Book Summary and Reviews of Death of a Maid by M. C. Beaton

Death of a Maid by M. C. Beaton

Death of a Maid

A Hamish Macbeth Mystery

by M. C. Beaton

  • Critics' Consensus (1):
  • Published:
  • Feb 2007, 256 pages
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About this book

Book Summary

Mrs. Gillespie is famous for being the best maid in the northwest of Sutherland. But to Hamish Macbeth, she is a malicious gossip who bangs around the furniture and clanks pots. When Hamish wins Mrs. Gillespie's services in a church raffle, he spends most of the day trying to avoid her. He doesn't understand how she managed to gain such a fine reputation. Then she is found dead, struck down violently by a metal bucket of water. Knowing Mrs. Gillespie's penchant for gossip, Hamish is sure she delighted in finding out her clients' secrets--which means that everyone whose home she cleaned is a suspect.

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Reviews

Media Reviews

Beaton's enjoyable 22nd Hamish Macbeth mystery....[a] funny, unpredictable read." - PW.
"As usual, Beaton delivers a delightfully old-fashioned, absorbing village mystery." - Booklist".
"The faithful won't mind that Hamish's amours this time take second place to his detecting skills. " - Kirkus.

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Author Information

M. C. Beaton Author Biography

M. C. Beaton has written over twenty Hamish Macbeth mysteries (starting with Death of a Gossip 1985). She is also the author of the Agatha Raisin series (starting with Agatha Raisin and the Quiche of Death 1992) and is a film commentator on BBC television. She lives in a Cotswolds cottage (mid-west England) with her husband, journalist Harry Scott.  A former journalist for daily newspapers, she now devotes her time to writing fiction.  Under her own name, Marion Chesney, she also writes Regency romances, and has also written under a variety of other pseudonyms: Sarah Chester, Helen Crampton, Ann Fairfax, Marion Gibbons, Jennie Tremaine, and Charlotte Ward.

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