Death of a Policeman

Sgt. Hamish Macbeth has had a long run in the Scottish Highlands%E2%80%94perhaps too long. In his 30th outing (after 2013's Death of Yesterday), Detective Chief Inspector Blair, his boss, sends Cyril Sessions, a corrupt cop, to find evidence that Hamish is sufficiently derelict in his duties to justify firing him. When Cyril is murdered, Hamish's woes multiply. His only goal is to keep his job and avoid promotion so he won't be moved from his beloved village of Lochdubh. Hamish has always been willing to bend a rule here and there, but now he seems as corrupt as his bosses. As the bodies pile up, he withholds evidence, breaks into every house and business belonging to someone he suspects, and blackmails his bosses. Bestseller Beaton originally created him as a lovable rogue, but even Hamish realizes how dirty he's become: "It's as if I've become one of them, he thought." Indeed. Agent: Barbara Lowenstein, Lowenstein Associates. (Feb.)