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368th out of 398 books
—
231 voters
Death of a Glutton (Hamish Macbeth #8)
by
M.C. Beaton
Peta Gore is the bane of her partner's otherwise successful life. Trying to work with Peta on a matchmaking business that Peta uses mostly for her own purposes, Maria Worth has come to hate her old friend, a noisy, vulgar glutton. There is no other way to describe Peta: She does not just "have a good appetite," she sucks and chomps and chews with relish. Not only are her t...more
Mass Market Paperback, 176 pages
Published
1995
by Ivy Books
(first published 1993)
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Hmmm. I'm not really enjoying this much. I have heard the tv show is good, so I thought I'd give the novel a try. The characters are not very interesting or believable. The depiction of the glutton is one of the most hate-filled portrayals I've ever read. The character is so repulsive and the author and every other character loathes her. This is not funny or interesting at all to me. I feel like the author must have some issues with fat women. I'm not really drawn into the story either. All the...more
Why I wanted to read this book:
* Several of my blogging buddies love cozy mysteries and this author. I found a bunch of them for 25 cents each last year at my library sale..I bought all that they had!!
What worked for me:
* The witty writing!! It will certainly keep me coming back for more.
* Hamish- I like him and am cheering on his love sickness for Priscilla!!
* The setting of the story- Northern Scotland
* The characters- funny, eccentric, but yet so believable!!
* It was a fast 176 pages.
Wh...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
Hamish McBeth in the tiny Sutherland town of Lochdubh is faced with an exceptionally badly behaved woman. She has invited herself along on a Checkmate's getting to know you trip and brought her beautifully appearing niece with her. This is a classically laid out mystery with all the characters introduced and led through events to let us get a feel for them and their reaction to Peta's disgustingly greedy approach to food (which really is a little over the top) so that when she is found dead we h...more
Hamish McBeth books are candy to me.
I love the characters, I love the setting
(Northern Scotland by the loch) and they
are easy reading. I hate to say it but
when you read a bunch of them they are kinda
the same, but I don't care - I love them.
I love the characters, I love the setting
(Northern Scotland by the loch) and they
are easy reading. I hate to say it but
when you read a bunch of them they are kinda
the same, but I don't care - I love them.
This book was once published as Death of a Glutton. I can only assume that the title was changed because it originally seemed fat-phobic, which is not surprising because the book is very, very fat-phobic. Seriously. The "fat" character is universally hated by everyone, depicted as disgusting, and is the recipient of some very cruel pranks and comments -- which are treated as a matter of course.
I read a lot of M.C. Beaton's books -- and this is definitely the most disturbing one I have ever read....more
I read a lot of M.C. Beaton's books -- and this is definitely the most disturbing one I have ever read....more
The Checkmate Singles Club is booked into the Tommel Castle Hotel and initially everything appears to be going well until Peta Gore (one of the co-founders of the club) arrives and causes havoc. It’s not long before she meets her end and another case begins for Hamish Macbeth.
Has the usual weird characters and slow easy pace. I found it to be an enjoyable read and in a couple of places it was laugh out loud funny.
One of the better Macbeth murder mysteries.
Has the usual weird characters and slow easy pace. I found it to be an enjoyable read and in a couple of places it was laugh out loud funny.
One of the better Macbeth murder mysteries.
Mar 05, 2009
_inbetween_
added it
Reread. This time round, the hatred against the fat women seemed a bit less sizist, perhaps because now I'm coming with bad expectations. Very short again, under 170 pages, one happy couple in the background, one semi-crazed Glaswegian cook. Hamish and Priscilla kiss - or nearly kiss - a couple of times, and at the end she finally stands up to and shouts at her selfish stupid father. Back then, Beaton still seemed to write progressively.
A very quick read. M.C. Beaton tells an engaging story though in this case I felt that the end was a bit of an anti-climax. There is not really much in the way of character or plot development and the language is simple...so it is a good comfort read but does not provide much of a challenge for the reader who likes a bit more to chew on.
Hamish Macbeth again finds an unpleasant person to get murdered in his village. This time it is a truly obnoxious woman, who is a glutton in everything...food, people, spite, and bad manners. She is truly horrible! When she finally ends up getting killed, the reader is not surprised. The problem is that there are so many people who hated her and had motive to kill her, that separating the sheep from the goats is hard work for Hamish.
I liked this one better than most of them. There is something i...more
I liked this one better than most of them. There is something i...more
I really enjoyed this book, maybe partially because I just finished a book that took me way too long to read and I was able to read this one in a couple days.
Anyway, this is the first "Hamish" book by Beaton that I have read and I found it pretty charming. The descriptions of Scotland were interesting and the the mystery was pretty good, too. I will read more in this series.
Anyway, this is the first "Hamish" book by Beaton that I have read and I found it pretty charming. The descriptions of Scotland were interesting and the the mystery was pretty good, too. I will read more in this series.
I really enjoyed this book in the series, and after reviewing the previous books I have decided that I should have probably been rating them at least a 3.5 stars. The author does a fine job in relating the views of all characters in relation to the victim. You really can't help but not liking the victim in these murder stories. This series has sealed my desire to visit the Highlands of Scotland:)
Another of the Hamish McBeth mysteries.
This one returns to the tried and true method of finding out who didn't do it as opposed to who did do it.
In this book McBeth is plagued not only by having to many suspects but by his old nemises Blair. It is always fun reading one of these books where you have no sympathy for the person that ends up dead, although you generally don't have much sympathy for the suspects either. Unless of course they have just gotten finished being interrogated by Blair.
A...more
This one returns to the tried and true method of finding out who didn't do it as opposed to who did do it.
In this book McBeth is plagued not only by having to many suspects but by his old nemises Blair. It is always fun reading one of these books where you have no sympathy for the person that ends up dead, although you generally don't have much sympathy for the suspects either. Unless of course they have just gotten finished being interrogated by Blair.
A...more
M. C. Beaton’s mysteries are formulaic but fun. The protagonist, Hamish Macbeth, is an unambitious Highland bobby with a tender and romantic nature. He always solves the murders, to the chagrin of his superiors who are many steps behind, but never wants a promotion and relocation to the city. He’s perfectly content with his village life.
Think Hamish is growing on me. This is definitely better than the last two of the series I read. The stories are very slow in developing and there isn't too much depth to the characters, but perhaps the more of them you read the more you seen in the repetitive characters. I still prefer the television series.
Love Hamish Macbeth! Can’t wait for the next book to be published. It seems M.C. Beaton aka Marion Chesney never lacks the inspiration for a good story. I even liked the BBC series although it was way too short and Robert Carlyle looked nothing like his character as described in the book.
I hadn't read any Hamish Macbeth mysteries before. now i doubt i'll read any more of them. not horribly awful, but not terribly gripping -- the characters are awfully flat, and the whodunnit isn't satisfying. if it hadn't been so short, i might have given up before the end.
http://www.cozylittlebookjournal.com/...
There are certain things in M.C. Beaton's books that I find particularly unpleasant to read--a lax attitude toward drinking and driving, police officers drinking on the job, and casual mention of domestic violence. This book in particular bothered me for all of the above reasons, especially the last. I sometimes cannot believe it is a woman writing them. While I love her books, I do not like her apparent attitude that violence against women is "no big deal...more
There are certain things in M.C. Beaton's books that I find particularly unpleasant to read--a lax attitude toward drinking and driving, police officers drinking on the job, and casual mention of domestic violence. This book in particular bothered me for all of the above reasons, especially the last. I sometimes cannot believe it is a woman writing them. While I love her books, I do not like her apparent attitude that violence against women is "no big deal...more
Hamish McBeth is a wonderful character, and life in Scotland never fails to fascinate. The Checkmate Singles Club could have provided some incredibly funny moments, but Beaton seemed anxious to crank this book out. I read it before bed so I could drift off to sleep.
Hmmmmm....The first of the early books to let me down. Sort of a rehashing of others in the series, all the familiar characters, snotty upper-class, a beautiful but shallow young woman with no redeeming vaule, the obligatory girl-with-no-self-esteem. Ho hum.
The Glutton, Peta Gore (sounds like part of a PETA ad, doesn't it?) to my mind, wasn't the main part of the story, as much as she was a catalyst for a look at the lives of rich single people. It was a good mystery and a pleasant way to distract my mind.
Just to be clear, I've read ALL of these books, at one point or another over the last....ten years. Just little fluffy mysteries for when you have a cold, are on vacation, or feel lonely for a place you have never been (the Scottish highlands).
Apr 25, 2013
Simone
added it
I really enjoyed this one. Hardly any of the characters were likeable but they all held my interest! Very funny in places and Hamish remains a rather wonderfully unfashionable hero. On to the next one......
Hamish and Priscilla make a bit more progress in this nice little murder mystery, centering around the death of a disgusting glutton. The introduction of a new character portends funny frustrations to come in future books.
i learned that I do love this series. The characters are growing on me. And having spent a bit of time in northern Scotland in my youth, I can certainly imagine the landscape. the books are a quick read but they are quite fun.
My father is a big mystery reader. He'd checked it out, read it, and liked it. I read it and instantly became a mystery-phile. Her earlier books are great. The later ones are not nearly as good.
This is a good Hamish Macbeth mystery with some funny/gross descriptions of the victim before she becomes a victim. Everybody wants this nasty lady dead, but only one person killed her.
Not one of the better Hamish Macbeth mysteries. This Eighth visit to the village of Lochdubh, Scotland and it's brilliant but lazy constable is only notable for Hamish receiving recognition for solving the crime and subsequent promotion.
Poor Hamish Macbeth gets another murder dumped on him and once again, to the disgust of Chief Inspector Blair, solves who murdered the obese overeating woman. Good read.
As usual--a person everyone dislikes is murdered and Hamish figures out who the murder is, and Hamish is romantically pursued by a young woman, and Priscilla shows up.
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Also writes as:
Marion Chesney (real name)
Jennie Tremaine
Sarah Chester
Helen Crampton
Ann Fairfax
Marion Gibbons
Charlotte Ward
M. C. Beaton has been hailed as "the new Queen of Crime." She is the New York Times bestselling author of the Agatha Raisin mysteries, which began with The Quiche of Death and also include As the Pig Turns and Busy Body, set in the English Cotswolds, as well as the Hamish M...more
More about M.C. Beaton...
Marion Chesney (real name)
Jennie Tremaine
Sarah Chester
Helen Crampton
Ann Fairfax
Marion Gibbons
Charlotte Ward
M. C. Beaton has been hailed as "the new Queen of Crime." She is the New York Times bestselling author of the Agatha Raisin mysteries, which began with The Quiche of Death and also include As the Pig Turns and Busy Body, set in the English Cotswolds, as well as the Hamish M...more
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Jan 25, 2009 11:58am