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Death of a Poison Pen

by M. C. Beaton

The latest Hamish Macbeth book by M. C. Beaton provides no surprises – it's as full of the laid-back Scottish cop's permutations, along with a hefty dose of the usual north country humor and characters who inhabit Lochdubh (pronounced Lochdoo, if you please) as each Macbeth novel always is. What's always new is the murder and the murderer. We've grown to love the flame-haired character of Hamish, and eagerly follow his every action – from attempts to avoid his dreadful superior Blair to the tracking down of solutions for every mystery that comes his way. M. C. Beaton has given us an enchanting read once more.

Death of a Poison Pen opens with a pretty young girl, Jenny Ogilvie, talking to Hamish Macbeth's ex-finacιe, Priscilla Halburton-Smythe in Priscilla's London flat. Jenny is jealous of Priscilla, and determines to go north and perhaps catch Hamish for herself – relishing the idea of Priscilla's discomfort when it's accomplished.

One of Lochdubh's neighboring towns, Braikie, has been flooded with poison pen letters, some reaching out to Lochdubh. Hamish is collecting the letters in hopes of using a handwriting expert to help determine who's writing them, but he's constantly put off by his superiors, who claim there's no money in the budget for something they believe will blow over.

Elspeth Grant (an attractive reporter for the Highland Times) has been showing a new, handsome young man named Pat Mallone the ropes – since he's a new addition to her paper. Elspeth comes to visit Hamish and suggest he hold a village meeting about the letters. Hamish holds the meeting, but the only positive thing he gets from it is that all who attend sign his petition for the services of a handwriting expert.

When Jenny arrives in Lochdubh, it's not exactly what she expected – nor is Hamish, when she meets him. But Hamish' attention is soon directed to another area – Miss Beattie, the postmistress at Braikie, has been found hanged, with one of the poison pen letters lying underneath her swinging feet. Detective Jimmy Anderson wants to believe the hanging a clear case of suicide, but from what Hamish sees, it's not suicide but murder. At Elspeth's further suggestion, he goes to see Miss McAndrew, the former head teacher of the Braikie School who recently retired – only to find her also murdered – stabbed repeatedly on her bed.

It develops that not only was Miss McAndrew the author of all the poison pen letters, but that she was a lesbian as well, and had faked test scores on her favorite girl's papers, making them even better than those who were actually the best students. Miss McAndrew was also a bully to the other teachers, some parents, and less favored scholars.

Hamish and Elspeth become busy tracking down new clues – Elspeth for her paper and Macbeth for the police. Both completely forget they had arranged dinner dates; Elspeth with Pat and Hamish with Jenny. Pat and Jenny are seated at separate tables in the same Italian restaurant. Realizing they've both been stood up, Pat and Jenny get together.

Hot on the trail, Hamish interviews Penny Roberts, a startlingly beautiful girl whose parents are both old and ugly. Penny tells him what Hamish had already suspected – and her information is confirmed by another young pupil.

Meanwhile Jenny has decided that Pat Mallone should be the one she assists – and if he discovers the murderer before Hamish, think of the glory! Jenny envisions herself as Pat's wife – wife of the successful journalist who would probably be promoted to the nationals, and she would never have to work again…

The resultant hash, involving an upsetting video at the Braikie community hall, Jenny's constant stupidity, Pat's laziness, the real receiver of the poison pen letter found under the hanged woman's feet, a lying bank manager and Penny's parents all culminate in a final rescue of Jenny and apprehension
of the killer. It seems no one had even thought to inquire into the killer's background; if they had, the outcome might have been resolved sooner. Death of a Poison Pen ends with the unexpected return of Priscilla Halburton-Smythe to Lochdubh with an outcome definitely not in Hamish' favor.

In addition to her Agatha Raisin series and other books, M. C. Beaton has now written twenty Hamish Macbeth novels – all titled 'Death of a – “ with one exception, A Highland Christmas – the only Hamish Macbeth book with illustrations as far as I know; illustrations for which the artist should be given prominent credit! But each new Hamish Macbeth mystery, illustrated or not, is happily anticipated by the multitude of M. C. Beaton fans. And rightly so.

Alan Paul Curtis

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