Agatha Raisin Mysteries Series
By M. C. Beaton and R.W. Green
3.5/5
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About this series
In M. C. Beaton's New York Times bestselling series set in the English Cotswolds, Agatha Raisin, former London PR agent turned private detective, discovers that there is nothing cozy about village life. This collection of Agatha Raisin mysteries--now a hit show on Acorn TV and public television--features the first three books in one volume
The bossy, vain, and charmingly insecure Agatha finds that she has a talent for getting herself into trouble. . . and getting to the bottom of a mystery.
The Quiche of Death
When Agatha enters a village baking contest, she hopes it will make her the toast of the town. But when the judge dies of poisoning, Agatha is forced to admit that she bought the quiche at a bakery in London. When she starts receiving sinister notes Agatha must determine whether they're related to her cheating and meddling or to the suspicious death. It may mean the difference between egg on her face and coroner's tag on her toe.
The Vicious Vet
Agatha is still trying to adjust to village life, so she jumps at the chance to visit the new vet, who is single and good-looking, even though her tabby doesn't have a thing wrong with him. Unfortunately, the vet is soon found dead. The police rule it an accident, but Agatha convinces her bachelor neighbor James Lacey that playing amateur detective might be fun.
The Potted Gardener
A new woman has caught the eye of Agatha Raisin's neighbor James Lacey. When a series of mysterious assaults on the town's finest gardens is followed by a shocking murder, Agatha gets the chance to remind him of her genius for investigation. She immediately starts yanking up village secrets by their roots and digging up details about the victim-who may just have some hidden dirt of her own.
Titles in the series (4)
- The Quiche of Death: The First Agatha Raisin Mystery
1
The first book in M. C. Beaton's New York Times bestselling Agatha Raisin series—now a hit show on Acorn TV and public television. Putting all her eggs in one basket, Agatha Raisin gives up her successful PR firm, sells her London flat, and settles in for an early retirement in the quiet village of Carsely. But she soon finds her life of leisure isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Bored, lonely, and used to getting her way, she enters a local baking contest: Surely a blue ribbon for the best quiche will make her the toast of the town. But her recipe for social advancement sours when the judge, Mr. Cummings-Browne, not only snubs her entry but also falls over dead! After her quiche’s secret ingredient turns out to be poison, she must reveal the unsavory truth. . . . That is, Agatha has never baked a thing in her life! In fact, she bought her entry ready-made from an upper-crust London quicherie. Grating on the nerves of several Carsely residents, she is soon receiving sinister notes. Has her cheating and meddling landed her in hot water, or are the threats related to the suspicious death? It may mean the difference between egg on her face and a coroner’s tag on her toe. . . . The Quiche of Death, the first book in this beloved series, is now a Minotaur Signature Edition, complete with a discussion guide and essay by the author.
- The Dead Ringer: An Agatha Raisin Mystery
29
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?
- Hot to Trot: An Agatha Raisin Mystery
31
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 Detective 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 characters, from Mary's old riding competitors, to enemies from her schoolgirl days, to her surly father, who threatens Agatha to mind her own business. Meanwhile, the police department has its money on another suspect: Agatha. Will she track down the criminal in time, or end up behind bars herself?
- Down the Hatch: An Agatha Raisin Mystery
32
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 Down the Hatch. Private detective Agatha Raisin, having recently taken up power-walking, is striding along a path in Mircester Park during her lunch break when she hears a cry for help. Rushing over, she finds an elderly couple, Mr. and Mrs. Swinburn, in the middle of the green—with the body of an old man lying at their feet. The man, who the coroner determines died by poisoning, was known as "the Admiral," a gardener notorious for his heavy drinking, and Chief Inspector Wilkes writes the death off as an accident caused by the consumption of weedkiller stored in a rum bottle. Agatha is not convinced that anyone would mistake weedkiller for rum but carries on with her work at Raisin Investigations, until she receives an anonymous tip that the Admiral’s death was no accident. Local gossip points to the Swinburns themselves as the killers, spurred by a feud at the club where they, as well as the Admiral, were members. Distraught at this accusation, they turn to Agatha to clear their name, and she takes the case—despite the warnings of Chief Inspector Wilkes. Agatha encounters one suspicious character after another, becoming further enmeshed in the Admiral’s own dark and shady past. And when she's run off the road, narrowly escaping with her life, and then another attack occurs, it becomes clear that someone doesn’t want the case closed—and will stop at nothing to prevent Agatha from solving it.
M. C. Beaton
M. C. Beaton (1936-2019), the “Queen of Crime” (The Globe and Mail), was the author of the New York Times and USA Today bestselling Agatha Raisin novels -- the basis for the hit show on Acorn TV and public television -- as well as the Hamish Macbeth series and the Edwardian Murder Mysteries featuring Lady Rose Summer. Born in Scotland, she started her career writing historical romances under several pseudonyms and her maiden name, Marion Chesney. In 2006, M.C. was the British guest of honor at Bouchercon.
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