamish Macbeth murder mystery written by M. C. Beaton.

Synopsis: The citizens of Cnothan have never been friendly to outsiders. But, most of them have an exceptionally large hatred for Englishman William Mainwaring, who has purchased some of their land and always seems to be welcoming confrontation with the way he thinks he is smarter than everyone else. As a result, when his skeleton is found at the bottom of a lobster tank, just about everyone can be considered a suspect.

Review

I borrowed this book from our local library on Wednesday, thinking it would be a way to help me the through my daughter's skating lessons that evening. As it turns out, once I started reading it, I found it hard to put down and I wound up finishing it in record time.

Death of an Outsider
Death of an Outsider
Photo by Steven Helmer

As I was telling my daughter yesterday, I like Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot. But, after reading this book, which is my third Hamish Macbeth murder, I think I might be liking Macbeth more. Or, at minimum, I might be liking his mysteries a lot more.

There were a couple things, in particular, that really stood out for me when it came to this one. The first was the fact he had an uphill battle from the start. Since he was in Cnothan on temporary assignment, he was also considered an outsider and, in addition to trying to solve the real crime, was stuck trying to deal with being the target of pranks and rumors.

In addition, he had zero support from his superiors because the lobsters who consumed all but Mainwaring's bones had already been sold and eaten and his bosses were afraid of what would happen if those people found out. That, of course, only made his ability to solve the crime even more difficult.

I also liked how the book, much like Death of a Cad, took the time to show us Macbeth's human side, tying in his carry-over feelings for Priscilla in the previous book, his hatred of Cnothan and its people and giving him a new love interest who may or may not be the killer. The fact M. C. Beaton managed to do that without it being the central focus of the story did make me enjoy the overall book more.

My only real complaint about this book was the decision to tell us about village drunk, Sandy Carmichael, finding and hiding the body. I think it would have been better to keep that part of the mystery a secret and have Macbeth (and the reader) find out about that during the course of his investigation. Telling the reader ahead of time, from Carmichael's point of view, only served to eliminate a primary suspect.

Death of an Outsider (A Hamish Macbeth Mystery)

From the author of the Agatha Raisin television series...DEATH OF AN OUTSIDER: A Hamish Macbeth MysteryThe most hated man in the most dour town in Scotland is sleeping with the ...

View on Amazon

Final Opinion

Overall, I thought this was an entertaining murder mystery. Hamish Macbeth is a fun hero to read about and the mystery was very unique. I would recommend it.

My Grade: A

More By This Writer

Angels Don't Always Have Wings

Steve never thought of himself as an overly religious person and had rarely set foot inside of a church. However, after agreeing to attend a service following a visit to a churc...

View on Amazon

Love Poems for My Wife

When Steve first met Cynthia back in 2000, he knew she was the woman for him and proposed to her just three months after their first date.Married to her since 2003, he has often...

View on Amazon

Updated: 11/24/2018, StevenHelmer
 
Thank you! Would you like to post a comment now?
4

Comments

Only logged-in users are allowed to comment. Login
DerdriuMarriner on 02/08/2022

StevenHelmer, Thank you for practical information, pretty pictures and product lines.
It's possible that there are feuds carried out within the Cnothan community also. For instance, why is a small community including a village drunk? Sandy well may be related to many if not all Cnothan families.

Also, would it not be possible that some were warned not to eat the lobsters between when the body went into the tank and when the new shipment arrived? So would it not also be possible that others were not warned ;-(?

You might also like

Movie Review: Airplane! (1980)

A review of the 1980 disaster comedy starring Robert Hays and Leslie Nielsen.

Movie Review: Cake (2014)

A review of the 2014 drama starring Jennifer Aniston and Sam Worthington.


Disclosure: This page generates income for authors based on affiliate relationships with our partners, including Amazon, Google and others.
Loading ...
Error!