Death of a Perfect Wife
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- $7.99
Publisher Description
Travel to the Scotland Highlands with this classic Hamish Macbeth cozy mystery from the author of the Agatha Raisin series.
Death of a Perfect Wife: A Hamish Macbeth Mystery
Hamish Macbeth, the laid-back constable of Lochdubh, Scotland, has a new Land Rover to drive and a Highland summer to savor, but as fast as rain rolls in from the loch, his happy life goes to hell in a handbasket. The trouble begins when his beloved Priscilla Halburton-Smythe returns from London . . . with a fiance on her arm. His miseries multiply when clouds of midges (the diabolical Scottish mosquito) descend on the town.
Then a paragon of housewifery named Trixie Thomas moves into Lochdubh with her lapdog husband in tow. The newcomer quickly convinces the local ladies to embrace low-cholesterol meals, ban tobacco, and begin bird-watching. Soon the town's fish-and-chips-loving men are up in arms. Now faced with the trials of his own soul, Macbeth must solve Lochdubh's newest crime-the mysterious poisoning of the perfect wife.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Constable Hamish Macbeth of Lochdubh in the Scottish Highlands returns to beguile readers in Beaton's fourth whodunit. With the arrival of Trixie and Paul Thomas from England, life in the tranquil village becomes chaotic, as brash Trixie establishes the Thomas house as headquarters for militant feminism. A ``perfect wife,'' Trixie subjugates her husband Paul and teaches the local women to follow her example. Obeying Trixie's dicta, the wives begin serving their spouses health food instead of ``harmful'' hearty meals, and campaign vigorously against smoking. It is no wonder that someone eventually murders Trixie; Hamish's problem is whittling down the number of suspects. As the pace of the merry tale quickens, gentle Hamish draws nearer to exposing the surprising killer whose motive is far different from what he expects. He is also gratified to find the male residents of Lochdubh admitting that they feel better--although not smoking and eating nutritiously--now that they are relieved of Trixie's domineering presence.