Death of a Chimney Sweep by M.C. Beaton carries us to the remote villages of the Scottish highlands, where residents still rely on the services of the itinerant sweep and his old-fashioned brushes. Pete Ray makes extra money by kissing brides for luck, but now his luck has run out. When police constable Hamish Macbeth finds the body of Captain Henry Davenport stuffed inside a chimney, Pete is discovered dead on the moors, the casualty of a motorcycle crash…or so it appears.

Hamish is certain that whoever killed Davenport killed Pete, too, a set up to make Pete look like the culprit. Pete may have been awash in soot, but Davenport wasn’t squeaky clean himself. As Hamish investigates, he uncovers dirty business far blacker than a flue.