Death of a Policeman is the 29th book in the Hamish Macbeth mystery series by M.C. Beaton. I’ve been reading this series for 20 years now, and it’s never let me down!
In this one, Hamish’s police station in Lochdubh faces potential closure due to budget cuts throughout the Highlands. Chief Inspector Blair—Hamish’s colleague and archnemesis—wants nothing more than Hamish gone and out of the picture. So Blair hires a handsome young police officer named Cyril to snoop around Lochdubh with hopes of catching Hamish being lazy so they can finally shut down his police station.
Hamish catches on to Blair’s devious plan right away, so he enlists help from the local townies to trick Cyril and send him on a wild goose chase far from Lochdubh. When Cyril turns up dead, it’s up to Hamish to narrow the list of suspects, clear his name, and save his police station.
Death of a Policeman is super cute and funny—they’re all funny, but there are a few unexpected surprises in this one. For instance, a few pages into Chapter 2, a family vacations on the beach where Cyril’s body is found. The wife doesn’t want to be there in the first place, and her mean husband says, “This is real beauty! You ought to be creaming your jeans.” It’s funny because M.C. Beaton doesn’t usually write lines like that.
Another part I loved in this book is a scene between Hamish and Angela Brodie, the local doctor’s wife. Angela won an award for a book she wrote, and bought an elegant dress to wear to the awards ceremony. But Angela’s husband is unjustifiably upset and angry about it. Suspecting there may be another underlying reason for his anger, Angela unashamedly goes to Hamish for help.
The reason I love that scene so much is because it shows how Angela truly loves, respects, and trusts Hamish. It’s so endearing, and says a lot about Hamish’s character. Maybe it’s something you’d only pick up on if you were nearly 30 books into this series like me.
Death of a Policeman has lots of other highlights, but I don’t want to spoil it for you. All I can say is if you’re a fan of Hamish Macbeth, you’ll love this one.
Upon finishing this one, I realized there are only 4 books left in this series written by M.C. Beaton. She died in 2019 and now her books are penned by a ghostwriter. It’s incredibly admirable that she worked up until the end—she must have really loved her craft.
I have no plans to keep up with this series after that—I know it just won’t be the same, and I’ll feel it in my heart.
The next books in the Hamish Macbeth series are:
- #30 – Death of a Liar (2015)
- #31 – Death of a Nurse (2016)
- #32 – Death of a Ghost (2017)
- #33 – Death of an Honest Man (2018)
What did you think about Death of a Policeman? Do you like this series?
Last Updated on March 6, 2026 by Sarah Ann
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