Death of a Gossip
  • # of Books:
    38
  • First Book:
    March 1985
  • Latest Book:
    February 2023
  • Genres:
    Cozy Mystery, Police Procedural, Traditional British
  • Setting:
    Scottish Highlands
  • Characters:
    Hamish Macbeth, constable
  • Series Rating:
  • Share:

Hamish MacBeth Series in Order (38 Books)

Order Book Date Rating
1 4
2 4.5
3 4.5
4 5
5 4
6 4
7 4
8 4
9 5


10 5
11 4
12 4
13 4.5
14 4
15 4
16 4
17 4.5
18 5
19 4.5
20 4.5
21 5
22 4.5
23 4.5
24 5
25 5
26 4.5
27 4
28 4.5
28 4


30 4
31 4
31.5 (e) 4
32 4.5
33 4
34 4.5
34.5 (e) 4.5
35 4
36 5

Book Descriptions for series: Hamish MacBeth


  • Book - 1

    MOST UNSPORTING BEHAVIOR John Cartwright, owner and fishing instructor at the Lochdubh School of Casting in the wilds of Scotland, had a premonition of evil doings. And when the latest class of anglers appeared, his fears were proved real, in the...



  • Book - 2

    THE HUNTER IS HUNTED When Priscilla Halburton-Smythe brings her London playwright fiance home to Lochdubh, the whole town is delighted, save perhaps for lovesmitten bobby Hamish Macbeth. But the morning after a tastefully posh engagement party, on...



  • Book - 3

    IT'S A WONDER SOMEONE DIDN'T MURDER WILLIAM MAINWARING LONG AGO. Nobody in the Scottish town of Cnothan had liked the abrasive Englishman, and now that he has been murdered--in a most original fashion--nobody much minds. Constable Hamish Macbeth's...



  • Book - 4

    CONSTABLE HAMISH MACBETH IS A HAPPY MAN He has his home, his cattle, hens and geese, his friends and neighbors, and soon, he hopes, he'll have lovely Priscilla Halburton-Smythe as well. God's in his heaven and all's right with the world...until so...



  • Book - 5

    WEALTHY MAGGIE BAIRD IS NEITHER NICE NOR KIND NOR GENEROUS. About the best that can be said of her is that inside her middle-aged body, there still beats the heart of a beautiful tart. So when her car catches fire, with Maggie in it, there are ...



  • Book - 6

    IT'S CHRISTMAS, AND CONSTABLE HAMISH MACBETH IS ONE BIG BUNDLE OF MISERY. With a cold in his head and no place to go for the holidays, Hamish snaps up the invitation of gorgeous Jane Wetherby to spend Christmas at her Scottish island health farm -- ...



  • Book - 7

    WHEN IT COMES TO MURDER, CONSTABLE HAMISH MACBETH CAN'T SEE THE JOKE. Admittedly there's a touch of black humor in the case. Rich, old practical joker Andrew Trent summons his kin to remote Arrat House in the dead of winter for a deathbed farewell...



  • Book - 8

    THERE'S NOT A CLOUD IN CONSTABLE HAMISH MACBETH'S SKY.... Just plenty of warm sunshine and not quite enough of beautiful Priscilla Halburton-Smythe. But as eight hopeful members of the Checkmate Singles Club converge on Tommel Castle Hotel for ...



  • Book - 9

    Hamish Macbeth's life is going to pot. He's been promoted (horrors!), his boss is a dunce, and--to add insult to injury--a sinister self-proclaimed gypsy and his girlfriend have parked their rusty, eye-sore-of-a-van in the village. Hamish smells tro...






  • Book - 10

    HE COULD CHARM YOUR PANTS OFF. THAT WAS PRECISELY THE PROBLEM. Police constable Hamish Macbeth hears that a posh English chap has moved into an unlikely place--the backwater village of Drim. Indeed, Peter Hynd has the town's matrons giggling like ...



  • Book - 11

    A FORGOTTEN NORTH SEA RESORT IS A PLACE TO GET AWAY FROM EVERYTHING. EXCEPT MURDER. Lochdubh constable Hamish Macbeth is more dour than ever after losing both his promotion and his girl, the lovely Priscilla Halburton-Smythe. A trip to a charming ...



  • Book - 12

    WHAT ACCOMPANIES A HUGE, TATTOOED STRANGER TO A TINY HIGHLAND TOWN? DEATH. Everybody in Lochdubh knew about the Macho Man, a mean bully claiming to be a professional wrestler. His insults at the local pub caused some bonny brawls. His sneaking aro...



  • Book - 13

    MURDER WITH BITE In Scotland, where thrift and a "nice set of dentures" are admired, Dr. Frederick Gilchrist's cheap rates and penchant for pulling teeth have gained him a clientele. However, wiser Highlanders--like Lochdubh policeman Hamish Macbe...



  • Book - 14

    HOLLYWOOD IN THE HIGHLANDS With the lovely Priscilla Halburton-Smythe away in London, Lochdubh Constable Hamish Macbeth pines for company during the long Scottish winter. He gets his wish--and more--when a troupe of flashy, urbane filmmakers clamo...



  • Book - 15

    LETHAL HALIBUTS Recovering addict Tommy Jarret rented a chalet to check on reports of a sea monster near the dour village of Drim. But when he turns up dead, apparently of a drug overdose, Lochdubh constable Hamish Macbeth finds the lad's demise t...



  • Book - 16

    In the dark, wintry highlands of Lochdubh, Scotland, where the local Calvinist element resists the secular trimmings of Christmas, the spirit of Old St. Nick is about as welcome as a flat tire on a deserted road. Nor is crime taking a holiday, as Con...



  • Book - 17

    CRIME AND PUNISHMENT The garbage collectors in Britain are still called dustmen, and Lochdubh's dustman is an abusive drunk named Fergus Macleod. When Fergus is put in charge of a recycling center and dubbed the "environment officer," Constable Hami...



  • Book - 18

    MURDER ON THE TELLY Lochdubh, a remote village reached only by a one-track lane, nestles serenely amid Scotland's hills...until well-known TV reporter Crystal French races into town in her bright BMW. And Constable Hamish Macbeth, dourly wed to duty...



  • Book - 19

    TOWN WITHOUT PITY...OR A GOOD PUB Trouble is afoot in the remote Scottish fishing village of Stoyre, where the inhabitants are acting, well, fishy. On a routine visit, Constable Hamish Macbeth finds the pub empty, the church unexpectedly full, and...






  • Book - 20

    MURDEROUS MISSIVES A sudden plague of maliciousness strikes the beautiful Highland town of Lochdubh in the form of a rash of poison pen letters. Things turn deadly when the local postmistress is found hanged in her room...with a vicious note benea...



  • Book - 21

    THE INK IS MIGHTIER THAN THE SWORD Famous writer John Heppel is a bitter, self-important man who cruelly belittles the scribblings of the locals signed up for his writing course. So when Lochdubh constable Hamish Macbeth finds Heppel murdered, his...



  • Book - 22

    A DREAM OF DYING In the Highlands village of Lochdubh, every season has its special flavor. Lanky, red-haired constable Hamish Macbeth relishes them all, but spring is the grandest. Now the winter storms have blown out to sea, the loch is smooth as ...



  • Book - 23

    A DEATHLY MESS A housecleaner who damages more, items than she dusts, Mrs. Gillespie is a notorious snoop who spreads malicious gossip throughout the Highlands. After winning her cleaning services in a church raffle, Lochdubh constable Hamish Macbet...



  • Book - 24

    You are cordially invited to the wedding of Hamish Macbeth... Living in her castle near the village of Lochdubh, the elderly Mrs. Gentle wears lavender-colored clothes and is kind and solicitous of her neighbors. Everyone in town adores her -- exc...



  • Book - 25

    A DEADLY BREW OF TOIL AND TROUBLE Returning from a vacation, Constable Hamish Macbeth senses a dark cloud of evil hanging over his Scottish village of Lochdubh. Newcomer Catriona Beldame has cast a bewitching spell over the town, causing the local m...



  • Book - 26

    Amazing news is spreading across the Scottish countryside. The most famous of highland bachelors, police sergeant Hamish Macbeth, will be married at last. While everyone in Lochdubh adores Josie McSween, Macbeth's newest constable and blushing bride-...



  • Book - 27

    In the south of Scotland, residents get their chimneys vacuum-cleaned. But in the isolated northern villages, the people rely on the services of the itinerant sweep, Pete Ray, and his old-fashioned brushes. Pete is always able to find work in the Hig...



  • Book - 28

    When Scotland is hit by the recession, Police Constable Hamish Macbeth notices that the Highland people are forced to come up with inventive ways to lure tourists to their sleepy towns. The quaint village of Braikie doesn't have much to offer, other ...



  • Book - 28

    When a local woman tells Sergeant Hamish Macbeth that she doesn't remember what happened the previous evening, he doesn't begin to worry. She had been out drinking, after all, and he'd prefer not to be bothered with such an arrogant and annoying woma...






  • Book - 30

    Local police stations all over the Scottish Highlands are being threatened with closure. This presents the perfect opportunity for Detective Chief Inspector Blair, who would love nothing more than to get rid of Sergeant Hamish Macbeth. Blair suggests...



  • Book - 31

    Sergeant Hamish Macbeth is alarmed to receive a report from a woman in the small village of Cronish in the Scottish Highlands. She has been brutally attacked and the criminal is on the loose. But upon further investigation, Hamish discovers that she ...



  • Book - 31.5

    Hamish Macbeth, Scotland's most quick-witted but unambitious policeman returns in a new short story from New York Times bestselling author M.C. BeatonKNOCK KNOCK, YOU'RE DEAD!A Hamish Macbeth Short StoryMrs. Morag McPhie hits upon the idea of selling...



  • Book - 32

    M. C. Beaton's New York Times bestselling Hamish Macbeth series continues with a new mystery featuring Scotland's most quick-witted but unambitious policeman. James Harrison has recently moved to a restored hunting lodge in Sutherland with his gor...



  • Book - 33

    Sergeant Hamish Macbeth--Scotland's most quick-witted but unambitious policeman--returns in M.C. Beaton's new mystery in her New York Times bestselling series DEATH OF A GHOST When Police Sergeant Hamish Macbeth hears reports of a haunted castl...



  • Book - 34

    Sergeant Hamish Macbeth--Scotland's most quick-witted but unambitious policeman--returns in M.C. Beaton's new mystery in her New York Times bestselling series. DEATH OF AN HONEST MAN Nobody loves an honest man, or that was what police sergeant H...



  • Book - 34.5

    A wealthy laird's guests are trapped in his estate during a furious storm--but when the laird turns up dead, Scotland's most quick-witted but unambitious policeman, Hamish Macbeth, is on the case in this delightful new short story in M.C. Beaton's&#x...



  • Book - 35

    Sergeant Hamish Macbeth -- Scotland's most quick-witted but unambitious policeman -- is back and may have finally met the woman of his dreams in this new mystery in M.C. Beaton's beloved, New York Times bestselling series. Hamish's new...



  • Book - 36

    In this addition to a New York Times bestselling mystery series, Sergeant Hamish Macbeth—Scotland's most quick-witted but unambitious policeman—investigates the disappearance of a local woman who is more than she seems. Kate...


Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

There are 38 books in the Hamish MacBeth series.

The Hamish MacBeth series does not have a new book coming out soon. The latest book, Death of a Traitor (Book 36), was published in February 2023.

The first book in the Hamish MacBeth series, Death of a Gossip, was published in March 1985.

The Hamish MacBeth series primarily falls into the Cozy Mystery, Police Procedural and Traditional British genres.