[U3N]≫ [PDF] Death of a Prankster Hamish Macbeth Mysteries No 7 MC Beaton 9780804111027 Books

Death of a Prankster Hamish Macbeth Mysteries No 7 MC Beaton 9780804111027 Books

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Death of a Prankster Hamish Macbeth Mysteries No 7 MC Beaton 9780804111027 Books

These wonderful mysteries by MC Beaton are a delight whether I read them or listen to them. I tried unsuccessfully to find an audiobook version of this title (I love hearing it narrated with a Scottish brogue!) so I bought a used copy. I have no idea why this title is so hard to find, but I was determined to read all of the them!
I wasn't disappointed, but I do have to wonder if there was some backlash to the portrayal of the gluttonous main character.


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Death of a Prankster Hamish Macbeth Mysteries No 7 MC Beaton 9780804111027 Books Reviews

I have read all of MC Beaton's Agatha Raisin mysteries and I loved that series for it's humor and originality. I am enjoying the Hamish McBeth books very much, also. I am surprised that the author is able to set so many interesting plots in such a rather constricted setting. McBeth's highland village is very rural and the population is small, but she makes it work with new twists in each book.
Death of a Prankster was a fun read- it had lots of family drama, avarice, a big old mansion in a storm, poison....you get the the picture ) Told well and with humor and freshness. Hamish is a thoroughly likable detective, too, you will root for him and his "underdog" personality and his his sidekick mongrel.
M.C. Beaton has become one of my favorite crime writers. She is able to maintain the reader's interest through good narrative skills, clever plot development, and great character description. The novels she has written with Hamish McBeth as the main protagonist embody all those traits and DEATH OF A PRANKSTER is one of her better efforts. Unlike every other novel involving McBeth I have read thus far, he does not appear in this one until well into the story. That allowed the crime scene to emerge fully before he arrives on the scene. As for the central event itself, the murder of a man who had tormented family members and friends thoughout his life with practical jokes, some of them very elaborate and always a bit mean-spirited, is used effectively to keep the reader looking for who did it. Other crimes also occur in the story, including another murder, so one must stay alert and weigh each individual in the plot and their respective motives as to the events as they unfold. An excellent read from start to finish, very much worth the purchase price, especially when bought on-line for a . Keep them coming, M.C., and I will keep reading them.
When a rich and elderly practical joker, Andrew Trent, summons his nearest and dearest to his remote Scottish manor in the dead of winter to play a series of unpleasant pranks on them, no one ends up laughing, least of all Andrew Trent. After all, when his body is the one that is deader than a doornail, one could say that the last laugh is on him.

Police Constable Hamish Macbeth is called and notified of Trent's murder. At first, Hamish is doubtful of the story, having been himself a victim of Andrew Trent's pranks, but Trent's own daughter convinces him otherwise, and Hamish is on his way to discover just who among Trent's nearest and dearest is a murderer.

This is the seventh book in a series of cozy mysteries featuring lovable Highlander, Hamish Macbeth. As always, the book is laced with sly humor, and the dialogue creates a feeling of authenticity of place, but it lacks some of the charm that has been the trademark of this series of cozy mysteries. Still, though not the best book in this series, those who are fans of the oddly endearing Hamish Macbeth will derive some enjoyment from this book.
This book follows the format of its previous predessors, but unlike the last one (Death of a Snob, which
I reviewed earlier), Hamish is brought in earlier. I didn't like some of the characters (ex. Jan Trent),
but I truly disliked the murder victim who plays jokes (sometimes cruel ones) on others for his own
amusement. Besides that, I love how it all unfolded. Must read for anyone who loves Hamish MacBeth.
I should give this book one star, but because I am so fond of Hamish Macbeth, the sweet, smart constable from Lochdubh, a little Scottish village, I couldn't do it. This is the seventh of the series featuring this character, and you would be hard pressed to know that since the author spent the first of the book busy populating the stories with awful cardboard characters, stereotyping and annoying talky, repetitious writing with NO mention or hook to PC Macbeth. Even though I had read all the preceding books, I was reading this on my and hadn't seen the covers of the book--I actually thought I might have stumbled onto one of the author's other books and that this wasn't one featuring Hamish at all! I eventually checked! So. Avoid this one, unless, like me, you just want to keep up with the characters you like.

Here are the flaws, though Remember when we were told, as kids, to "SHOW--not tell" when we wrote? Well. This book is all TELL and little show. It's like a rough draft before the author and editor sit down to the earnest hard work of fleshing out the characters with good dialogue and less exposition and more scene setting. This creates the kind of story about which no reader really cares about the conflict, the characters, the outcome or the story itself. The writing is awful. Superficial description sounds flat and unrealistic. Dialogue doesn't match the characters. People behave in ways so outrageously at odds with what could be expected that it's obvious that plot is driving everything. Plot-driving at the expense of character building, is a recipe for the "ho-hum" that can end a reader's interest in finishing the book, the series, the loyalty to the writer and even, sadly, to the central, formerly beloved, character.

Finally, M.C. Beaton does not write books about rocket science. Her books are simple cosies. But SIMPLE should not be simplistic. So, this may be my last foray into her books, including the insufferable Agatha Raisin books (no Mapp and Lucia, these). I have not even touched upon the very amateurish writing style, by the way. Up till now, I forgave the author, but I can't get these few hours back that it took me to read the Death of a Prankster, nor to write this review. Consider yourself warned.
These wonderful mysteries by MC Beaton are a delight whether I read them or listen to them. I tried unsuccessfully to find an audiobook version of this title (I love hearing it narrated with a Scottish brogue!) so I bought a used copy. I have no idea why this title is so hard to find, but I was determined to read all of the them!
I wasn't disappointed, but I do have to wonder if there was some backlash to the portrayal of the gluttonous main character.