Death of a Green-Eyed Monster: A Hamish Macbeth Murder Mystery

The lackluster 35th mystery featuring Sgt. Hamish Macbeth (after 2018’s Death of an Honest Man), a collaboration between Beaton (1936–2019) and Green, opens with the arrival of Macbeth’s new constable, the stunning Dorothy McIver, who is as bright as she is beautiful, to the Scottish village of Lockdubh. Of course, Macbeth instantly falls head over heels for her and soon sees a wedding in their future. Dorothy proves to be the perfect professional partner, and her insight into the criminal mind comes in handy when a stranger to the area is found dead in his car with a bullet hole in his head. Gangsters from Glasgow, bent coppers, and some decorous courting keep Macbeth and Dorothy busy. But without humor to buoy the outlandish plot, the story becomes a tiresome muddle. In the foreword, in which Green shares his memories of assisting Beaton in her final years, he says she “wanted to provide her readers with some gentle escapism for a rainy afternoon read.” This entry doesn’t quite attain that modest goal. Agent: Barbara Lowenstein, Lowenstein Assoc. (Feb.)