DEATH OF A BORE by M.C. Beaton Audioboo

Death of a Bore by M.C. Beaton 21 A Hamish Macbeth

Tucked away in Lochdubh, a remote village in the Scottish north, is a genius among investigators, Constable Hamish Macbeth. Every time he cracks a case, his superiors want to promote him and pack him off to the city. But content with solitude, a snug cottage, and a quiet lifestyle, he refuses to budge -- even in chill midwinter, when boredom festers, darkness falls in midafternoon, and black deeds emerge....

The poster in Patel's general store announces: "Do you want to be a famous writer? Famous writer John Heppel will help you become one." Lanky, red-haired Hamish Macbeth thinks no one will sign up even though Heppel wrote for a popular TV soap opera. The canny Macbeth is wrong. The desire to be published burns as brightly among Scots as do their hopes of appearing on the telly. Over a dozen budding authors show up at the village hall -- and once Heppel mocks their writing and butchers their dreams, every single one of them wants to kill the arrogant little man. Then someone does.

Worse, many of Macbeth's neighbors -- even the spinster twins, Jessie and Nessie Currie -- have motive, means, and opportunity. Worst of all, this high-profile crime brings the media and Macbeth's new boss, Detective Chief Inspector Heather Meikle, to Lochdubh. And to Macbeth's dismay, the whisky-drinking, man-eating Heather soon sets her cap for the bachelor constable himself.

Desperate times call for desperate measures. With his trusty dog, Lugs, tagging along, Macbeth must search for a way to exonerate his friends and uncover the real killer. Not entirely by coincidence, the path leads him to former girlfriend Elspeth Grant, now at a city newspaper. But romance for Macbeth sputters like a peat fire in the hearth: It will take a mighty blow to get it glowing. Instead, something unexpected will howl down the loch like a cold wind... leading Macbeth to danger and a surprising encounter, one that may change his life and batter his heart.