The villagers of Lochdubh and nearby Braikie are being plagued with a rash of poison pen letters. And while the letters seem silly (many of the claims seem to be absolutely ludicrous), Hamish Macbeth cannot help but worry about the one letter that might provoke a murder. And true enough things take a very serious turn indeed when the postmistress of Braikie, Miss Amy Beattie, is found hanging from her ceiling, an apparent suicide. But Hamish doesn't believe that it is suicide, and insists on a proper investigation. But it is only when murder claims another victim soon after Miss Beattie that Hamish begins to suspect that this could be a very complicated and dangerous case. Fortunately for Hamish (whether he likes it or not) he's going to get a lot of help in unraveling this case: first there is his friend, reporter Elspeth Grant, willing to offer her keen insights (and more if need be); and then there is also vacationing Jenny Ogilvie, a jealous friend of Hamish's ex-fiancee, Priscilla Halburton-Smythe (whom he still hasn't completely gotten over), who's come to Lochdubh with the intention of nabbing Hamish for herself. Will Hamish discover who the murderer is before (s)he strikes again? Will Jenny succeed in her plan to seduce Hamish? More importantly, will Hamish finally get over Priscilla?

The last in Beaton's Hamish Macbeth series, "Death of a Village," received glowing reviews from such publications as the "New York Times Book Review, Kirkus Reviews, Chicago Sun-Times, Philadelphia Inquirer," and "Booklist," among others.