Monday, May 30, 2016

M.C. Beaton author of The Hamish Macbeth and the Agatha Raisin mysteries

Curling up with a good book is my idea of relaxation.  I read non-fiction, too but that is usually not relaxing. 

So for pure escapism, I will always turn to a good British/Irish/Scottish murder mystery.  It all started when my mother bought Agatha Christie books for me as a child.  My English teacher in high school was quite vexed that I loved to read Edgar Allan Poe, as well.  So the dye was cast and my love for a good mystery story was set.  Is it great literature?  No, but it serves its purpose to entertain and exercise the little gray cells and takes us to another time and place.   We all need to escape from time to time from our every day schedules. M.C. Beaton has written many books and two of her favorite characters, Hamish Macbeth and Agatha Raisin, bring me lots of enjoyment.

In fact, I share my book finds with my sister Dolores and my friend Carol. It should be noted that Dolores gave me 2 Agatha Raisin books for Christmas a couple of years ago and that got the ball rolling.  I recalled,  also, watching a PBS TV series about Hamish Macbeth years ago.  The actor who played Hamish was none other than the guy on Once Upon a Time who plays Rumplestilskin (ok  I can't spell that name and I am too lazy to look it up).

I have discovered 2nd hand books for 1 penny a copy plus mailing and handling and sometimes $1.00 a copy.  At times, I download books to my Kindle Fire from my local library but they don't have very many of her books.  I have downloaded all they have currently.  Oh, I must mention M.C. Beaton has a new Agatha Raisin Mystery coming out in the Fall of 2016.   We are all excited. 

It appears that she doesn't add to the Hamish Macbeth mysteries any longer which is a shame.  Hamish is quite an interesting fellow and one we would love to be our guide to Scotland.

In the words of Tim McGraw "Always stay humble and kind."

Be Sweet, Sue

3 comments:

Grampa' Jim said...

You forgot to tell everyone how many mysteries we follow on TV as well. It is very comfortable to crash in the den and try to solve the mysteries together. The only mystery left is why you are up so late converting everyone to your love of literature.

Dottie O said...

Have you read 'The Mammy' by Brendan O'Carroll? It's a series of books regarding an Irish family growing up and the antics that go along with being poor. It's kind of like Angela's Ashes on Prozac.

Sue said...

I will download that one from the Library to my Kindle Fire. Thanks for the recommendation.

I hope you had a chance to read Jim's book Becoming Omegan. It is really good.