Sergeant Hamish Macbeth pays no mind to a bothersome woman who had been out drinking and forgot all the events of the previous evening, until she turns up murdered.

After a dead body is found stuffed up a chimney and then lovable chimney sweep Pete Ray also ends up dead, it is up to Police Constable Hamish MacBeth to scour the Scottish Highlands to find out who is responsible for the dirty deeds.

"Sergeant Hamish Macbeth--Scotland's most quick-witted but unambitious policeman--returns in M.C. Beaton's new mystery in her New York Times bestselling series. DEATH OF AN HONEST MAN Nobody loves an honest man, or that was what police sergeant Hamish Macbeth tried to tell newcomer Paul English. Paul had moved to a house in Cnothan, a sour village on Hamish's beat. He attended church in Lochdubh. He told the minister, Mr. Wellington, that his sermons...

"When Police Sergeant Hamish Macbeth hears reports of a haunted castle near Drim, he assumes the eerie noises and lights reported by the villagers are just local teenagers going there to smoke pot or, worse, inject themselves with drugs. Still, Hamish decides that he and his policeman, Charlie "Clumsy" Carson, will spend the night at the ruined castle to get to the bottom of the rumors once and for all. There's no sign of any ghost...but then Charlie...

Police Constable Hamish Macbeth investigates incidents of vandalism and violence in a quaint Scottish village that is trying to lure tourists to its newly christened "Fairy Glen."

"Sergeant Hamish Macbeth is alarmed to receive a report from a woman in the small village of Cronish in the Scottish Highlands. She has been brutally attacked and the criminal is on the loose. But upon further investigation, Hamish discovers that she was lying about the crime. So when the same woman calls him back about an intruder, he simply marvels at her compulsion to lie. This time, though, she is telling the truth. Her body is found in her home...

Suspecting that an elderly matron is not quite the kindhearted favorite her neighbors believe her to be, Hamish MacBeth investigates the local inspector's suspicions when the lady dies under mysterious circumstances.

"Local police stations all over the Scottish Highlands are being threatened with closure. This presents the perfect opportunity for Detective Chief Inspector Blair, who would love nothing more than to get rid of Sergeant Hamish Macbeth. Blair suggests that Cyril Sessions, a keen young police officer, visit the town of Lochdubh to monitor exactly what Macbeth does every day. Macbeth hears about Blair's plan and is prepared to insure that Cyril returns...

Confounded by the murder of Lochdubh writing circle's long-winded organizer, police officer Hamish Macbeth investigates the victim's writings for clues and wonders at sinister themes within an unfinished soap opera script.

Surprised that a newcomer to the Scottish Highlands has remained steadfast to her new home in spite of an inhospitable winter, constable Hamish Macbeth learns that the woman has deluded herself into believing that she is engaged to a local artist.