56 reviews for:

Death of a Chimney Sweep

M.C. Beaton

3.42 AVERAGE

jshorton's review against another edition

3.5

lighthearted mysterious fast-paced

sourgrps's review against another edition

3.5

funny mysterious relaxing medium-paced

cook_memorial_public_library's review against another edition

4.0

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Recommended by Sonia

Check our catalog: http://encore.cooklib.org/iii/encore/search?formids=target&lang=eng&suite=def&reservedids=lang,suite&target=death of a chimney sweep beaton

judyward's review against another edition

3.0

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I bought this book for my 86 year old mother, but decided to sneak a read before giving it to her. This is a very bad habit of mine. If I give you a book, chances are that I've already read it. Anyway, in the northern part of Scotland, villagers still get their chimneys swept in the old-fashioned way by a sweep who arrives with his bushes. When Peter Ray, the local sweep, disappears and the owner of the house where he was working is found stuffed up the chimney, everyone in the small village of Lockdubh is convinced that Peter went mad and committed the murder. But then Peter is found dead on the Scottish moors. In this 27th installment in the Hamish Macbeth series, Hamish is once again the local police constable who ends up solving the case--much to the fury of his superiors. This book is a light-hearted cozy--you have to love it when murder becomes a romp-filled adventure filled with eccentric characters and unbelievable situations. A quick, fun read.

helenephoebe's review against another edition

4.0

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Review - The sweep wasn't a main character, or even the main death. However, I really liked Milly, even though she was relatively weak. I also loved the connection with businessmen in Guildford and the money connection. I loved the connected mysteries within this story - all the deaths and bribery and corruption all inclusive. The sweep wasn't the main death, but he was an important one.

Genre? - Crime / Mystery

Characters? - Hamish Macbeth / Elspeth Grant / Priscilla Halburton-Smythe / Inspector Blair / Jimmy Anderson / Castleton / Pressor

Setting? - Lochdubh (Scotland)

Series? - Hamish Macbeth #27

Recommend? - Yes

Rating - 16/20

kmg365's review against another edition

4.0

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As long time readers of the series know, some HM titles are better than others. I'd file this in the "better" category. Maybe it was because I was actually able to sit down and read it pretty much in one sitting, but the details all seemed to hang together better than usual. I suppose Death of Chimney Sweep is a more salable title than Death of a Scamming Weasel, but the sweep was a very minor character indeed.

I found neither Elspeth nor Priscilla annoying this time, and I loved the Angela Brodie subplot. (And Beaton got a few licks in about writers of detective stories never winning major awards.)

lilacgirl128's review against another edition

2.0

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Didn't like it as much of the others in the series. Not a fan of the crime this time and Hamish felt out of character at times.

b_______reads's review against another edition

3.0

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I started this book then didn’t come back to it for some time. When I actually say and read it properly I read it in a day.

I loved this story, very pacey, I loved and loathed all the characters and their relationships as you are meant to.

madisonreadsbooks's review against another edition

5.0

mysterious fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

lberestecki's review against another edition

3.0

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There were a few too many story lines going on, and it occasionally got a bit muddled.