Death of a gentle lady by M. C. Beaton

For those of you familiar with the Hamish Macbeth TV series, you’ll find that the names of the characters are changed and indeed some of the characters are totally different to some in the books but nonetheless the books are still well worth reading.
This is the current book in the “Hamish Macbeth” mystery series. In the sleepy village of Lochdubh, lives Mrs Gentle, who, according to all the townsfolk but one, is supposed to be gentle by name and gentle by nature. Local PC Hamish Macbeth, who feels he is a very good judge of character knows that beneath that gentle exterior is a very wicked, malicious woman. The locals all think Hamish is just too cranky and crotchety, maybe he needs a good holiday or the love of a good woman to get him back in a better mood. Lo and behold, Hamish turns out to be right and that supposedly very gentle woman gets murdered in a very less than gentle way. Throw in a few more murders, an unexpected marriage, lots of village gossip, quite a few red herrings, an amateur production of Macbeth, people trying to do away with Hamish and a big assortment of quirky characters and pets and you get a very amusing laugh out loud murder mystery.
By Chris