Hamish Macbeth’s recent outings

I’ve read all of the books in this series, but somehow or other, I had missed Death of a Maid at the local library and so got a chance to read both this and Death of a Gentle Lady  last week.  While Hamish is a fun, if a sometimes somewhat inexplicably motivated. character, it’s his beloved village and Beaton’s  pacing that are the charm here.  Though not the very best in the series, Maid is a good read about a nasty, blackmailing cleaning lady named Mrs Gillespie whose services Hammish has won in a church raffle and whom he finds death shortly afterward.  There’s no shortage of suspects, though frankly I already forget who whacked the old hag with her own metal pail. 

Death of a Gentle Lady is, I think, somewhat more original fare for Hammish.  Though  everyone else finds Mrs. Gentle charming, Hammish sees her as vicious and conniving early.  Joined by the family which loathes her at her imperious command (not unlike Beaton’s Agatha Raisin’s last outing), there’s no shortage of suspects at Mrs. Gentle’s tottering “folly,” or, for that matter,  in the neighborhood.

There are numerous suplots, including the villagers staging a production of MacBeth and the hopitalization of Hammish’s nemesis Inspector Blair.  And not only does Hammish propose marriage to Mrs. Gentle’s ill-treated maid, but a Russian police woman, a local constable, and BOTH Hammish’s former girlfriends show up to complicate matters. 

 It’s the 23rd book in this series, all of which I’ve read.  Some of it (like Hammish’s romantic problems) gets a little old, but I think I’ll order a few of episodes of the BBC television series,  which I’ve not seen, anyway.

 Here’s a link to the Wikekpedia list of all the Hammish Macbeth mysteries.

A Death of No Importance

Oscar Wilde and the Death of No Importance is the first of a series of what is planned to be nine novels. Narrated by the poet and Wilde’s future biographer Robert Sherard in 1939– fifty years after the events of the story– the novel seems to catch Wilde’s personality and flair.  I had a hard time deciding which of Wilde’s witticisms the author penned and which were lifted from Wilde’s published work.

By far the most interesting parts of the book are Wilde’s rather unlikely friendship with Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, who figures prominently; and the domestic detail of Wilde’s everyday life.  The plot itself is not quite riveting, but overall, it’s fun. When Wilde is being “observant,” he is a very like Sherlock Holmes; when he is, as Sherard says, “on song,” is is witting and entertaining, carrying the reader and his friends on great waves of entertaining talk.

I don’t always like historical mysteries or ones with famous authors, but I like the ones with Jane Austen, and I’m sure I’ll read more in this series.

Follow this link for a synopsis and review of the novel.

Hello world!

Well, I did it again.  Got to about page thirty of a novel and thought, “Oh, shit!  I’ve read this!” Or have I?  Not sure. (Sometimes it’s a little hard to tell, especially when you read a lot of series books.  Or are a little disorganized.)

I guess it’s a good thing.  You can read some old favorites and not have a clue whodunit.  Reread everything on the shelf.  Go to the library and choose any book. Discover authors you’ve read before.  Not recognize your family. Wander away from home and find yourself in Toledo.

So I’ve decided I should keep some kind of record of what I read, at least in the mystery category.  (I can sort of remember what Conrad or Austen I’ve read.  And, to be honest, I don’t find myself rereading a lot of Conrad.)

I thought I’d keep track in a database or a notebook. But it seemed a little, well, overly organized and accountant-like.   Then I thought, why not just blog what I’m reading?  I’ve tried a blog once– a trip journal.  It was easier than designing web pages after a trip, which I’d done with trips to France and China, but proved to be not so practical, ’cause I didn’t really have much computer access and didn’t want to spend much time away from sightseeing– it was only a week’s trip to Scotland. 

So, anyway, here’s the blog.  We’ll see how long it lasts.