Death of a Chimney Sweep

December 6, 2010
Bestseller Beaton offers breezy fun rather than gripping suspense in her 26th mystery featuring her lovable smalltown Scottish detective, Police Sgt. Hamish Macbeth (after 2010's Death of a Valentine). Capt. Henry Davenport and his wife, Milly, have recently moved into a decrepit Georgian mansion on the outskirts of the sleepy village of Drim. A cranky and elusive man, Davenport goes for a walk one day and turns up dead in the chimney of his home that afternoon. While the town chimney sweep appears the likely culprit, no one quite believes that sweet Pete Ray would be capable of such a crime. But when Pete dies in a suspicious motorcycle accident on the moors, Macbeth realizes a killer is after something—or someone—that the fiend will stop at nothing to find. Cozy fans who value amusing characters over intricate plotting will be well satisfied.

December 1, 2010

Murder is the byproduct when newcomers to the village of Drim, Scotland, call for the chimney sweep.

Captain Henry Davenport and his browbeaten wife Milly have been leading a life of self-imposed isolation until Davenport is found dead in the chimney. Because the sweep is among the missing, his bosses are eager to blame him, even after his body is soon found among objects stolen from the house. But Police Sergeant Hamish Macbeth (Death of a Valentine, 2010, etc.) is sure that he's innocent. Further investigation shows that the sweep was framed, presumably by one of the many enemies Davenport made when he was a con man swindling people out of their money. Four former army buddies living in England were among his victims, but they all have alibis for the day of the crime. The four are not above harassing Milly for the money, however, and when she finds it buried in the garden, she keeps it a secret. Every time Hamish follows a clue that might break the alibis, someone else ends up dead. In the meantime, Hamish is dismayed to learn that Davenport had also swindled several local people. Certain that none of them could be guilty, he redoubles his efforts to find the killer with help from several former ladyloves and his ever-helpful pets.

Apart from the puzzle, Hamish's latest advances the career and love life of the clever, stubborn Scot.

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January 1, 2011
The Scottish Highlands that Beaton depicts with such skill are beautiful and sinister, a fitting backdrop to her Hamish Macbeth series and especially to this one, her twenty-sixth craggy-cozy. The mystery centers in the tiny Highlands village of Drim, a huddle of white-washed cottages on the banks of a sea loch, where mountains rise up at waters edge. There, the body of the posh new owner of a long-abandoned estate is found, stuffed up the chimney. The chimney sweep himself, who was to have been cleaning the estate chimney, is found dead on the motorway, an apparent accident victim, a few hours later. The local police feel the case is open and shut, with the chimney sweep tabbed as the murderer of the estate owner, until Constable Hamish Macbeth questions the findings, even of the forensics team. Someone has embarked on a spree, starting at the estate, and spreading to Edinburgh. Great stuff, as usual.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2011, American Library Association.)