Death of a Spy by M.C. Beaton with R.W. Green (Crime/Mystery Novel, 2024).
Beaton is one of the UK’s most prolific mystery writers and this is the 37th book in the Hamish Macbeth series. I’m not sure if this is the first one co-authored by Green. It’s a comparatively brief volume by modern standards (224 pages), despite mostly leisurely pacing spread over 10 lengthy chapters. None of that is a criticism, just a note about the way the story is organized.
Police Sergeant Hamish Macbeth is the lone full-time police in the small town of Lochdubh, a fictional village in the most rugged and isolated corner of the Scottish Highlands. He likes things quiet and has no desire to get promoted, as that would take him away from this sleepy and picturesque area. But of course his fictional paradise seems to get more than its share of fatal mayhem (hence the previous 36 books, each of which feature “Death of–” someone in the title).
Anyway, this one harkens back to at least one of the Sergeant’s previous adventures, wherein a visiting American played an important part. James Bland says he’s a Chicago cop, but that and his being assigned to assist Hamish in one of those police exchange programs that fictional crime books seem to like is a mere cover story. He’s actually a spy-catcher (maybe CIA, maybe something else). In any event, the past murder case he helped Hamish crack seems to have been connected to a Russian Cold War spy ring.
With important defense secrets centered around a submarine base and military firing range just beyond Hamish’s home turf at stake, the Russians are looking to reactivate the intelligence cell–and eliminate anybody they no longer trust. Bland has been detailed to help Hamish figure out who the shadowy “Boss” of the ring is and bring him down, hopefully before all potential witnesses have been killed off.
Chasing down killer spies would’ve been more than enough excitement for Hamish, but a flood takes out the bridge that is the only way in/out of his beloved town. He manages to use his contacts to get the bridge replaced with shocking ease (Hamish is, if nothing else, a wily if principled operator). But the arrival of a work crew to construct a permanent new bridge coincides with a mini-crime wave of burglaries that has the locals up in arms–and critical of their laid-back Sergeant.
And to top things off, Hamish finds himself with romantic problems with pretty paramedic Claire suspicious of his ties to a couple of his exes. He can’t very well tell everybody about the secret mission he’s stuck with, so more than a few locals think he’s lazy or incompetent when nothing is resolved as quickly as they’d like.
We get plenty of local color, including (but not limited to) the local regulars and his beloved pets. Is the American’s name a bit of an inside joke? Bland–well, yeah, for a dedicated spy-catcher, he is a bit on the quiet side, but serves as a decent sidekick to the deceptively canny Sergeant.
All in all, I think this is an entirely serviceable entry in a series with obvious staying power and a loyal readership. It’s a good, fun read if hardly Earth-shattering or suspenseful.
jimleeauthor 