DEATH OF A NAG

Hamish Macbeth needs a holiday. However, his economical choice in the north of Scotland turns out to be quite hellish and includes a murder--which, as a visiting constable with considerable intuition, he must help to solve. Davina Porter sparkles as she liltingly regales us with Beaton's keen descriptions of people and places. She would appear to be the perfect instrument for this Highland broth of a tale but for one thing: the labored Scottish brogue she uses for Hamish. For the most part, her characters evince a lilt readily identifiable as Scots. Macbeth, however, weighs in with heavy, nearly Russian, enunciation that makes a burlesque of that charming character. S.B.S. (c) AudioFile 2002, Portland, Maine [Published: OCT/ NOV 02]