In dark wintry Lochdubh Christmas Cheer is about as welcome as a flat tyre on a deserted road. The Calvinist element in town has always resisted what they view as secular frivolity so for most of the townsfolk there'll be no carols feasting gifts
- or even whisky on Christmas Day! & for PC Hamish Macbeth there's no holiday from crime
- he finds himself hunting for a missing cat belonging to a lonely spinster. Curt & unfriendly the woman is convinced her pet has been stolen but once behind her heavily-bolted door Hamish can spot her true problem
- she lives in fear though of who or what he cannot guess. Then someone steals a Christmas tree & lights from the nearby village of Cnothan. So it is up to Hamish to sort all these problems out
- & he had better do it quickly for the church bells will soon peal on the eve of Christmas. Praise for the Hamish Macbeth" series: ' First rate.. .deft social comedy & wonderfully realized atmosphere'
- " Booklist". ' It's always a treat to return to Lochdubh'
- " New York Times". ' Readers will enjoy the quirks & unique qualities of the cast.. . Beaton catches the beauty of the area's natural geography & succinctly describes its distinct flavour'
- " Library Journal". ' Befuddled earnest & utterly endearing Hamish makes his triumphs sweetly satisfying'
- " Publishers Weekly"."