Review written and read by Ro Bennett live on bookshow 26th March 2015
I
have been listening to audio books via the library service. There were two apps
suggested by the library so I downloaded two - Borrowbox and One Click Digital
so that I can listen on my Macbook laptop but also on iPad or iPhone.
I
downloaded both because they have different selections of books which gives the
reader more choice. Even so, there isn’t a huge selection. I have found the One
Click very easy to use, easy to return and renew and it has a larger choice than
Borrowbox. The only problem I have found with Borrowbox is that most of the
books I am interested in are on a waiting list. Also you can’t return them when
you have finished listening, you have to wait until the actual return date. You
can renew them.
Synopsis:
When
society widow and gossip columnist Lady Jane Winters joins the local fishing
class she wastes no time in ruffling feathers - or should that be fins? - of
those around her. Among the victims of her sharp tongue is Lochdubh constable
Hamish Macbeth, yet not even Hamish thinks someone would seriously want to
silence Lady Jane's shrill voice permanently - until her strangled body is
fished out of the river. Now with the help of the lovely Priscilla
Halburton-Smythe, Hamish must steer a course through the choppy waters of the
tattler's life to find a murderer. But with a school of suspects who aren't
willing to talk, and the dead woman telling no tales, Hamish may well be in over
his head for he knows that secrets are dangerous, knowledge is power, and
killers when cornered usually do strike again.
Death
of a Gossip is the first in the series featuring Hamish Macbeth - not
surprisingly Scottish and set in the fictional highland village of Lochdubh in
Scotland. This book was very short and was a bit like eating a meringue - sweet
enough but not much substance. It was very gentle and easy but rather shallow
and insipid. Same old, same old, arrogant, cynical, sneering detective from
Glasgow versus laid back, Dixon of Dock Green type village copper who actually
solves the crime. Very à la Agatha Christie - there is a mix of people thrown
together, each of whom has a motive for murder. Usual cliché of silly irritating
girl who keeps mooning over richer older man and imagines marrying him after
their first night together. He of course is just using her and as is expected,
dumps her in favour of someone who can better further his nefarious ambitions.
Then of course there’s a Colonel, bristling and military… So it’s pretty
dated.
Having
said that I enjoyed it but it didn’t grip me and I wouldn’t bother with any
more of the series. I’m glad I didn’t buy it although it was pleasant to listen to as I
pottered around the house and garden. But that just about describes it - an
agreeable background distraction as you go about your chores.
1 comment:
Hi nnice reading your blog
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