Sergeant Hamish Macbeth - Scotland''s most quick-witted but unambitious policeman - returns for the latest mystery in M.C. Beaton''s New York Times bestselling series.

Nobody loves an honest man, or that was what police sergeant Hamish Macbeth tried to tell newcomer Paul English.

Paul attended church in Lochdubh. He told the minister, Mr. Wellington, that his sermons were boring. He told tweedy Mrs. Wellington that she was too fat. Angela Brody was told her detective stories were pap for the masses and it was time she wrote literature instead. He accused Hamish of having dyed his fiery red hair. He told Jessie Currie - who repeated all the last words of her twin sister - that she needed psychiatric help.

''I speak as I find,'' he bragged. Voices saying, ''I could kill that man,'' could be heard from Lochdubh to Cnothan.

And someone did.

Now Hamish is faced with a bewildering array of suspects. And he''s lost the services of his clumsy policeman, Charlie, who has resigned from the force after throwing Chief Inspector Blair into the loch. Can Hamish find the killer on his own?

Praise for M. C. Beaton

''The much-loved Hamish Macbeth series . . . a beguiling blend of wry humour and sharp observations of rural life'' The Good Book Guide

''It''s always a special treat to return to Lochdubh'' New York Times

''First rate . . . deft social comedy and wonderfully realised atmosphere'' Booklist

''M C Beaton''s Hamish Macbeth books are a delight: clever, intricate and sardonic'' Kerry Greenwood