Sergeant Hamish Macbeth is having a bad morning. He ran out of coffee. Oh, and there’s a huge storm blowing in, so he’s knows that his day will be spent pulling trees off the road and helping people make it home safely. But then a call from the big boss changes his plans.
Chief Superintendent Peter Daviot calls Macbeth to head over to Nagler House on Loch Nagler. The new laird there, Duncan Pringle, is missing, and Hamish is the closest officer to the house. After heading home to feed his dog Lugs and pet wild cat Sonsie, Macbeth heads to the Nagler House to find out what’s going on.
The storm has picked up, and Macbeth can hardly see the road. And then he hears a weird noise coming from his engine and starts to get worried. But he realizes that the noise isn’t his engine, but a handful of trees coming loose from their moorings and heading straight for the road. He steps on the gas to get out of the way, and his Land Rover gets him to safety just in time, but now there is no way out. Anyone at the house will have to stay there until someone can clear the road (or what’s left of the road). And to top it off, his radio isn’t working there.
Macbeth is met at the front door by Mrs. Patrick, who shows him around the house and gives him the basic facts of the case. She and Fergus, the gamekeeper and handyman, are the only staff members there. Other than the two of them (and Fergus’s dog Flynn) and the laird’s wife Diana, the other guests are Duncan’s business partner and his wife, the Earl of Strathbane and his wife, and the laird’s nephew and his fiancée.
Macbeth starts with a search of the house. He doesn’t find the laird, but that’s how he learns that there is a rifle missing. It’s when he searches the cars that he finds both the missing rifle and the missing laird, with a bullet hole in his chest.
With no one able to call out and no help able to get through the storm, it’s up to Macbeth to figure out who killed Duncan Pringle and why. Will he be able to catch the killer before the killer can get away with murder?
Death of a Laird is a novella about beloved Scottish rogue and policeman Hamish Macbeth. Living in the Highlands of Scotland, Macbeth has seen his fair share of crime, but he still knows how to have a little fun. After the death of M.C. Beaton, the creator of Hamish Macbeth, the series has been inherited by R.W. Green, and he does a very good job of keeping up the charm of the series and crafting fun stories to read.
Death of a Laird is a quick read, but it’s a fun sip into the Hamish Macbeth universe. I loved it, both for the characters and the quick locked-room mystery where the storm kept everyone locked in the house after the crime. This would be the perfect book to read next time you look outside to see it “blowing a hoolie,” and you can wrap up with a warm drink and a favorite blanket to weather the storm with Hamish. Lots of Scottish fun!
