Death of a Bore

Name: Death of a Bore
Brand: Blackstone Audiobooks
Availability: InStock
Author: M. C. Beaton
ISBN: 9781602831445

Author: M. C. Beaton

Series: Hamish Macbeth Mysteries #20

Narrator: Graeme Malcolm

Unabridged: 5 hr 14 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Blackstone Publishing

Published: 02/01/2005

Categories: Fiction, Mystery & Detective, Police Procedural, Crime, International Crime & Mystery, Small Town & Rural, Traditional British

Synopsis

When John Heppel, a visiting writer to Lochdubh, first proposes forming a writers’ circle, the idea is met with much enthusiasm from local residents. However, once the classes get underway, attendance quickly falters due to one undeniable fact: John Heppel is a long-winded, consummate bore. But is dullness a motive for murder? Hamish Macbeth wouldn’t ordinarily think so, therefore when Heppel is found dead, Hamish begins looking for deeper meaning in the writer’s stories, including a strange, unfinished soap opera script that seems to suggest a more sinister motive behind its author’s unhappy ending.

About M. C. Beaton

M. C. Beaton, hailed as the “Queen of Crime” by the Globe and Mail, was the author of the New York Times and USA Today bestselling Agatha Raisin novels—the basis for the hit series on Acorn TV—as well as the Hamish Macbeth series. Born in Scotland, Beaton also wrote nearly one hundred historical romances under several pseudonyms. Her books have been translated into nineteen languages and sold more than twenty-two million copies worldwide.

About Graeme Malcolm

Graeme Malcolm was an actor and winning audiobook narrator who earned twelve AudioFile Earphones Awards. He has performed on Broadway as Pharaoh in Aida and as Sir Edward Ramsay in The King and I. His television appearances include Law & Order, Follow the River, and Mr. Halpern and Mr. Johnson (with Laurence Olivier). His film credits include A Further Gesture, The Adventures of Sebastian Cole, and Reunion.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Karen on February 01, 2009

I am absolutely HOOKED on this series. The author's wit and humor are just what I love--clever and subtle. I listened to this book on tape and the actor who reads it is wonderful! He knows just how to interpret the lines and has all the accents perfect. The story is the death of an author who moves......more

Goodreads review by ~☆~Autumn on June 29, 2024

This is the very best one as finally I learn where Hamish got his Scottish wild cat and how it happened. I think I read that it is a hybrid and it had a broken leg and was wailing in Hamish's front yard so he took it to the doctor who later took it to the vet. It is named Sonsie from a poem by Burns......more

Goodreads review by Kristen on July 29, 2012

I listened to this book on CD and I think the story was definitely enhanced by having a narrator who could do the Scottish accent as it really makes you feel like you are "there" in the story with the characters. Hamish MacBeth, the local constable in a tiny Scottish highlands village (which I am not......more

Goodreads review by Kelsey on September 06, 2016

Beaton is pretty good at making unlikable characters and Death of a Bore is no exception. The titular bore was a pompous jerk who was very easy to hate. I worry that this book might be the last book featuring Elspeth, who I really like, since she has apparently given up on Hamish. I'm not sure who I......more

Goodreads review by Kathy on May 31, 2015

Hamish Macbeth murder mystery set in the Scottish Highlands. This one let me down a little. The author repeated herself several times, and explanations were sometimes out of place. It was almost like the author wasn't paying attention while she wrote, or someone else wrote it, taking parts of her fo......more

Quotes

“Graeme Malcolm’s cool, dry chameleon voice moves from one well-thought-out choice for a character to the next, giving not just their many different lilts but also their personalities, with the deftest of touches.” AudioFile

“Once again M. C. Beaton has concocted an amusing brew of mystery and romance that will keep her fans turning the pages.” Publishers Weekly

“Well-plotted. Hamish’s twentieth offers humor, intrigue, and local color galore.” Kirkus Reviews

“Macbeth’s stolid character serves as perfect counterpoint to both the scheming, sneering higher-ups in the police and his sometimes hysterical villagers…Delightful.” Booklist

“Beaton continues her well-loved Hamish Macbeth series with a crafty tale of murder in a small Scottish Highlands town…A smoothly plotted mystery.” RT Book Reviews (4 stars)