PC Hamish Macbeth can't help but admire the resourcefulness of the Highlanders during the Recession
- in tough times they have
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By day Charlie Bain is the schools most inspiring teacher. By night he prowls the stylish bars of Glasgow seducing women. Fuelled by art drugs & fantasies of being an indie star Charlie journeys further into hedonism unable to see the destruction his desires are leading everyone towards... One of Scotlands dazzling young writing talents tackles the modern phenomenon of sex addiction. Dark funny & deliciously erotic DEATH OF A LADIES MAN is an intense portrait of male vanity written with verve & emotional rawness. ...

The unconventional Hamish Macbeth finds that his own impetuousness places him at the center of a murder investigation. Everyone in the Scottish Highlands village of Lochdubh called Randy Duggan the Macho Man. Duggan went around the village & bragged about everything he had done & said he once was a wrestler in America & an explorer in the Middle East. At first his outrageous stories drew an admiring crowd at the local pub but soon his bullying ways lead to anger & violence. When Hamish tries to break up a fight Duggan challenges him to a public fistfight. But on the day of the scheduled fight Duggan is found shot to death. Of course Macbeths superiors get wind of the fight & suspend him during the investigation. Macbeth has some suspicions about Duggans real background
- & the mysterious banker John Glover who shows up at the posh Tommel Castle Hotel shortly before Duggans death. & what about Rosie Draley the sex-crazed romance writer who had been having an affair with the two-timing Duggan? Once again Macbeth is in hot water & he must find a murderer to clear his name
- & to get back his job & the cushy life (fishing & mooching around the village) he leads.

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A bomb explodes in the centre of Florence hitting the car of Chief Superintendent Michele Ferrara of the elite Squadra Mobile. The attack rocks the ancient city to its foundations. Ferrara was clearly the target
- & he did after all just controversially imprison notorious Mafia boss Salvatore Laprua. A week later another bomb explodes
- bringing tragedy for Ferrara & a determination to find the culprit. But that same morning Salvatore Laprua is found dead in his prison cell. So who is the mysterious influence behind the bombings
- someone even the Mafia fear? An ingenious gripping mystery The Death of a Mafia Don has been a bestseller in Italy & across Europe. Written by former Florence police chief Michele Giuttari it offers a fascinating insight into the secret world of the Mafia & life in Florence.


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Done dusted...and dead! Armed with a bucket & mop Mrs Gillespie is destined to bring misery into the life of Hamish Macbeth when he wins her maid services in a church raffle knowing she is likely to do more snooping than actual cleaning. Yet Hamish has more upsetting issues to ponder
- his former girlfriend Elspeth Grant is back in Lochdubh for a holiday with her new boyfriend. Hamish feels an ill wind coming & sure enough Mrs Gillespie is soon found dead under suspicious circumstances. & as he investigates the case Elspeth's presence torments the red-haired bobby making him resort to foolish antics instead of concentrating on the murder in h&. Praise for The Hamish Macbeth Series": ' First rate...deft social comedy & wonderfully realized atmosphere'
- " Booklist". ' The detective novels of M C Beaton a master of outrageous black comedy have reached cult status'
- Anne Robinson " The Times". ' 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". ' The much-loved " Hamish Macbeth Series"...beguiling blend of wry humour & sharp observations about rural life'
- " Good Book Guide"."






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Hamish Macbeth is savouring the delights of a Highland summer but as fast as the rain rolls in from the loch his happy life goes to hell in a handbasket. The trouble begins when his beloved Priscilla Halburton-Smythe returns to Lochdubh with a new fiance on her arm. His miseries multiply when clouds of midges descend on the town. & then a paragon of housewife perfection named Trixie Thomas moves into Lochdubh with her cowed husband in tow. The newcomer quickly convinces the local ladies to embrace low-cholesterol meals ban alcohol & begin bird-watching. Soon the town's menfolk are up in arms & Macbeth must solve Lochdubh's newest crime
- the mysterious poisoning of the perfect wife.
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Stabbed & stuffed in a closet... When police constable Hamish Macbeth receives the news that there has been a murder at Arrat House home of the relentless practical joker Arthur Trent he doesnt race to the scene of the crime. After all last time he was called to investigate a death at the isolated Scottish manor the victim turned out to be Trents manservant covered in fake blood. Thus prepared for another prank Hamish arrives to find that Trent has been most decidedly murdered & for suspects there is a houseful of greedy relatives all of whom are more than interested in the contents of the will rather than the crime at h&. & when the Chief Inspector arrives on the scene & his former flame Priscilla Halburton-Smythe gets involved as well Hamish quite clearly has his hands full. ...

Stabbed & stuffed in a closet... When police constable Hamish Macbeth receives the news that there has been a murder at Arrat House home of the relentless practical joker Arthur Trent he doesn't race to the scene of the crime. After all last time he was called to investigate a death at the isolated Scottish manor the 'victim' turned out to be Trent's manservant covered in fake blood. Thus prepared for another prank Hamish arrives to find that Trent has been most decidedly murdered & for suspects there is a houseful of greedy relatives all of whom are more than interested in the contents of the will rather than the crime at h&. & when the Chief Inspector arrives on the scene & his former flame Priscilla Halburton-Smythe gets involved as well Hamish quite clearly has his hands full. ...

In the spring of 1948 Arthur Miller retreated to a log cabin in Connecticut with the first two lines of a new play already fixed in his mind. He emerged six weeks later with the final script of Death of a Salesman"
- a painful examination of American life & consumerism. Opening on Broadway the following year Miller's extraordinary masterpiece changed the course of modern theatre. In creating Willy Loman his destructively insecure anti-hero Miller himself defined his aim as being 'to set forth what happens when a man does not have a grip on the forces of life.'"
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The Heinemann Plays" series offers contemporary drama & classic plays in durable classroom editions. Many have large casts & an equal mix of boy & girl parts. This modern tragedy concerns a salesman who at the end of his life is forced to face its futility & failure." ...