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Death of a Celebrity
M.C. Beaton Book Review

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Plot Summary of Death of a Celebrity
"

Mysteries, Jan 2002, 23.95, 259 pp.
ISBN 0892966769

    Hamish Macbeth is the village bobby in Lochdubh in the Scottish Highlands. It is an isolated quaint little place where everyone knows everyone else and crime is kept to a minimum. Hamish's home is part of the village jail because major crimes occur so infrequently. He resents newcomers who make more work for him. If it were up to the local bobby, there would be a gate preventing any outsiders from coming into the village.

    Hamish is aghast and disgusted when Strathbane Television sends BBC reporter Crystal French into Lochdubh to do a show about a Highland Village. Crystal is more interested in getting scandals individual crofters want to hide than in doing an informative show. She gets a lot of people riled up and the next thing Hamish realizes is that she's shot to death in an isolated part of the village. Her replacement is also shot and Hamish has to find out who killed whom while fighting off the advances a woman who wants a relationship with him.

    M.C. Beaton paints a quite a picture of village life in the Highlands of Scotland due to her characters feeling so real. This enables the reader to picture the lifestyle of the locals. Her protagonist is an interesting person, who prefers being the local constable to join and preferring the sedate pace and the wholesome virtues of village life rather than join New Scotland Yard. DEATH OF A CELEBRITY is a wonderful police procedural story that makes reading fun.

Harriet Klausner
"

Harriet Klausner, Resident Scholar



Review Analysis of Death of a Celebrity
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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
How difficult to spot villain? - Very difficult--no foreshadowing/clues
Time/era of story: - 1980's-1999
What % of story relates directly to the mystery, not the subplot? - 70%
Kind of investigator - police procedural, American
Kid or adult book? - Adult or Young Adult Book
Any non-mystery subplot? - life in small town
Crime Thriller Yes
Murder Mystery (killer unknown) Yes

Main Character
Gender - Male
Profession/status: - police/lawman
Age: - 20's-30's
How much violence does he/she use? - just the right amount
How sensitive is this character? - sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor - Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence - Smarter than most other characters
Physique - average physique

Main Adversary
Identity: - Female
Age: - 20's-30's
Profession/status: - journalist
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in: - a moderate amount
Motive of antagonist - jealousy
How sensitive is this character? - mean, arrogant
Sense of humor - Cynical sense of humor
Intelligence - Smarter than most other characters
Physique - average physique

Setting
Europe Yes
European country: - England/UK

Style
Person - mostly 3rd
Accounts of torture and death? - generic/vague references to death/punishment
How many deaths? - 2
Amount of dialog - roughly even amounts of descript and dialog
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M.C. Beaton Resident Scholar Profiles

TOP SCHOLAR:
  
Stephanie  

SCHOLARS:
Maureen Evans  Eileen Regan  


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