Book 53 of 2014: Death of a Cad by M.C. Beaton

Ages and ages ago I got Mr Click the collection of Hamish Macbeth books from The Book People. He finds them nice and light little reads and once he started reading them, I began dipping into them as well.

Back in December last year I was looking for something fairly quick and light-hearted to read, and so I decided to go for the second book in the Hamish Macbeth series, Dead of a Cad. This one sees Hamish's friend Priscilla bringing her new fiancé to Loch Dubh where, once again, someone ends up dying, leaving Hamish to figure out who did it.

I think I enjoyed this more than the first book, Death of a Gossip, because I knew what to expect from the story. When I read the first book I was surprised at how funny it was in places, this time around I wasn't caught out by the humour; I knew that this book would be a bit tongue-in-cheek in places.

I also already knew most of the characters, so there were no surprises there either. Hamish is a bit of a bumbling character but he's generally a nice guy, if a little bit lazy. He's got a unique view of the world and he's in a very good position to solve crimes. I kind of had my suspicions about who the murderer was going to be from the beginning but as with all crime books, I like to try and figure it out myself while I'm reading. Isn't that why most people read these sorts of books?

At the time I read this book I was suffering a bit and feeling under the weather. This was exactly what I needed. I'd read A Christmas Carol before it and so wanted something a bit more modern, but something which wouldn't require too much thought. This obviously ticked all the right boxes. Despite being a crime book, it's not one which requires too much thinking about, perfect for when you're not feeling 100%.

I managed to read it in just three days and might have done it sooner had I not been trying to read by a torch which kept going out. I think it would be an ideal book for a long journey and I'm fairly certain that I'll come back to the others in the series at some point in the future when I've got a bit of travelling planned.

Our edition of Death of a Cad includes a preview chapter from the next book (Death of an Outsider) and I kind of like how it resets everything back to the way it was at the beginning before Priscilla got engaged. I can't help but wonder if all of the books are going to follow this format. On the one hand it's nice because you know you can pick up a book anywhere in the series and know what to expect, on the other hand, it might get a bit repetitive.

Either way, I'm going to enjoy reading the rest of the books in this series to find out what happens next.