Death of a Chimney Sweep

By: M. C. Beaton

Narrated by: Graeme Malcolm

Length: 5 hrs and 37 mins

Publisher's summary

In the isolated villages in the north of Scotland, the villagers rely on the services of the chimney sweep, Pete Ray, and his old-fashioned brushes. Pete is always able to find work in the Scottish highlands, until the day that Police Constable Hamish Macbeth notices blood dripping onto the floor of a villager's fireplace, and a dead body stuffed inside the chimney. The entire town of Lochdubh is certain Pete is the culprit, but Hamish doesn't believe that the affable chimney sweep is capable of committing murder. Then Pete's body is found on the Scottish moors, and the mystery deepens. It's up to Hamish to discover who's responsible for the dirty deed--and this time, the murderer may be closer than he realizes.

©2011 Marion Chesney (P)2011 AudioGo

great story, loved the narrator

Nice murder mystery, the end was quite satisfying. It is nice to read a book where the author actually writes an ending! Loved the narrator, did a great job (as far as I could tell) with the different Scottish accents.

One of the best!

I've read a lot of the Hamish Macbeth books, even seen the British TV series, and this one is one of the best I've read. There was little that could be called "typical" about it. There were several surprises along the way. I can't tell you about them, that would spoil it! How about letting you know that every body gets what's coming to them, but in most uncommon ways!

A sitcom in its last season

Another installment or episode in the Hamish MacBeth saga. The other reviews cover it well, though the “…waste of time” was brutal it was also accurate. There’s an example of almost every prior book story element repeated and perhaps clumsily wedged in. There’s less attention to detail like a woman able to lift a dead man alone or gunshots not heard, etc.
But I liked it! Familiar fare like a favorite band on a reunion tour. Listen to the dozen Plus/free episodes first and maybe this later if you are hooked like many of us are.

Enjoy this series

It is always a pleasure to spend a few hours listening to these highland mysteries, like hearing of old friends from a distance. The murder mysteries/plots are usually good but it’s the consistency of the Scottish personalities that make these books welcome companions in my day.

Charrrrming.

A procedural with local humor set in rural Scoootland, the story is simple and refreshing as a mist off a moor. Great car listening as it is fun without requiring all that much concentration. So you can text while you listen, and someday be the center of your own murder mystery.

Good but a lot of dead people

I enjoyed this story. The descriptions of the Scottish Highlands make the book enjoyable for me, and I found the characters in this particular story interesting and fairly well developed. This is a book in a series, so you might want to begin with the first one rather than jumping in with this one as I did. One thing: there are a lot of murders in this book, and some of them seem unnecessary to me. The ending is a little pat with regard to the murderer specifically, but extra time is taken to wind down the other plot lines, and I appreciated that. Fine narration.

Editing failure

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

While I have loved every book narrated by Graeme Malcolm, this one could have used some editing. Long pauses and swallowing sounds were very distracting. Otherwise, this is another fun adventure of Hamish Macbeth.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Hamish

What do you think the narrator could have done better?

Edited out the swallowing sounds.

Great

Back on track and a great mystery. A con man liking out money from so many people. Several would want to get revenge.

Hamish MacBeth

Only listen to MC Beaton's Hamish Macbeth's audiobooks when they are narrated by Graeme Malcolm. Davina Porter totally butchers his character.

Death of a Chimney Sweep

This audible was going well until it froze on the last 17 minutes and 21 seconds! Sooooo frustrating!!! Tried everything until I realized it wasn’t my phone.