Hamish Macbeth is a longtime police officer in Lochdubh Scotland. This cozy mystery has him investigating a complaint of a “ghostly howling ” in an old castle. Soon his investigation leads to a string of murders that his superiors seem eager to consider the killer identified and the case solved. Hamish believes otherwise and continues to dig his way into the web of deceit! I am a loyal reader and fan of M.C. Beaton, having read all her Hamish Macbeth series. This book struck me as being a bit darker than earlier stories. Instead of fun, caring characters, I felt like they all took a twist into becoming brooding, malicious ones. Even Hamish is not himself, being extra morose and pathetic. I really missed the humor of the regular Lochdubh characters and the comradery of Hamish and Jimmy Anderson. I always enjoyed jimmy before this book and now he is an unlovable lush. Officer Blair has gone from an irritating superior to a possible killer. Too much darkness in the lovable life of Hamish! I still love the series and definitely recommend this book and the Hamish MacBeth series to lovers of mystery.

Death of a Ghost (Hamish Macbeth, #32) is now available from Grand Central Publishing. An egalley of this book was made available by the publisher in exchange for a honest review.