Yesterday  I read the latest in the Hamish Macbeth series by M.C. Beaton, Death of a Witch. Beaton churns out the Macbeth books and the very funny Agatha Raisin mysteries on a regular basis and all for the good amusement of mystery readers.  Her plots move fast, her characters are very quirky and charming, and her mysteries are just twisted enough to keep me guessing until the end.  Hamish Macbeth is her Scotland Highlands policeman.  He is unambitious but smart, crazy about his wild cat and his smelly dog, and dedicated to the people of his small village of Lochdubh.  Alternatively in love with snobby but beautiful Priscilla and psychic and cute Elspeth, he is pursued in every book by some female or another.

Death of a Witch begins with Hamish off on a trip to Spain, hoping for a little tangle-free vacation romance but instead he becomes the darling of the over-seventy set, who insist on his chaperoning them throughout the activities of the resort town.  He returns home to find a beautiful witch has moved to town.  Her best spell?  Bringing sex back into the lives of the Lochdubh villagers.  Hamish knows this can only end in disaster and he’s right.  The resulting death, mystery, and setting straight of love lives in the Scottish Highlands is entertaining and fun.  It runs true to Beaton’s formula of women hunting Hamish, Hamish being more clever than anyone else, Hamish besotted over Priscilla but curious about life with Elspeth, and the finale mystery solved by Hamish alone.  But is Hamish left on his own, once again?  I won’t give the ending away; all I’ll say is that our handsome Hamish gets  another shot at vacation and sex, far from the prying eyes of his beloved villagers.

This was not my favorite Macbeth mystery but it was fine, and for fans, it will more than satisfy.  For newcomers to the series, I would recommend Death of a Poison Pen or Death of a Gossip to begin the addiction.  And definitely try any of the hysterical Agatha Raisin mysteries, beginning chronologically with Agatha Raisin and the Quiche of Death to get the full taste of this amateur Cotswold village sleuth.  She is a wacky ex-advertising wiz with great legs but little eyes, and an ever-expanding waistline.