Death of a Spy

By: M. C. Beaton, R.W. Green - contributor

Narrated by: David Monteath

Sergeant Hamish Macbeth faces a string of mysterious robberies that are only the beginning of an international threat to his sleepy Scottish village of Lochudch in the latest mystery in M.C. Beaton’s beloved, New York Times bestselling series.

Sergeant Hamish Macbeth has some major problems to deal with—crimes and criminals, even law enforcement agents, that he doesn’t want anywhere near his beloved Highland village in Lochdubh. Hamish is worried about how the locals, as well as those in the wider area of his territory in Sutherland, will react to his new assistant officer. The officer is none other than the enigmatic American James Bland who is on an exchange scheme from his home city of Chicago in the United States, supposedly to study policing methods in Scotland.

Hamish knows that this is far from the truth. Having recently become involved in identifying a Russian spy ring to solve a murder, he is aware that Bland’s mission is to track down the members of the spy network still at large. Bland trusts Hamish to help him find all of those who may have been, or may still be, in league with the Russians.

In the meantime, he and Bland have to contend with the everyday chores of rural policing. The tourist season brings with it the usual crop of traffic incidents, lost wallets, lost dogs, and people who are simply lost, but a spate of burglaries and robberies committed by a man described as having a gold tooth and a spider’s web tattoo on his neck give Hamish cause for serious concern. The robberies become increasingly violent and the man is dubbed "Spiderman" by the local press. Hamish has to use all of his contacts and every ounce of his Highland guile to find the robber.

©2024 M. C. Beaton and R.W. Green (P)2024 Grand Central Publishing

The story wasnt interesting , its usually intriguing

i didnt care for the narrator. The bookhad none of the humor or charm of the previous books

Another great story but where is Graemer Malcolm? ;(

I want to be fair and say that Mr. Monteath might be a good narrator but not for Hamish’s books. I hope Malcolm will comeback for the next book.

Great Story!

This is another excellent Hamish Macbeth mystery with all our favorite character involved even if fleetingly. I thoroughly enjoyed the intrigue and the two distinct story lines were wrapped up satisfactorily. I enjoyed the new narrator, he did a fine job. Looking forward to the next Hamish novel!

New narration is a disappointment

I really wanted to like this, but the new narrator just doesn't capture the characters in a way that helps me differentiate one from the other.

the change in narrators

combining a new narrator and a different style of writing was too much. it was a struggle to get through the book. I hope the next one at least goes back to the old narrator.

Ok story. Lacking warmth of MC Beaton. Narrator gets all the characters right except Hamish and the American.

The narrator is talented! Many of the voices were terrific such as Blaire. But I’m not sure he knows Hamish. The “cool” factor is missing from him now and he sounds to be rather geriatric. The personality of the American was completely missing and forced. Sure hope these improve. The story was decent but not clever and fun. Just done. Overall average. I’m still thankful the characters are continuing, though, because I’d miss them very much if the series ended.

The characters are interesting and the setting is beautiful.

I’m loving the new author. A very interesting and entertaining read. I can’t wait for the next book and am so glad to see the series and lovable characters carry on.

Almost, but not quite

I so wanted to give this one five stars but I couldn't. I listened to this one via audiobook and the new narrator just didn't do it justice. Not that they are a bad narrator, but they just weren't meant to narrate a Hamish Macbeth novel. A lot of times I didn't knw who was speaking, Hamish or Bland, as the voices seemed the same a lot of times. The reading pace was a bit slow also and lacked the intonations of previous narrators. The storyline was excellent with the spy element and a burglar running amok in Lochdubh. I think I would have faired better by reading the ebook version.
James Bland, from a previous book, returns to Lochdubh as a Chicago policeman on an exchange program with the Garda. He's really there for Hamish's help in ferreting out a long established Russian spy ring. But what will the locals think of this American assistant in their territory? Hamish will soon find out as he and Bland go on the hunt for spies and the citizens of Lochdubh are riled up over the rash of burglaries, which are becoming increasingly more violent.

Lousy recording. Hard to pay attention to story while listening to the funny audio

Did not like the narrator. Phony sounding as if he were trying too hard to sound Scottish. Did Bland much better so it seems he’s American

New reader’s accent almost a caricature of a Scot

Very average
Marion would not be thrilled with this one
Hopefully the next one will be better