title: Death of a Village (Hamish Macbeth Mysteries, No. 19)
author:  M. C. Beaton 
description: <div>M. C. Beaton has won international acclaim for her New York Times bestselling Hamish Macbeth mysteries. The BBC has aired 24 episodes based on the series. Beaton is also the author of the bestselling Agatha Raisin series, which will air as an eight-episode dramatic series on Sky1, starring Ashley Jensen. She lives in the Cotswolds with her husband. For more information, you can visit MCBeaton.com.</div>
zlib_text: Title:
  
  **Death of a Poison Pen**
  
  Series:
  
  **Book 20 in the** _ **Hamish Macbeth**_ **series**
  
  Author:
  
  **M.C. Beaton**
  
  Year:
  
  **2004**
  
  Synopsis
  
  Fans of the critically acclaimed Hamish Macbeth whodunits are in for a real
  treat with Death of a Poison Pen. Police constable Macbeth knows that, in most
  cases, the wild accusations and scandalous suppositions in poison-pen letters
  are an annoyance, not a genuine threat. But, from the first, Hamish suspects
  that what’s going on in the remote village of Lochdubh is no ordinary case.
  When the village postmistress is found dead with a poison-pen letter at her
  feet, the coroner confirms Hamish’s worst fears, that the woman’s apparent
  suicide was in fact a carefully concealed murder. Now it’s up to Hamish to
  trace the letters and the escalating violence to the source. His efforts are
  both aided and complicated by the arrival of Jenny Ogilvie, a lovely lady
  whose passion for Hamish is only equaled by her dangerous curiosity about the
  murderous