Agatha Raisin
34 primary works • 51 total works
Book 20
Agatha's former husband James is engaged to be married to a beautiful, young woman and Agatha has been kindly invited to the wedding. To take her mind off this, Agatha decides she has fallen for Sylvan, a Frenchman she met at James' engagement party. To distract her still further she decides upon a holiday and flies to Istanbul, where unfortunately she bumps into James and his fiancée not once but twice - convincing him she is stalking them.
So when the bride is murdered on her wedding day, naturally Agatha is Suspect Number One - but then matters are turned on their head when the dead bride's mother engages Agatha to take on the case of her murdered daughter! And very soon Agatha's own life is in danger while she tries to solve the mystery of the corpse bride while fighting off (halfheartedly) the advances of a very attractive and determined Frenchman!
Praise for the Agatha Raisin series:
'M. C. Beaton's imperfect heroine is an absolute gem.' Publishers Weekly
'The detective novels of M. C. Beaton, a master of outrageous black comedy, have reached cult status.' The Times
'Agatha Raisin is sharp, witty, hugely intelligent, unfailingly entertaining, delightfully intolerant and oh so magnificently non PC. M C Beaton has created a new national treasure... the stories zing along and are irresistible, unputdownable, a joy. If you buy one book a year, let it be this. Agatha Raisin is The Strongest Link.' Anne Robinson
'Being a cranky, middle-aged female myself, I found Agatha charming!' Amazon customer review
Book 21
Book 21
The ladies rush out of the building and into the garden to find Sunday lying face down in the petunias, very much dead. Agatha is instantly on the case, but with so many people having threatened the life of the victim, it's almost impossible to know where to start. Praise for the "Agatha Raisin" series: 'M C Beaton has created a national treasure..."Agatha Raisin" is the strongest link' - Anne Robinson. 'M C Beaton's imperfect heroine is an absolute gem' - "Publishers Weekly". 'Clever red herrings and some wicked unfinished business guarantees that the listener will pant for a sequel' - "The Times" audiobook review. 'The Miss Marple-like Agatha is a refreshingly sensible, wonderfully eccentric, thoroughly likeable heroine' - "Booklist".
Book 22
Winter Parva, a traditional Cotswolds village next door to Carsely, has decided to throw a celebratory hog roast to mark the beginning of the winter holiday festivities and Agatha Raisin has arrived with friend and rival in the sleuthing business, Toni, to enjoy the merriment. But as the spit pig is carried towards the bed of fiery charcoal Agatha - and the rest of the village - realise that things aren't as they seem...
Very quickly it transpires that the spit pig is in fact Gary Beech, a policeman not much loved in Winter Parva. And although Agatha has every intention of leaving the affair to the police, she rapidly changes her mind when she finds out Gary's ex-wife has hired Toni to investigate. Cantankerous and competitive as Agatha is, she has to now join the fray and try and solve the case herself!
Praise for M C Beaton's Agatha Raisin series:
I know I once vowed to read only Agatha Christie for a year but I cheated. My No. 1 mistress, M.C. Beaton and her Agatha Raisin whodunits. Agatha is like Miss Marple with a drinking problem, a pack a day habit and major man lust. In fact, I think she may be living my dream life. Entertainment Weekly.
Once again M. C. Beaton has concocted an amusing brew of mystery and romance that will keep her fans turning the pages. Publisher's Weekly.
Pure entertainment. The Guardian.
Book 23
Agatha has fallen in love - again. This time it's the local gardener, George Marston, she has her eye on. But competition for his attention abounds. With her shameless determination Agatha will do anything to get her man - including footing the bill for a charity ball in town just for the chance to dance with him. But when George is a no-show Agatha goes looking for him - and finds he has been murdered, having been bitten by a poisonous snake and buried in a compost heap.
Agatha and the rest of her crew plunge into an investigation and discover that George had quite a complicated love life. And if Agatha now can't have George, at least she can have the satisfaction of confronting those women who have and finding a murderer in the process.
Praise for the Agatha Raisin series:
'M.C. Beaton's imperfect heroine is an absolute gem' Publishers Weekly
'Clever red herrings and some wicked unfinished business guarantees that the listener will pant for a sequel' The Times (audio review)
Book 23.5
Book 24
Book 25
Even though Agatha Raisin loathes Christmas panto, her friend Mrs Bloxby, the vicar's wife, has persuaded her to support the local am dram society in their festive offering. Stifling a yawn at the production of Babes in the Wood, Agatha watches the baker playing an ogre strut and threaten on stage until a trapdoor opens... followed by a scream and silence!
Surely this wasn't the way the scene was rehearsed? When it turns out the local baker had been murdered most horribly, Agatha puts her team of detectives on the case. And they soon discover more feuds and temperamental behaviour in amateur dramatics than in a professional stage show - and face more and more danger as Agatha and her team get too close to the killer...
Book 26
Book 27
Allotment wars!
Lord Bellington has enraged locals by saying he is going to sell off their allotments to make way for a new housing development. So when he turns up dead, poisoned by antifreeze, nobody mourns his passing.
On another fine summer's day, Agatha visits Carsley's allotments where everything looks peaceful and perfect: people of all ages digging in the soil and working hard to grow their own fruit and veg. Agatha feels almost tempted to take on a strip herself . . . but common sense soon prevails. She doesn't really like getting her hands dirty.
She is introduced to three keen gardeners; Harry Perry, Bunty Daventry and Josephine Merriweather are lamenting the neglected condition of a patch that has become available. But as Harry starts to shovel through the weeds and grass his spade comes across something hard so he bends down and tries to move the object. And he starts to yell . . .
The body is that of Peta Currie, a newcomer to the village - but who would want to murder her? Blonde and beautiful, she's every local male's favourite. And then Lord Bellington's son engages Agatha to do some digging of her own and very soon Agatha is thrown into a world of petty feuds, jealousies and disputes over land. It would seem that far from being tiny gardens of Eden, Carsley's allotments are local battlefields where passions - and the bodycount - run high!
Praise for the Agatha Raisin series:
'Sharp, witty, hugely intelligent, unfailingly entertaining, delightfully intolerant and oh so magnificently non-PC, M.C. Beaton has created a national treasure' Anne Robinson
'M.C. Beaton's imperfect heroine is an absolute gem' Publishers Weekly
'The Miss Marple-like Raisin is a refreshing, sensible, wonderfully eccentric, thoroughly likeable heroine' Booklist
Book 28
The latest Agatha Raisin from bestselling author M. C. Beaton
Toil and trouble in store for Agatha!
Cotswolds inhabitants are used to bad weather, but the night sky is especially foggy as Rory and Molly Harris, the new vicar and his wife, drive slowly home from a dinner party in their village of Sumpton Harcourt. They struggle to see the road ahead - but then screech to a halt. Right in front of them, aglow in the headlights of their car, a body hangs from a lightning-blasted tree at the edge of town. But it's not suicide; Margaret Darby, an elderly spinster of the parish, has been murdered - and the villagers are bewildered as to who would commit such a crime, and why.
Agatha Raisin rises to the occasion, delighted to have some excitement back in her life as if truth be told, she was getting bored of the long run of lost cats and divorces on the books. But Sumpton Harcourt is an isolated and unfriendly village, she finds a place that poses more questions than answers. And when two more murders follow the first, Agatha begins to fear for her reputation - and her life. That the village has its own coven of witches certainly doesn't make her feel any better...
Book 29
'Every new Agatha Raisin escapade is a total joy' ASHLEY JENSEN
'No wonder she's been crowned Queen of Cosy Crime' MAIL ON SUNDAY
'A Beaton novel is like The Archers on speed' DAILY MAIL
The latest Agatha Raisin mystery from bestselling author M. C. Beaton
The team of bells at St. Ethelred church is the pride and glory of the idyllic Cotswolds village of Thirk Magna, together with the most dedicated bell ringers in the whole of England: the twins Mavis and Millicent Dupin.
As the village gets ready for the Bishop's visit, the twins get overly-excited at the prospect of ringing the special peal of bells created for the occasion and start bullying the other bell ringers, forcing them to rehearse and rehearse . . . so much so that Joseph Kennell, a retired lawyer, yells at the sisters that he 'felt like killing them'!
When the twins' home is broken into one night and Millicent is found dead, struck from a hammer blow, suspicion falls onto the lawyer.
Will Agatha unmask the real killer and clear Joseph's name?
*
Praise for M. C. Beaton's Agatha Raisin series:
'Full of perfectly pitched interest, intrigue, and charm' Lee Child
'The detective novels of M C Beaton have reached cult status' The Times
'Irresistible, unputdownable, a joy' Anne Robinson
'Agatha is like Miss Marple with a drinking problem, a pack-a-day habit and major man lust. In fact, I think she could be living my dream life' Entertainment Weekly
'I've read all the Agatha Raisin series. There are plenty of twists and turns in a short read that means you're always on your toes. If you're like me, you'll have deep affection for Agatha' Woman's Way
Book 29
Book 30
'Every new Agatha Raisin escapade is a total joy' ASHLEY JENSEN
'No wonder she's been crowned Queen of Cosy Crime' MAIL ON SUNDAY
'A Beaton novel is like The Archers on speed' DAILY MAIL
'The detective novels of M C Beaton have reached cult status' THE TIMES
'Irresistible, unputdownable, a joy' ANNE ROBINSON
Agatha Raisin returns for her 30th adventure . . .
_____________
When private detective Agatha Raisin comes across a severed leg in a roadside hedge, it looks like she is about to become involved in a particularly gruesome murder. Looks, however, can be deceiving, as Agatha discovers when she is employed to investigate a case of industrial espionage at a factory where nothing is quite what it seems.
The factory mystery soon turns to murder and a bad-tempered donkey turns Agatha into a national celebrity, before bringing her ridicule and shame. To add to her woes, Agatha finds herself grappling with growing feelings for her friend and occasional lover, Sir Charles Fraith. Then, as a possible solution to the factory murder unfolds, her own life is thrown into deadly peril. Will Agatha get her man at last? Or will the killer get her first?
_____________
Praise for M. C. Beaton's Agatha Raisin series
'Full of perfectly pitched interest, intrigue, and charm' Lee Child
'The detective novels of M C Beaton, a master of outrageous black comedy, have reached cult status' The Times
'A Beaton novel is like The Archers on speed' Daily Mail
'Agatha is like Miss Marple with a drinking problem, a pack-a-day habit and major man lust. In fact, I think she could be living my dream life' Entertainment Weekly
'Agatha Raisin is sharp, witty, hugely intelligent, unfailingly entertaining. . . M C Beaton has created a new national treasure... the stories zing along and are irresistible, unputdownable, a joy. If you buy one book a year, let it be this. Agatha Raisin is The Strongest Link' Anne Robinson
'M. C. Beaton's imperfect heroine is an absolute gem' Publishers Weekly
'Being a cranky, middle-aged female myself, I found Agatha charming!' Amazon customer review
'[Agatha] is a glorious cross between Miss Marple, Auntie Mame, and Lucille Ball, with a tad of pit bull tossed in. She's wonderful' St. Petersburg Times
'Anyone interested in . . . intelligent, amusing reading will want to make the acquaintance of Mrs. Agatha Raisin' Atlanta Journal-Constitution
'Few things in life are more satisfying than to discover a brand-new Agatha Raisin mystery' Tampa Tribune-Times
'Beaton has a winner in the irrepressible, romance-hungry Agatha' Chicago Sun-Times
Book 31
'No wonder she's been crowned Queen of Cosy Crime' MAIL ON SUNDAY
'A Beaton novel is like The Archers on speed' DAILY MAIL
'The detective novels of M C Beaton have reached cult status' THE TIMES
Private Detective Agatha Raisin immerses herself in the glittering lifestyle of the fabulously wealthy when Sir Charles Fraith is accused of murder - and Agatha is named as his accomplice!
A high-society wedding, a glitzy masked ball, and an introduction to the world of international show-jumping where the riders are glamorous, the horses are beautiful, and intrigue runs deep, leave Agatha with a list of suspects as long as a stallion's tail.
Sinister evidence then emerges that appears to seal Sir Charles's fate and Agatha must uncover the truth before a net of skulduggery closes around him and he loses his ancestral home, his entire estate, and his freedom. And if events weren't complicated enough... Agatha's ex-husband James Lacey is back in Carsely and back in Agatha's heart...
Praise for M. C. Beaton's Agatha Raisin mysteries:
'Irresistible, unputdownable, a joy' Anne Robinson
'Full of perfectly pitched interest, intrigue, and charm' Lee Child
'Agatha is like Miss Marple with a drinking problem, a pack-a-day habit and major man lust. In fact, I think she could be living my dream life' Entertainment Weekly
'M. C. Beaton's imperfect heroine is an absolute gem' Publishers Weekly
'[Agatha] is a glorious cross between Miss Marple, Auntie Mame, and Lucille Ball . . . She's wonderful' St. Petersburg Times
'Few things in life are more satisfying than to discover a brand-new Agatha Raisin mystery' Tampa Tribune-Times
'Beaton has a winner in the irrepressible, romance-hungry Agatha' Chicago Sun-Times
Book 34
