DEATH OF A SCRIPTWRITER

Once more to the Scottish Highlands and a new puzzle for Hamish MacBeth (Death of a Dentist, 1997, etc.), Lochdubh’s one-man police force. On a mountainside not far from Lochdubh is Castle Drim, where a crew from Strathclyde Television is filming The Case of the Rising Tides, written by Patricia Martyn-Broyd, an icy but vulnerable snob living in nearby Cnothan. Her books have long been out of print, but her pride in the TV production is short-lived when she becomes aware that scriptwriter Jamie Gallagher is a hack; director Harry Frame will do anything for ratings; and Penelope Gates, playing Lady Harriet, the story’s detective, is a soft-porn star with no objection to X-rated scenes. There’s plenty of tension on the set, with Gallagher’s constant threats to fire aides Fiona King and Sheila Buford, and with locals vying for places in crowd scenes and one-line parts. When Gallagher is found murdered, his head bashed in, Detective Chief Inspector Blair, Hamish’s despised superior, is quick to pronounce Penelope’s jealous husband Josh Gates (found conveniently dead by the police) the culprit. Hamish has doubts about Gates’s guilt but keeps a low profile until a second killing sets him quietly on the true murderer’s track. In this sloppily plotted outing, Hamish’s sleuthing skill is vindicated by results, but his love-life remains depressingly nonexistent. Downbeat, too, is the portrayal of grim villages and their sour inhabitants. Still, Hamish’s amiable persona manages to keep it all together, at least for his legion of ardent fans.