title: Death of a Gentle Lady (Hamish Macbeth Mysteries, No. 24)
author:  M. C. Beaton 
description: Full of the author's trademark zest and wit, bestseller Beaton's 23rd Hamish Macbeth mystery (after 2007's <i>Death of a Maid</i>) finds the 50-year-old Scottish detective taking pity on a beautiful Turkish maid named Ayesha in danger of being deported, and asking her to marry him. When Ayesha goes missing and her employer, Mrs. Gentle, turns up murdered, Hamish discovers that his bride-to-be wasn't exactly who she claimed to be. The villagers thought Mrs. Gentle was a sweet old lady, but why would such a nice woman be the target of blackmail? Threaded throughout the ever-twisting plot of the murder investigation are the ongoing saga of Hamish's love life and the vendetta against him of his nemesis, Detective Chief Inspector Blair. Beaton fans will be delighted. <i>(Feb.)</i> <br />Copyright  Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
zlib_text: Title:
  
  **Death of a Glutton**
  
  Series:
  
  **The eight book in the Hamish Macbeth series**
  
   **M. C. Beaton**
  
  Year:
  
  **1993**
  
  Synopsis:
  
  Maria Worth has come to hate her partner, Peta Gore, who has become the bane
  of her otherwise successful business life. When Peta turns up at a gathering
  in a remote village, everyone bands together in mutual loathing—but does
  someone hate her enough to kill her? Hamish Macbeth investigates.
  
  **Chapter One**
  
  > O fat white woman whom nobody loves.
  
  > —Frances Crofts Cornford
  
  **I** t was a blue day in the West Highlands of Scotland as PC Hamish Macbeth
  strolled along the waterfront of the village of Lochdubh. Not blue meaning
  sad, but blue coloured by a perfect day, blue coloured by the sky arching
  above and the sea loch below. Mountains rearing up were darker blue, marching
  off into a blue infinity of distance, as if Sutherland in the north of
  Scotland had no boundaries, but was some sort of infinite paradise of clean
  air and sunlight.
  
  It had been a