A Very Useful Man | A Hamish Macbeth Mystery

At Tommel Castle Hotel, an important autumn trial weekend could decide whether a valuable winter booking worth thousands of pounds comes to the Highlands. With forty guests arriving, staff under pressure, and every detail being judged, reliability matters more than ever. Then the problems begin. A projector fails. A sound system stops working. Coffee service is disrupted. Each time, longtime handyman Bert Shaw steps in at exactly the right moment, calmly fixing the problem and proving just how useful he can be. But when the same equipment failures repeatedly make younger technician Tom Doran look incompetent, Hamish Macbeth begins to question whether these are really ordinary breakdowns. What starts as a dispute over hotel standards soon becomes a carefully layered Highland mystery involving false repair charges, commercial sabotage, wounded pride, and one very revealing old carpet sweeper. As Hamish follows invoices, equipment records, contradictory accounts, and small practical details, he must also deal with a problem of his own: a possible promotion to Strathbane that he has absolutely no desire to accept. Worse still, one bad decision during the investigation puts Flora Munro’s future at risk and forces Hamish to confront the consequences of trying to reach the truth too quickly. A Very Useful Man is a warm, character-driven Hamish Macbeth mystery filled with Scottish village atmosphere, dry humour, social tension, fair-play clues, and the quiet human complications that make Lochdubh such a memorable place. Perfect for listeners who enjoy cozy mysteries, British detective stories, Scottish Highland mysteries, village crime fiction, Hamish Macbeth-style mysteries, audiobook mysteries, and gentle whodunit storytelling. Settle in for a new Highland mystery where the most helpful person in the room may also be the one with the most to lose. #HighlandMystery #ScottishMystery #CozyMystery #BritishMystery #MysteryAudiobook #DetectiveStory