A Highland Christmas (M.C. Beaton)

 

Well, that wasn't what I was expecting.  One of the mystery writers on my British reading list is M.C. Beaton- a prolific writer who's penned over 80 books in her time.  I chose A Highland Christmas because it was short.  I didn't realize it would also be disappointing.

A Highland Christmas is a Hamish Macbeth mystery (about 29 have been written to date).  Hamish lives in the Highlands of Scotland, and is the police constable of a stereotypical, off-beat small Highland village.  In it, as you'd expect, are quirky highland folk, each with lovable, amusing, or annoying foibles.  I think most of the Hamish stories are murder mysteries, but not this one- this appears to be a "Christmas special" of sorts.  Here, a cat goes missing, a tree is stolen, and some misers learn to "lighten up" and have fun on Christmas.  How dreadful.

At 131 pages, this is a quick one-sitting read, but it's one you can skip.  Beaton is not a mystery writer in the Agatha Christie vein- she's more focused on the lives of the villagers than the mystery itself.  I pictured this as being one episode of a standard, 30-minute TV lighthearted "dramedy," perhaps in the Due South or Northern Exposure veins, for those who remember those shows.  It's like a light soap opera, in a way.  Things happen at lightning speed- so there's little room for good dialogue or character development.  Folks that have been set in their ways for decades suddenly have changes of heart, and everything is magically happy at the end- boring.  Anyway, it's not your typical mystery book, and for the unspeakable disappointment I felt as a result I'm forced to give it a poor rating.

Rating: C-