I’ve enjoyed many of the books in the Hamish Macbeth series, and now that Bob Moyer has let me know about this latest, I will be looking for it. I have two questions: What would I do without Bob? and How does he get hold of these books before I do?

Reviewed by Robert P. Moyer

DEATH OF A SMUGGLER. By M.C. Beaton with R.W. Green. Grand Central. 229 pages. $28.

M.C. Beaton in her lifetime sold more than 22 million books. She wrote the Agatha Raisin series and 36 books featuring Hamish Macbeth.

But she didn’t write this one. Beaton died in 2019, and this is the second book in the Hamish Macbeth series written by R. W. Green, who took up the franchise. By all accounts, fans and faithful readers say he’s done a bang-up job, including all the people and peccadilloes of the quaint Scottish village of Lochdubh. That’s where Sergeant Hamish Macbeth watches over the village where he was born, raised and remains happily — except when he has to solve one murder per book.

In this case, it’s the Death of a Smuggler. It all starts when two trafficked women escape from their captors when brought ashore near Lochdubh, and quickly get mixed up in the murder of a woman that Hamish has trouble identifying. The women evade their captors and the cops for some time. When Hamish and his new constable catch up with them, it becomes clear that a mysterious man in a blue van is behind much of the mayhem.

The hunt for the miscreant takes Hamish around the beautiful landscape he loves, and right up to the revamped pub. He notices an unusually pricey liquor being purveyed, and a slightly shady innkeeper. He meets up with a family who have had differences with the mystery man and may have played a part in the murder.

All this is conducted with constant interaction with charming locals, like the restauranteur who mangles the English language with malapropisms, and the elderly twins, one of whom repeats the last words of the other in every conversation. His new constable, an old friend, harbors a secret that threads its way through the narrative, as does Hamish’s relation with his main squeeze, Claire. A first-time reader will find a tightly plotted, quick-reading mystery with some light good humor and a cozy feeling.