Sergeant Hamish Macbeth—Scotland's most quick-witted but unambitious policeman—is back and may have finally met the woman of his dreams in this new mystery in M.C. Beaton's beloved, New York Times bestselling series.Hamish's new constable, Dorothy McIver, may be the most beautiful woman he's ever seen. Completely bewitched by her sparkling blue eyes, Hamish spends the summer traveling with her up and down Sutherland until finally, he can take it no longer. He gets down on one knee beside the Land Rover and begs her to marry him—and to his amazement and delight, she says yes.But just as the town of Lochdubh gets ready to celebrate, Hamish finds himself with a new murder on his hands. If he doesn't find the killer fast, Hamish's dream wedding could become a nightmare.

An ebook-only collection of New York Times bestselling author M.C. Beaton’s first three Hamish Macbeth mysteries.

Beloved New York Times bestseller M. C. Beaton's cranky, crafty Agatha Raisin—the star of her own hit T.V. series—is back on the case again.Agatha Raisin's private detective agency has their work cut out for them when a series of shop burglaries disturbs their quiet Cotswolds village. When the break-ins take a violent turn and a murder occurs, it's all hands on deck to find the killer. As if that weren't keeping Agatha busy enough, Sir Charles Fraith has called on her to help stage a glamorous promotional extravaganza on the grounds of his ancestral home, Barfield House.When Agatha begins to receive death threats and narrowly avoids being kidnapped, she takes advantage of a previously arranged trip to Mallorca with her recent paramour, former police officer John Glass, to lie low for a while. Can Agatha track down whoever it is that wants her dead, nail the murderer, and keep her romance alive too? It's a race against the clock as...

Beloved New York Times bestseller M. C. Beaton's cranky, crafty Agatha Raisin—now the star of a hit T.V. show—is back on the case again in Hot to Trot.When Private Investigator Agatha Raisin learns that her friend and one-time lover Charles Fraith is to be married to a mysterious socialite, Miss Mary Brown-Field, she sees it as her duty to find out what she can about the woman. Coming up empty, Agatha—out of selfless concern for Charles, of course—does the only sensible thing she can think of: she crashes their wedding, which ends in a public altercation. Nursing a hangover the next morning, she gets a phone call from Charles, with even more disturbing news: Mary has been murdered.Agatha takes on the case, and quickly becomes entrenched in the competitive equestrian world, in which Mary had been enmeshed—as well as the victim's surprisingly violent past. Agatha finds no shortage of motives among a wide range of...

A wealthy laird's guests are trapped in his estate during a furious storm—but when the laird turns up dead, Scotland's most quick-witted but unambitious policeman, Hamish Macbeth, is on the case in this delightful new short story in M.C. Beaton's New York Times bestselling series. When Sergeant Hamish Macbeth is sent to investigate reports that the wealthy new laird of the remote Naglar House has disappeared, north-west Scotland is hit by the worst storm in living memory. The road is washed away, phone lines are down, mobile reception is dead and his police radio is out of order. He is trapped with the laird's high-class house guests. Then he discovers the laird's body.Forced to remain overnight at the house, Hamish interviews each of the guests and pieces together an alarming picture of clandestine infidelity, vicious jealousy, deadly revenge, lust, greed and fear. It begins to look like all of the guests had good...

Digital Original

Beloved New York Times bestseller M. C. Beaton's cranky, crafty Agatha Raisin—now the star of a hit T.V. show—is back on the case again in Down the Hatch...

Agatha Raisin and the Case of the Curious Curate continues the tradition in M. C. Beaton's beloved Agatha Raisin cozy mystery series—now a hit show on Acorn TV and public television.Agatha Raisin is feeling miserable—and with good reason. Her ex-husband, James, has abandoned her, and she's been humiliated by an unseemly proposition from John Armitage, her handsome neighbor. So complete is her devastation that Agatha has given up on makeup and taken to wearing the loose cotton dresses and flat, sensible shoes she has always abhorred.But there is light at the end of this dark and lonely tunnel, and its source is Carsely's beatific new curate, Tristan Delon. With his golden hair, large blue eyes, and perfect mouth, Tristan has attracted the interest of more than a few of his female congregants. And to her surprise, he seems to have taken a special interest in Agatha.Despite his charms, however, there is something odd about the curate, and...

Sergeant Hamish Macbeth faces a string of mysterious robberies that are only the beginning of an international threat to his sleepy Scottish village of Lochudch in the latest mystery in M.C. Beaton’s beloved, New York Times bestselling series. Sergeant Hamish Macbeth has some major problems to deal with – crimes and criminals, even law enforcement agents, that he doesn’t want anywhere near his beloved Highland village in Lochdubh. Hamish is worried about how the locals, as well as those in the wider area of his territory in Sutherland, will react to his new assistant officer. The officer is none other than the enigmatic American James Bland who is on an exchange scheme from his home city of Chicago in the United States, supposedly to study policing methods in Scotland. Hamish knows that this is far from the truth. Having recently become involved in identifying a Russian spy ring to solve a murder, he is aware that Bland’s mission...

Beloved New York Times bestseller M. C. Beaton's cranky, crafty Agatha Raisin—now the star of a hit T.V. show—is back on the case again in Hot to Trot.When Private Investigator Agatha Raisin learns that her friend and one-time lover Charles Fraith is to be married to a mysterious socialite, Miss Mary Brown-Field, she sees it as her duty to find out what she can about the woman. Coming up empty, Agatha—out of selfless concern for Charles, of course—does the only sensible thing she can think of: she crashes their wedding, which ends in a public altercation. Nursing a hangover the next morning, she gets a phone call from Charles, with even more disturbing news: Mary has been murdered.Agatha takes on the case, and quickly becomes entrenched in the competitive equestrian world, in which Mary had been enmeshed—as well as the victim's surprisingly violent past. Agatha finds no shortage of motives among a wide range of...

New York Times bestseller M. C. Beaton's cranky, crafty Agatha Raisin—now the star of a hit T.V. show—is back on the case again. 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?

Beloved New York Times bestseller M.C. Beaton's cranky, crafty Agatha Raisin—the star of her own hit T.V. series—is back on the case again in Devil's Delight.Agatha and her assistant, Toni, are driving to their friend Bill Wong's long-awaited wedding, thinking of nothing more than what the beautiful bride will be wearing when a terrified young man comes running down the country lane towards them wearing...nothing at all.The encounter leads them to become embroiled with a naturist group, a disappearing corpse, fantasy games, witchcraft, an ice cream empire, intrigue and murder. In the meantime, Agatha's hectic life swirls along at dizzying pace, her private detective agency as busy as ever and her private affairs in turmoil, with old loves to contend with and a new suitor on the scene.But when she begins to close in on a suspected murderer, she finds herself in deadly peril, as the sinister nature of the ice cream business leads her...

Sergeant Hamish Macbeth—Scotland's most quick witted but unambitious policeman—is back to investigate the disappearance of a local woman who is more than she seems, in this new mystery in M.C. Beaton's beloved, New York Times bestselling series.  Kate Hibbert is all too eager to lend a hand to her neighbors. Although she has been a resident of the sleepy village of Lochdubh for only a year, in that time Kate has alienated one too many of its residents with her interfering—and not entirely well-intentioned—ways. When Kate’s neighbor sees her lugging a heavy suitcase to the bus stop, he hopes that the prying woman is leaving for good. But two weeks later, Kate’s cousin arrives in town with the news that Kate has gone missing—and she demands that the local police step in.         ...

A country maiden and a jaded lord form a secret friendship in this Regency romance by the bestselling author of the Hamish Macbeth mysteries.As the youngest of four unmarried vicar's daughters, Frederica fears her destiny is to die of tedium in the sleepy village of Barton Sub Edge. Her looks are deemed "unfortunate," and her willful manner labeled her "difficult." She never dreamt the arrival of a stranger would be a twist to her fate. But Frederica and the wordily gentleman from the city, Lord Granton have something in common: boredom. So it is that the two form a secret friendship. Frederica lives vicariously through his many tales of adventure while he finds a delightful respite from the simpering females thrown his way. But is their summer idyll turning to love? And when did this country miss become a breathtaking lady? Worse, what the devil is a certified rogue who is much too old for her going to do about it? ABOUT THE COLLECTION What...

Beloved New York Times bestseller M. C. Beaton's cranky, crafty Agatha Raisin—the star of her own hit T.V. series—is back on the case again in Dead on Target.A visit to the local village fete for a spot of fun and relaxation turns into a nightmare for Agatha Raisin when she discovers the body of the local landowner in the woods―with an arrow in his chest and trousers round his ankles. Agatha's old adversary, Detective Chief Inspector Wilkes, declares the death a tragic accident, believing the victim has been hit by a stray arrow from an archery demonstration. Agatha is convinced of foul play, however, and is shocked when Wilkes eventually agrees...with her as his prime murder suspect. Determined to clear her name and find the real killer, Agatha launches her own investigation, quickly becoming involved with a family at war, an unscrupulous gangster―and a killer who is determined to make her the next victim...

How should a proper young lady spend her summer months in Regency England?By getting into plenty of mischief by masquerading as a servant girl, of course. Cassandra, or Cassie to her friends, sticks out like a redheaded weed amidst her family of tidy blooms. At Bramfield Park, Cassie's prim parents and attractive older sister, Sophia, wish for nothing but an advantageous marriage for their eldest and prettiest—and for Cassie to stay out of the way.But when the surprisingly charming Lord Peter Courtney pays Bramfield a visit to take in Cassie's father's renowned collection of art—and, if the Earl of Wychhaven has anything to say about it, to add his daughter Sophia to Courtney's own collection—fate throws Cassie and the Lord together under most extraordinary circumstances. What began with a simple ruse to aid a friend grows more complex as Cassie's feelings for Lord Peter grow stronger, and soon she finds herself in over her...

Lady Rose Summer, the wayward Edwardian debutante who keeps getting mixed up in disreputable adventures, would swear she is not a jealous woman. After all, she knows her engagement to private detective Captain Harry Cathcart is only a ploy to keep her parents from shipping her off to India. But then Harry’s latest client, Dolores Duval – a vision of curves with a seductive French accent – starts appearing everywhere at his side…In a fit of rage, Rose threatens Dolores, only to be found the very next day, standing over her dead body. The newspapers rush to convict her, but can Harry and Detective Superintendent Kerridge clear her name?

New York Times bestseller M. C. Beaton's cranky, crafty Agatha Raisin—now the star of a hit T.V. show—is back on the case again in The Dead Ringer. The idyllic Cotswolds village of Thirk Magna is best known for the medieval church of St. Ethelred and its bells, which are the pride and glory of the whole community.  As the bell-ringers get ready for the visit of the dashing Bishop Peter Salver-Hinkley, the whole village is thrown into a frenzy. Meanwhile, Agatha convinces one of the bell-ringers, the charming lawyer Julian Brody, to hire her to investigate the mystery of the Bishop’s ex-fiancée: a local heiress, Jennifer Toynby, who went missing years ago and whose body was never found...Meanwhile, the bodies in the village just keep on piling up: the corpse of Larry Jensen, a local policeman, is discovered in the crypt. Millicent Dupin, one of a pair of bell-ringing identical twins, is murdered near the church. And Terry Fletcher, a journalist and (briefly) Agatha’s lover, is found dead in her sitting room! Agatha widens her investigation and very soon her main suspect is the handsome Bishop himself. But could he really be behind this series of violent killings, or is it someone who wants to bring him—and his reputation—down?Only she can find the killer—and hopefully a handsome man to buy her dinner while she’s at it.“The Agatha Raisin series is my guilty pleasure—it’s full of perfectly pitched interest, intrigue, and charm.” —Lee Child***

Agatha Raisin hasn’t quite adjusted to the slow pace of village life, or to the failure of her overtures to her handsome neighbor, James Lacey. Since the new vet in town is young and good looking, Agatha’s perfectly healthy tabby endures a nasty physical exam in the name of romance. Unfortunately, his sacrifice is all for naught when the vet is soon found dead. The police call the death a freak accident, but Agatha convinces James that playing amateur detective might be fun. Unfortunately, just as curiosity killed the cat, Agatha’s inept snooping is soon a motivation for murder. . . .

"I have my pride. I have sworn to marry the girl, and marry her I will." After ten long years, the Earl of Devenham had returned to wed Mary Anstey, only to find that their feelings for each other had cooled off considerably. Nevertheless, they both put on bright faces for the benefit of family and friends. But Mary's younger sister Emily saw through their masquerade. She would sacrifice anything rather than see her retiring sister married to the now haughty earl. Desperate measure were called for - a sleeping draught in Mary's wedding - morning chocolate and Emily could don the veil and force an annulment with the trick was discovered. It was the kind of plot that could - and would - get young Emily into trouble. ABOUT THE SERIES Lovers are joined by force - by family pressure, by societal pressure, and cultural mores, but Chesney's heroes and heroines never seem to want to give up on their search for the real thing. They are willing to go through almost anything in their hunt to find love - they'll jump through hoops to avoid the tricks of outsiders who thrust them together for fortune (that doesn't exist), they'll dance their way into the hearts of the most eligible bachelors using all of their charms, and if it takes even lessons in love (the title of one of these page turners) then so be it. The Love Series is all about love in its various forms, from lukewarm to searing hot and we're along for the ride. ABOUT THE AUTHOR From 1977 to the early 1990s, Marion Chesney wrote over one hundred romance novels. Now writing as M. C. Beaton, she is the bestselling award-winning author of two internationally successful mystery series - HAMISH MACBETH and AGATHA RAISIN. She lives in the United Kingdom.From Publishers WeeklyThis Regency romance begins with the Earl of Devenham returning home after 10 years of war to claim the hand of Mary Anstey, whose family spurned him when he was a young and untitled soldier. But Mary's sister Emily, an avid reader of romances, is determined that her sister shall not suffer a loveless marriage, and she vows to sacrifice herself instead. A drop of laudanum in Mary's chocolate on the morning of the wedding, a brown wig and a heavy veil, and a switch is accomplished at the altar, with Emily blithely assuming the marriage will be annulled as soon as the dupe is discovered. But the earl has his pride, and Emily is stuck in a marriage with a husband who detests her. Worse, she realizes that she is gradually falling in love with him. The dei ex machina are a gossip-mongering former mistress and an interfering cat named Peter, apt choices in a book that is as light as a powderpuff and twice as fluffy. Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Local police stations all over the Scottish Highlands are being threatened with closure. This presents the perfect opportunity for Detective Chief Inspector Blair, who would love nothing more than to get rid of Sergeant Hamish Macbeth. Blair suggests that Cyril Sessions, a keen young police officer, visit the town of Lochdubh to monitor exactly what Macbeth does every day. Macbeth hears about Blair's plan and is prepared to insure that Cyril returns back to headquarters with a full report. But Cyril is soon found dead and Hamish quickly becomes the prime suspect in his murder.

A young maiden tests the patience of an English lord in this Regency romance by the New York Times–bestselling author of the Agatha Raisin mysteries.Just when he'd fobbed off the last brat, another appeared to take her place! Poor Lord Anselm! The dashing bachelor was forever plagued with dying relatives leaving their female children to his care. Indeed, he had squired so many a silly miss from schoolroom to marriage mart that he had sworn off woman altogether. The current ward was far and away the worst. Cheeky as only a French girl could be, Yvonne de la Falaise had surely sent her papa to an early grave with her melodramatics and mischief. Thank goodness for her governess, Patricia Cottingham, so calm, so competent. But all was not as it seemed, or so Anselm learned, and very nearly too late...ABOUT THE COLLECTION What could be more engaging than the women who rise from the commoner classes and minor nobility to triumph in the...

Marital bliss was short-lived for Agatha Raisin. Her marriage to James Lacey was a disaster from the beginning, and in the end, he left her – not for another woman, but for God. After having been miraculously cured of a brain tumor, James has decided to join a monastery in France. Agatha can usually depend on her old friend, Sir Charles Fraith, to be there when times are tough, but even Charles has abandoned her, dashing off to Paris to marry a young French tart. Miserable and alone, Agatha hops on a plane and heads for a remote island in the South Pacific. To Agatha’s surprise, she makes friends with her fellow travelers easily, and keeps herself out of mischief, despite the odd feeling she gets from one particularly attractive honeymooning couple. But when she later finds that the pretty bride has drowned under suspicious circumstances, Agatha wishes she had found a way to intervene. Returning home to the Cotswolds, Agatha is grimly determined to move on with her life and to forget about James and Charles. They have, after all, forgotten about her. And what better way than to throw herself into another murder investigation? A woman, dressed in a wedding gown and still clutching her bouquet, has just been found floating in a river. The police say it’s suicide, but Agatha suspects the girl’s flashy young fiancé. With the help of her handsome, and single, new neighbor, Agatha sets off to prove the police wrong.

His troublesome toothache must be put on hold when one-man police force Hamish Macbeth discovers the local dentist dead of nicotine poisoning, despite the fact that he was a non-smoker.

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 fiance 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!

Kind-hearted Miss Hannah Pym is off to Portsmouth in the company of the beautiful but practical Miss Penelope Wilkins. Miss Pym quickly realises that Penelope needs someone to enliven her sheltered life, someone perhaps like their handsome travelling companion, Lord Augustus Railton. Penelope, however, thinks Lord Augustus is a ne'er-do-well... Hannah's hopes for adventure, on the other hand, are fulfilled when the coach happens upon a footman who faces hanging for a crime he didn't commit.

Captain Harry Cathcart and Lady Rose Summer have entered into an engagement of convenience-convenient for Rose, who wants to avoid being sent to India with all the other failed debutantes. Despite her considerable good looks, Rose’s sharp intellect and radical ideas have served to repel her would be suitors. Rose’s parents, unaware of the deception, are hardly thrilled that their only child is marrying a man in trade, but Harry comes from a good family, and at the very least, they hope he will keep their troublesome daughter out of mischief. Unfortunately, even a pretend engagement cannot save Rose from trouble. Bored with endless parties, teas, and balls, she befriends Dolly Tremaine, a beautiful young girl newly arrived from the country and overwhelmed by the demands of the Season. Rose is delighted to have a protégée but their friendship is cut tragically short when Dolly is found floating in a river. Harry is summoned immediately to help solve the mystery of Dolly’s death, and to keep Rose from being the murderer’s next victim.

Bossy, impulsive, and unlucky in love, the all-too-human Agatha Raisin has proved to be a surprisingly effective---and endearing---amateur sleuth. But can Agatha make it as a private investigator? After getting mugged on vacation, in what she will always think of as the Paris Incident, she decides to find out. Agatha soon learns that running her own detective agency in the Cotswolds is not quite like starring in a Raymond Chandler movie. Instead of dames in distress with big shoulder pads, her clients are ladies with missing cats and a man whose son has run off with his car. Agatha even worries that she might be outclassed by her sixty-seven-year-old secretary, Emma Comfrey. But then wealthy divorcée Catherine Laggat-Brown walks in with their first "real" case. Mrs. Laggat-Brown's daughter has received a death threat, and when Agatha thwarts an attack on the girl at a dinner dance, she recognizes an opportunity to show what Raisin Investigations can do. Even better, the case gives her a chance to reunite with her long-absent friend, Sir Charles Fraith. As they scour the Cotswolds in search of leads, Charles' insights prove invaluable and his charms irresistible, leading poor Emma to fall madly in love with him. As ever, Agatha bumbles her way through the case, trying her friends' patience and flirting shamelessly with the chief suspect. Will she put her tiny agency on the map, or has even the outrageous Agatha finally bitten off more than she can chew?

After years of bullying and cajoling others as a high-flying public relations boss, Agatha Raisin's early retirement to the picture-postcard village of Carsely in the Cotswolds is a dream come true. And how better to begin making herself a local leading light than by entering the village quiche-making competition? Unburdened by old-fashioned ideas of fair play, the ruthless Agatha decides to ensure she wins first prize by buying her entry from a London delicatessen. Alas, Agatha's perfect product is soon exposed as not only store-bought but poisoned. The contest judge, rumoured to be connoisseur of women as well as food, succumbs after eating it, and with him go Agatha's reputation and her chances of rural bliss unless she can expose the poisoner. So in a reckless game of village quiche-and-tell, Agatha rushes in where others fear to tread, infuriating and entertaining her neighbours, but gradually gaining on her prey unaware that her success may lead her to become the prey herself .. . This is the first in the Agatha Raisin mystery series, a stylish and amusing whodunnit, with a leading lady of real character.

The grim guardian; for the lovely and young Miss Patricia Patterson, life seemed a delightful dream until the spectre of her guardian, Lord Charles Gaunt, cast a dark shadow over her carefree days of idleness and evenings of dazzling balls and delicious flirtations. Lord Charles demanded that Patricia act the part of a proper but perfectly put together boring young Miss. What was to her even worse, was that he insisted she devote her waking hours to cultivating her mind rather than captivating her swarm of admirers. So it was the battle was joined - between the handsome, arrogant aristocrat who had Patricia under his lawful power, and Patricia, who in turn vowed to turn this hateful tyrant into her lovelorn subject.

She had dared to turn a cold shoulder on London's prize catch. She was a precocious American upstart who thought beauty, brains, and bravery were enough to conquer London society. Well, he'd show her! Nobody publicly (or privately!) spurned Lord David Manley, the most eligible bachelor in town. He was determined that soon she'd be trembling in his arms, desperately in love with the man she had dared to mock. David Manley always got his way, and Miss Molly Maguire presented a challenge he couldn't resist! But Lord David had never met anyone quite like this headstrong heiress who fought like the devil, looked like an angel, and had all of London society dangling on a string.

Returning from a foreign holiday, Hamish Macbeth is worried because he senses a dark cloud of evil hanging over the Highland village of Lochdubh. He learns that a newcomer, Catriona Beldame, is regarded as a witch and various men have been seen visiting her. Hamish himself is charmed by her until he finds out she has been supplying dangerous potions. At first the villagers won’t listen to him, saying that the loveless Hamish has turned against all women. He threatens to kill her so that when she is found murdered, he must clear his name and then work to solve yet another murder to bring peace and quiet back to his beloved village. His investigations are complicated by a romance with a female forensic expert. Perhaps he’ll get married at last!

Widowed Mary Bolton, like Miss Jean Brodie, considers herself in her prime. Not satisfied with car boot sales, dances at the bowling club and reading to the elderly, she throws herself into bellringing with gusto - much to the annoyance of her neighbours.But when the industrious Mary is found swinging from a bell rope, Jessica Brand - who only days before had threatened to strangle Mary with the very same rope - fears she will be accused. There's nothing left to do but call in private detective Agatha Raisin to untangle the web of sex, money, deceit ... and murder.

Agatha Raisin's neighboring village of Ancombe is usually the picture of quiet English Cotswolds charm. Yet the arrival of a new mineral-water company, which intends to tap into the village spring, sends tempers flaring and divides the parish council into two stubborn camps. When Agatha, who happens to be the new PR person for the company, finds the council chairman murdered at the basin of the spring, tongues start wagging. Could one of the council members have silenced the chairman before he could cast the deciding vote? Village gossip takes on a life of its own and Agatha must weed her way through the council members' alibis, promote the water company, and try to resurrect her love life, all while pretending she is over her ex-fiance, James Lacey.

The one-man Scottish police force Hamish Macbeth becomes the prime suspect in the murder of the town ne’er-do-well, Randy ‘Macho Man’ Duggan, whose real killer is surprisingly close at hand.

The impecunious Lady Fortescue, widowed and alone save for two loyal, unpaid servants, has sold off almost all of the furnishings in her large Bond Street home and faces a grim future as a member of the aristocracy too proud to seek employment or charity, yet too poor to survive on the infrequent largess of wealthy relatives oblivious to her plight. Salvation arrives in the unlikely form of old Colonel Sandhurst, an equally impoverished retired military man who falls at her feet in a hunger-induced faint one afternoon in Hyde Park. The two decide to join forces: the Colonel will share Lady Fortescue's home, and they will invite others of their station and situation to live with them and pool their resources. Thus is born what eventually becomes one of London's most popular hotels, The Poor Relation, to which the nobility flocks to enjoy the novelty of being waited upon by members of their own class.From Publishers WeeklyThe impecunious Lady Fortescue, widowed and alone save for two loyal, unpaid servants, has sold off almost all of the furnishings in her large Bond Street home and faces a grim future as a member of the aristocracy too proud to seek employment or charity, yet too poor to survive on the infrequent largess of wealthy relatives oblivious to her plight. Salvation arrives in the unlikely form of old Colonel Sandhurst, an equally impoverished retired military man who falls at her feet in a hunger-induced faint one afternoon in Hyde Park. The two decide to join forces: the Colonel will share Lady Fortescue's home, and they will invite others of their station and situation to live with them and pool their resources. Thus is born what eventually becomes one of London's most popular hotels, The Poor Relation, to which the nobility flocks to enjoy the novelty of being waited upon by members of their own class. Chesney, author of 24 previous Regency novels ( Yvonne Goes to York, etc.), gives her many admirers a real treat with this first entry in a projected series. She expertly sets the scene, recapturing the bawdiness and color of a long-ago time, and her characters fairly leap off the pages. The "poor relations" undergo adventures both hilarious and tragic; larceny, attempted murder, a satisfactory love affair and unlikely alliances make the hotel the liveliest spot in London. Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. From Library JournalLife as a member of England's aristocratic class isn't easy when one has no money. Advertising one's misfortune--even to relatives--would be considered ill bred. But after she is caught stealing silver candlesticks from her wealthy nephew (he thinks she is becoming senile), Lady Fortescue is desperate. So she begins a search for others such as herself--genteel, blue-blooded, and poor. The little band of six she eventually organizes pools its meager resources and opens a hotel for high society, an establishment that soon brings excitement and romance to the lives of its owners. The adventures that begin in this story are the debut of a new series entitled "The Poor Relation." This first entry is a charming and humorous Regency, recommended for those who enjoy light-hearted historical romance.- Leslie A. Bleil, Western Michigan Univ. Lib., KalamazooCopyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Agatha Raisin is lonely. Busy as she is with her detective agency and the meetings of the Carsely Ladies' Society, she still misses her ex-husband, James Lacey, so she welcomes his return to the cottage next door with her usual triumph of optimism over experience---especially when he invites her on holiday at a surprise location that was once very dear to him. With visions of a romantic hideaway in Italy or the Pacific dancing in her head, Agatha goes off happily with James to...Snoth-on-Sea, in Sussex. While James may have fond memories of boyhood holidays there, Snoth-on-Sea has seen better days, as has the once-grand Palace Hotel, now run-down and tacky and freezing cold. Nor do the other guests have much to recommend them, especially the brassy honeymoon couple, Mr. and Mrs. Jankers, who pick a fight with Agatha in the dining room. But trouble has a way of following Agatha even if romance does not: Just as she and James are preparing to flee to warmer climes, Geraldine Jankers is found dead on the beach---strangled with Agatha's scarf. So much for Agatha's holiday fantasies: Not only is it time to put her detective skills to work, but the police are not even sure that she'll be allowed to leave town.

It's a maiden's miracle! Annabelle Quennell, daughter of a poor country parson, gets a chance at a London Season to snare a wealthy husband. But before she sets off, Mad Meg the Gypsy predicts trouble ahead! And it is nothing but woe that Annabelle finds. Godmother Lady Emmeline sponsors Annabelle's spree-and demands she wed the oafish Capt. MacDonald. But things get worse when Annabelle fears she is losing her heart to Lord Varleigh - elegant, well-pursed, but who is taken by another mistress! What a pickle Annabelle had gotten into, and it only gets more sour by the moment!

The future's not so rosy for Lady Rose Summer ... Longing for a life of emancipation, Lady Rose Summer has abandoned the comforts of her parent's house to become self supporting. But life as a working woman isn't quite as liberating as Rose has imagined - fortunately for her, though, her drudgery comes to an end when old acquaintance Freddy Pomfret is murdered and her help - and upper class connections - are required by amateur sleuth Captain Harry Cathcart. So as Rose and Harry prepare to take on the usual Edwardian social rounds, little do they expect to uncover a devious blackmail plot and an unexpected killer.

M. C. Beaton's New York Times bestselling Hamish Macbeth series continues with a new mystery featuring Scotland's most quick-witted but unambitious policeman.James Harrison has recently moved to a restored hunting lodge in Sutherland with his gorgeous private nurse Gloria Dainty. When Hamish visits Mr. Harrison to welcome him to the neighborhood, the old man treats him very rudely. Gloria apologizes for her employer's behavior, and Hamish takes the plunge and invites her out for dinner. On the appointed evening, Hamish waits for Gloria at the restaurant. And waits. Gloria never shows up. Four days later, Gloria's body washes up on the beach near Braikie. Now without a date and without his former policeman Dick Fraser (who left the force to buy a bakery), Hamish must find out who killed the beautiful new resident of Sutherland, and why, before the murderer strikes again....

Scottish detective Hamish Macbeth investigates the slaying of a mystery writer who dares to complain about a television adaptation of her books that turns her aristocratic heroine into a marijuana-smoking hippie.

A House for the Season, number 67 is rented by beautiful young Harriet Metcalf, whose charge is to get two 18-year-old heiresses sucessfully launched in the London ton. Instead, the country-mouse godmother finds herself being courted by a notorious rake, the Marquess of Huntingdon, and his equally flamboyant friend, Lord Veremuch to the annoyance of the spoiled twins. Harriet's attempts to proffer the girls' charms fail, and her own interests are aided by the eccentric and resourceful servants of Clarges Street. Chesney, author of the Six Sisters series, sets a lively tempo, moving admittedly familiar events and characters to a pleasingly predictable conclusion.From Publishers WeeklyOnce again the infamous townhouse on Clarges Street is occupied for a season. Familiar from Chesney's two earlier Regency novels in the series A House for the Season, number 67 is rented by beautiful young Harriet Metcalf, whose charge is to get two 18-year-old heiresses sucessfully launched in the London ton. Instead, the country-mouse godmother finds herself being courted by a notorious rake, the Marquess of Huntingdon, and his equally flamboyant friend, Lord Veremuch to the annoyance of the spoiled twins. Harriet's attempts to proffer the girls' charms fail, and her own interests are aided by the eccentric and resourceful servants of Clarges Street. Chesney, author of the Six Sisters series, sets a lively tempo, moving admittedly familiar events and characters to a pleasingly predictable conclusion. Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc. About the AuthorM C Beaton is the author of the hugely successful Agatha Raisin and Hamish Macbeth series, both published by Constable & Robinson. She left a full time career in journalism to turn to writing, and now divides her time between a flat in Paris and a village in the Cotswolds very much like Agatha's beloved Carsely.

At age twenty six, Agatha Raisin has already come a long way. She has clawed her way up since leaving the Birmingham slum where she was born. She's lost her Birmingham accent, run away from her drunken husband, and found a job at a public relations office as a secretary. Then her boss asks Agatha to go to the home of Brian Devese to tell him that he is soon going to be arrested for the murder of his wife and that the agency no longer wants to represent him.Brian, impressed with the pugnacious Agatha, asks her to handle PR for him and even offers her an office and tells her she can hire a staff. Certainly the best thing Agatha can do for her first client is to find out who really murdered his wife and clear his name. And with her wits and gumption, Agatha sets out to do just that. New York Times bestseller M. C. Beaton's Agatha Raisin is beloved by millions and this brand new short story take us back to where it all began with Agatha's first case.

When a local woman tells Sergeant Hamish Macbeth that she doesn't remember what happened the previous evening, he doesn't begin to worry. She had been out drinking, after all, and he'd prefer not to be bothered with such an arrogant and annoying woman. But when her body is discovered, Hamish is forced to investigate a crime that the only known witness--now dead--had forgotten.About the AuthorM.C. Beaton lives in the Cotswolds with her husband. In addition to the Hamish Macbeth series, she writes the Agatha Raisin mystery series.

Depressed after being humiliated and abandoned by the two men in her life, Agatha Raisin finds a new prospect in curate Tristan Delon, whose untimely death prompts Agatha to investigate strange mysteries surrounding the victim.

Minor writer John Heppel has a problem – he’s by all accounts a consummate bore. When he’s found dead in his cottage, there are plenty of suspects. But surely boredom shouldn’t be cause for murder, or so thinks local bobby and sleuth Hamish Macbeth, whose investigation of Heppel’s soap opera script uncovers much more than melodrama. Popular reader and actor Graeme Malcolm makes this intricate whodunit set in Beaton’s beloved Scottish village a memorable audio experience. This is the newest title in the popular Hamish Macbeth series.

Owing to an unfortunate wager made by Sir Philip, the poor relations are once again scrounging around for a plan for solvency. This time it is Colonol Sandhurst to the rescue. After happening on Sir Randolph's lovely daughter Frederica, who is running away to escape an awful marriage to Lord Bewley, the Colonel devises a plan to force Sir Randolph to settle his bill and to save Frederica from her fate.

She was an honored guest in a palatial country home. Aunt Mabel, the lovelorn columnist of Home Chats magazine, had been summoned to prevent the Duchess of Dartware's son, Paul, from a marriage that others believed a fate worse than death. Who would have guessed that behind Aunt Mabel's acid pen and ageless wisdom lurked the real eighteen-year-old Sally Blane, determined to make the handsome marquess her own! But how could she compete, wearing false wrinkles and a white wig? It was a challenge worthy of Sally herself: to conquer the upper-class of Dartware and bewitch her newfound Prince Charming without giving away the real secret of who Aunt Mabel really was.

Hamish Macbeth is on the trail of a killer with a penchant for poison in this novel of murder in the Scottish Highlands. When Effie Garrand is found poisoned by hemlock, it's up to Macbeth to find her killer before more nightmares unfold.

Eye of newt, toe of frog . . . and murder most foul!Left with bald patches thanks to the wicked doings of a murderer from a previous investigation, Agatha flees to coastal Wyckhadden to re-grow her lost locks. With hair tonic supplied by a local witch, Agatha_s tresses begin to flow _ but the witch is found bludgeoned to death. The odd elderly residents of Agatha_s elegantly faded hotel seem innocuous, but as she delves deeper she discovers secrets best left and powerful motives for revenge. Balancing the amorous attentions of police inspector Jimmy Jessop with an ever more treacherous search for the killer, Agatha is at her wits end and ready to cast a spell of her own .

The tough and brassy Agatha Raisin is not a woman to sit at home wringing her hands. Soon she is off to north Cyprus to track down her ex-fiance. Instead of enjoying the honeymoon they once planned, however, they witness the murder of an obnoxious tourist in a disco, and James is as sullen as usual. Two sets of terrible tourists – one set posh and rude, the other nouveau riche and vulgar – surround the unhappy couple, arousing Agatha's suspicions. And, much to James's chagrin, she won't rest until she finds the killer. Unfortunately, it also seems the killer won't rest until Agatha is out of the picture. Agatha is forced to track down the murderer, try to rekindle her romance with James, and fend off a suave baronet, all while coping with the fact that it's always bathing suit season in north Cyprus.

Returning from a foreign holiday, Hamish Macbeth is worried because he senses a dark cloud of evil hanging over the Highland village of Lochdubh. He learns that a newcomer, Catriona Beldame, is regarded as a witch and various men have been seen visiting her. Hamish himself is charmed by her until he finds out she has been supplying dangerous potions. At first the villagers won't listen to him, saying that the loveless Hamish has turned against all women. He threatens to kill her so that when she is found murdered, he must clear his name and then work to solve yet another murder to bring peace and quiet back to his beloved village. His investigations are complicated by a romance with a female forensic expert. Perhaps he'll get married at last!

With the Poor Relation Hotel in London losing money, Eliza Budley visits the rich, reputedly ailing Marquess of Peterhouse disguised as a relative in order to swipe his jewels, but the handsome, healthy Marquess forces her to reveal herself.

The seven heroines of the Daring Debutantes Collection set out to conquer London's glittering high society and the marriage mart. These headstrong women cannot help but keep London society dangling on a string, but will they find a husband or lose themselves in the game? Immerse yourself in the Daring Debutantes world with this seven-volume series from #1 New York Times bestselling author M.C. Beaton.

If only the bossy, beloved Agatha Raisin were as lucky at finding the right man as she is at catching killers in M. C. Beaton's New York Times bestselling mystery seriesCelebrating the twentieth anniversary of everyone's favorite sleuth, M. C. Beaton's Agatha Raisin is as feisty as ever—armed with her famous wit and biting sense of humor. This time, though, there's some biting of a whole other sort going on. Agatha has fallen head over heels in love—again. This time, she has her eye on the local gardener, George Marston, but so do other women in their little Cotswold village. Shamelessly determined, Agatha will do anything to get her man—including footing the bill for a charity ball just for the chance to dance with him. And then George doesn't even show up. Only partly deterred, Agatha goes looking for him, and finds his dead body in a compost heap. Murder is definitely afoot, but this killer chose no ordinary weapon: A poisonous snake delivered the fatal strike.Rising to the occasion, Agatha rallies her little detective agency to find the killer, only to learn that George had quite a complicated love life. But murderously complicated? Well, if she can't have George, at least Agatha can have the satisfaction of confronting the other women and solving the crime. With Hiss & Hers, once again, "M. C. Beaton has a foolproof plot for the village mystery" (The New York Times Book Review) in the irresistible adventures of the irrepressible Agatha.About the AuthorM. C. BEATON, the British guest of honor at Bouchercon 2006, has been hailed as the “Queen of Crime" (The Globe and Mail). She is the author of twenty-two previous Agatha Raisin novels, whose fans range from the actress Elizabeth Hurley to the Archbishop of Canterbury. Born in Scotland, she now divides her time between Paris and the English Cotswolds.Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.Chapter OneAgatha Raisin, private detective, was in the grip of a great obsession. Her friend, the vicar’s wife, Mrs. Bloxby, reflected sadly that Agatha, a normally shrewd woman, seemed to lose her wits when she fell in love.For Agatha had fallen for the village of Carsely’s gardener and odd-job man, George Marston. He had worked on her garden until it was into shape and then Agatha, to Mrs. Bloxby’s horror, had smashed up her perfectly good bookshelves in order to employ him again doing carpentry.George Marston, ex-army, was over six feet tall with green eyes and thick blond hair streaked with grey.But Agatha had fierce competition from the other women in the Cotswold village, and from one very dangerous one in particular. Jessica Fordyce, a leading actress in a long-running hospital drama, had bought a cottage in the village for week-ends. Jessica was in her thirties, petite, with flaming red hair framing a heart-shaped face. And she was witty and amusing. And she seemed to need a lot of gardening work done.Agatha began to grudge the time spent out of the village on detective work. She ran a successful detective agency in Mircester. But she reminded herself that she had moved to the Cotswolds from London and had taken early retirement, although in her early fifties, to enjoy life.She fretted over her appearance. How could thick glossy brown hair and good legs compete with such as Jessica? Jessica’s eyes were large and blue. Agatha’s were small and bearlike, looking warily out from a round face.Things came to a head for Agatha when George rang one evening and said he hoped to take her for lunch the following day to repay the lunch she had previously bought him. “But of course you will be at work as usual,” he said.“I’m free this week-end,” said Agatha hopefully.“Sorry. I’m all booked up. Another time.”I’m sick of work, thought Agatha furiously. I’m going back to being a village lady.The doorbell rang. Oh, be still my heart! But it was only Mrs. Bloxby.“Come in,” said Agatha grumpily. Mrs. Bloxby noticed that Agatha was wearing full make-up and high heels. She never seemed to relax these days. Agatha was always impeccably dressed and her make-up was a trifle too thick.“Have a drink,” said Agatha. “I could do with one.”“I’ll have a sherry.”Bless her, thought Agatha, hobbling into the sitting room. Sherry somehow went with Mrs. Bloxby’s quiet eyes and ladylike appearance.“Why don’t you kick off your shoes?” asked Mrs. Bloxby when the drinks were poured. “Your feet seem to be hurting you.”“Oh, all right.” Agatha cast one longing look at the window as if hoping to see George’s tall figure and then eased her feet out of her shoes and wriggled her toes.“I’ve decided to give up,” said Agatha.Relief flooded Mrs. Bloxby’s face. “What a good idea. He’s really not worth it, you know.”“What are you talking about?”“What were you talking about?” asked her friend cautiously.“I’ve decided to give up work.”“But, why?” wailed the vicar’s wife, although she was very sure of the reason.Agatha avoided her worried gaze.“Oh, it’s such a glorious summer and … and … well, the truth is I need a break from the detective business.”“But, Mrs. Raisin, although you have an excellent staff, you are the detective business.” Although friends, they called each other by their second names. It had been an old-fashioned tradition in the now-defunct Ladies Society to which they had once both belonged and somehow they had continued with the tradition.Mrs. Bloxby wanted to tell her that giving up a successful job to chase after a gardener was ridiculous. But she had come across many addicts in her years of parish work and knew that if you told an addict to do one thing, then the addict would just do the other. And Agatha was in the grip of an addiction as heavy as if George Marston had been a drug.      Agatha called a meeting of her staff on the following morning. Standing around, looking at her anxiously, were Mrs. Freedman, secretary, and detectives Toni Gilmour, young and pretty, Simon Black, also young and with a jester’s face, Patrick Mulligan, tall and lugubrious and elderly Phil Marshall with his white hair and gentle face.“I have decided to take extended leave,” said Agatha.“Why?” asked Phil. “Are you ill?”“No,” said Agatha. “I am in perfect health. I would just like a break.”I wonder who he is, thought Toni. Agatha’s been wearing ankle-killing stilettos for the past weeks.“Let’s just go through the cases,” said Agatha briskly. “Each of you can take on one of my cases.”“How long do you plan to be away?” asked Phil.“Oh, until I feel I’ve had enough time off,” said Agatha airily, thinking, until he proposes.She proceeded to deal briskly, allocating her work. When she left at lunchtime, they waited until they heard her reach the bottom of the stairs and slam the street door. “What’s it all about?” asked Patrick.Phil, who lived in the same village as Agatha, felt he knew the answer. “Agatha’s been employing this gardener. I think she’s smitten. But so are most of the women in the village. Agatha probably feels she’s losing out by being away at work.”“Maybe I could find out something about him to put Agatha off,” said Simon. “Toni and I could look into it.”“There’s too much work,” said Toni sharply. She hadn’t forgiven Simon for declaring his love for her and then joining the army, getting engaged to a female sergeant and then ditching his sergeant at the altar.“I’ll ask around,” said Phil. “I live in the village, although with the amount of work Agatha’s left us, I won’t get much chance for free time. We’d all better get to work.”      Agatha had found the side mirror on her car had been bent in. She pressed the electronic button to restore it to its proper viewing position, and, as it slid into place, she got a clear reflection of her face. Before the mirror settled back into its correct position and her startled face disappeared from view, she noticed two nasty little lines on her upper lip.She was seized with a feeling of savage jealousy of the beautiful soap star who had invaded the village. Jessica, unlike Agatha, did not smoke. She went for long healthy walks at week-ends. She did not have to worry about the disintegration of the body that plagued Agatha: the body which seemed determined to have a square shape with saggy bits.For one clear moment she felt ridiculous. Chasing after a gardener? What a cliché. But then she thought of George, of his strong body and those beautiful muscled legs, and set her lips in a firm line.Into battle once more!      *She arrived home to find Detective Sergeant Bill Wong waiting for her. He was the product of a Chinese father and a Gloucestershire mother. The result was a pleasant round face with almond-shaped eyes. He was Agatha’s first real friend after she had first arrived in the village, lonely and prickly.“What brings you?” asked Agatha.“Just a social call. I haven’t seen you for a bit.”“Come in. It’s a lovely day and we can sit in the garden.”When they were settled over mugs of coffee at the garden table, Bill exclaimed, “I’ve never seen your garden look more beautiful.”“I have a good gardener.”“Do you know the names of all the flowers?”“I think I used to, but they’ve all got Latin names now.”“I thought you’d had a hip replacement,” said Bill, looking down at Agatha’s high-heeled strapped sandals.“I don’t talk about it.”“You should think about it,” said Bill. “Heels that high can’t be good for you.”“What’s come over you?” snapped Agatha. “You’re going on like a nasty husband.”“Just like a caring friend. Who is it this time?”“What?”“The heels, the heavy make-up, the tight short skirt.”“Let me point out to you I have always been a well-dressed woman. Talk about something else. How’s crime?”“Nothing major. Usual binge drinkers at week-ends, car theft, few burglaries, no murder for you to get excited about. Why are you home on a working day?”“I’m taking time off,” said Agatha. “It’s a lovely summer and I felt the need to relax.”“I see James is back next door.” James Lacey was not only Agatha’s neighbour but her ex-husband.“Haven’t seen much of him,” said Agatha. “How’s your love life?”“Zero at the moment.”The doorbell rang. Agatha leapt up like a rocketing pheasant and ran to the door. Her face fell as she saw one of her other friends, Sir Charles Fraith, on the doorstep. “Oh, it’s you,” she said. “Bill’s in the garden.”Charles’s neat figure was dressed in a pale blue shirt and darker blue trousers. As usual, he looked cool, compact and well barbered.He walked before Agatha into the garden. “Hullo, Bill. How’s crime?”“Not bad. No murders for Agatha. She’s just been telling me she’s taking time off work.”“Chasing after t...

Fans of the critically acclaimed Hamish Macbeth whodunits are in for a real treat with Death of a Poison Pen. Police constable Macbeth knows that, in most cases, the wild accusations and scandalous suppositions in poison-pen letters are an annoyance, not a genuine threat. But, from the first, Hamish suspects that what’s going on in the remote village of Lochdubh is no ordinary case. When the village postmistress is found dead with a poison-pen letter at her feet, the coroner confirms Hamish’s worst fears, that the woman’s apparent suicide was in fact a carefully concealed murder. Now it’s up to Hamish to trace the letters and the escalating violence to the source. His efforts are both aided and complicated by the arrival of Jenny Ogilvie, a lovely lady whose passion for Hamish is only equaled by her dangerous curiosity about the murderous poison pen who is her rival for Hamish’s attention.

Poor Lucy was living a dream. She had married a gambler, a womanizer, and a drunkard. And she refused to admit that his frequent overnight absences were of any significance. The sting came when it was revealed that Lucy's parents had bought her husband for her. And then one night at a ball, Lucy met the charismatic Duke of Habard and suddenly anything seemed possible.

Agatha Raisin is lonely. Busy as she is with her detective agency and the meetings of the Carsely Ladies' Society, she still misses her ex-husband, James Lacey, so she welcomes his return to the cottage next door with her usual triumph of optimism over experience---especially when he invites her on holiday at a surprise location that was once very dear to him. With visions of a romantic hideaway in Italy or the Pacific dancing in her head, Agatha goes off happily with James to...Snoth-on-Sea, in Sussex.While James may have fond memories of boyhood holidays there, Snoth-on-Sea has seen better days, as has the once-grand Palace Hotel, now run-down and tacky and freezing cold. Nor do the other guests have much to recommend them, especially the brassy honeymoon couple, Mr. and Mrs. Jankers, who pick a fight with Agatha in the dining room. But trouble has a way of following Agatha even if romance does not: Just as she and James are preparing to flee to warmer climes, Geraldine Jankers is found dead on the beach---strangled with Agatha's scarf. So much for Agatha's holiday fantasies: Not only is it time to put her detective skills to work, but the police are not even sure that she'll be allowed to leave town.

Her table manners were a crime. But she didn't deserve to die! There's not a cloud in Hamish Macbeth's sky -- just plenty of warm sunshine but not quite enough of the lovely Priscilla Halburton-Smythe. But as eight hopeful members of the Checkmate Singles Club converge on Tommel Castle Hotel for a week of serious matchmaking, the clouds roll in. The four couples, carefully matched by dating director Maria Worth, immediately dislike one another. And the arrival of Maria's gross, greedy business partner, Peta, kills the last vestige of romance. And as love goes out the window, murder comes in the door. Peta soon slurps up her last meal and Hamish is left with the baffling puzzle: Who shared the fateful outing that left Peta dead with a large rosy red apple in her mouth...