By: M. C. Beaton
Published: 1999
Audiobook Read by: Graeme Malcolm
My rating: SPECTACULAR
I absolutely love Hamish MacBeth and since it was Christmas time I figured what better way to enjoy Hamish than by listening to this Christmas tale? It is an absolutely wonderful story that warmed my heart and gave me a renewed feeling of love and caring for my fellow man!
One of the things that Hamish dislikes about Lochdubh is the way the town as a whole seems to shun Christmas. You won't find Christmas trees or other decorations in store windows or adorning the streets. Even the individual homes are dark and dreary compared to the brightly lit houses in other villages. Not everyone in town agrees with this view of the blessed holiday. If you know where to look, you'll find Christmas hiding away behind tightly closed drapery or in hidden corners. The children look forward to Santa's visit and know that a great feast will be awaiting them on Christmas day. Unfortunately, if you look behind some closed doors you'll find sad lonely people who sorely need the light of Christmas in their lives.
Hamish loves Christmas. When one of the grouchiest citizens on his beat reports a burglary, he unexpectedly finds an opportunity to spread the love of Christmas to some of those who have never known it. Hamish, in his gentle, loving way, uses the circumstances to his advantage and shows more than one skeptic that Christmas truly is the most wonderful time of the year!
This has become my absolute favorite Hamish MacBeth story yet! Despite being short, (only two CDs) it packs a wonderful message of love and kindness that we all need to hear. If everyone would give of themselves as Hamish does, and care about others the way he does, Christmas would be around all year!
I listened to the audiobook read by Graeme Malcolm and as always, he is absolutely wonderful! He is just so easy to listen to and his accent is perfect for these books! I am so glad he does so many of this series!
Overall, this book is a SPECTACULAR story to the core! I found tears coming to my eyes on more than one occasion as I listened to the heart warming stories of people finding Christmas joy after so much sorrow and loneliness. You really should get this one and see for yourself! I may just have to make a tradition of listening to it every year along with watching "It's A Wonderful Life"!
I love to read but I am a slow reader, Reading all your reviews makes so many books I want to read.I think I am going to have to try to get these books on cd's like you do.I may check the library to see if they have any.What a great way to get through more books.I really want to read this one too....
ReplyDeleteI love the audiobooks. All of the ones I have reviewed have come from our library. I take full advantage of getting things brought in from other libraries in our network. They don't charge for any of them so it is really nice! Our library has quite a large selection of it's own though so I never lack for a selection! :)
ReplyDeleteI will definitely add that to list of things to check out next Christmas. It sounds like a great story!
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