This series includes 20 books.
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Book 1Agatha Raisin and the Quiche of Death
by M. C. Beaton
Description :
Putting all her eggs in one basket, Agatha Raisin gives up her successful PR firm, sells her London flat, and samples a taste of early retirement in the quiet village of Carsely. 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 Judge Cummings-Browne not only snubs her entry—but falls over dead! After her quiche’s secret ingredient turns out to be poison, she must reveal the unsavory truth… 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…
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Book 2Agatha Raisin and the Vicious Vet
by M. C. Beaton
Description :
Beloved author M.C. Beaton has delighted readers and fans alike with her Agatha Raisin mysteries. Now here is the second novel in the series that started it all… A PURR-FECT CRIME IN THE COTSWOLDS Former London PR agent, Agatha Raisin still hasn’t adjusted to village life where the only prospect for a hot evening out is a meeting of the Ladies Society. And since her overtures toward James Lacey—the retired military man next door—have failed, Agatha jumps at the chance to visit the new vet, who’s single and good-looking. Although Agatha’s tabby hasn’t a thing wrong with him, Hodge endures having a thermometer shoved up his bum in the name of romance. Unfortunately his sacrifice is all for naught when the vet is soon found dead next to a high-strung horse. The police call the vet’s demise a freak accident, but Agatha convinces the hard-to-get James Lacey, who’s also bored in the Cotswolds, that playing amateur detective might be fun. Unfortunately, just like curiosity killed the cat, Agatha’s inept snooping is soon a motivation for murder... “Anyone interested in a few hours’ worth of intelligent, amusing reading will want to make the acquaintance of Mrs. Agatha Raisin.” — The Cleveland Plain Dealer “I simply love mysteries that have all the requirements necessary to make them great—the characters, the action, the plots, and that thing we call humanity. Beaton has them all in spades.” -- Tulsa World
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Book 3The Potted Gardener (Agatha Raisin Mysteries)
by M. C. Beaton
Description :
When Agatha Raisin comes home to cozy Carsely and finds that a new woman has piqued the interest of her handsome bachelor neighbor, James Lacey, she’s less than thrilled. The beautiful newcomer to the Cotswolds, Mary Fortune, is superior in every way—especially when it comes to gardening—and Agatha is suddenly seeing nothing but green. If only a nice juicy murder would come along to remind James of Agatha’s genius for investigation. When a series of mysterious assaults on the town’s finest gardens is followed by a shocking murder, Agatha gets her wish. Seizing the moment, she immediately starts yanking up village secrets by their roots and digging up details about the victim—who, as it turns out, may just have some hidden dirt of her own…
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Book 4Agatha Raisin and the Walkers of Dembley
by M. C. Beaton
Description :
Returning to her beloved Cotswold village only to be coolly received by her attractive neighbor, Agatha Raisin becomes involved in the murder case of hiker Jessica Tartinick, who had incurred the wrath of wealthy landowners. Reprint. AB.
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Book 5Agatha Raisin and the Murderous Marriage
by M. C. Beaton
Description :
After her first husband, Jimmy Raisin, stops her wedding and she is left jilted at the altar, he is found strangled to death, and Agatha Raisin must prove her innocence along with that of her intended in this mystery filled with murder and mayhem.
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Book 6Agatha Raisin and the Terrible Tourist
by M. C. Beaton
Description :
Agatha Raisin's marriage was put off when her ex-husband showed up, unfortunately alive. Fortunately, he was murdered and Agatha solved the crime. Now she is off to Cyprus to track down her ex-fiance. Instead of enjoying their planned honeymoon, however, they witness the murder of an obnoxious tourist. Two sets of terrible tourists surround the unhappy couple, arousing Agatha's suspicions. And, much to James' chagrin, she won't rest until she finds the killer. Unfortunately, it seems the killer also 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 Cyprus.
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Book 7Agatha Raisin and the Wellspring of Death
by M. C. Beaton
Description :
This time, the feisty sleuth stumbles upon the victim of an unnatural death in Cotswold village's famous natural spring. Who was the unlucky corpse? The Ancombe Parish Council chairman-and the only uncommitted member voting on whether to allow the Ancombe Water Company to tap into the town's spring. Add ex-fiance James, watery politicians, and slippery entrepreneurs to the mix, and you have Agatha up to her neck in a murky murder mystery.
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Book 8Agatha Raisin and the Wizard of Evesham
by M. C. Beaton
Description :
After a home dye job ruins her hair, Agatha Raisin, the prickly yet lovable amateur sleuth, turns to the wonderful new hairdresser in the neighboring town for help. And as Agatha soon learns, Mr. John is as skilled at repairing her coiffure as he is at romancing her heart. But the charming Mr. John isn't all he appears to be. According to gossip around the salon and the village, some of his former clients seem to be afraid of him. Could Mr. John really be a ruthless blackmailer? When a murderer strikes at the busy salon, Agatha must discover the truth and the killer's identity before it's too late.
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Book 9Agatha Raisin and the Witch of Wyckhadden
by M. C. Beaton
Description :
There is nothing more depressing for a middle-aged lovelorn woman with bald patches on her head than to find herself in an English seaside resort out of season. Agatha Raisin, her hair falling out after a run-in with a hairdresser-cum-murderess from a previous investigation, travels to an old-fashioned hotel in order to repair the damage away from the neighbors in her all-too-cozy Cotswolds village. Unhappy about the slow results and prompted by the elderly residents of the resort, she consults the local witch for help. Agatha purchases a hair tonic (and a love potion, just in case!) and is soon sprouting hairs and capturing the fancy of the village police inspector. But the quiet town is stunned by the murder of the witch. Which one of the graying guests is capable of such a brutal crime? The brassy yet endearing Agatha won't stop until she finds the culprit--and, of course, a little love, too.
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Book 10Agatha Raisin and the Fairies of Fryfam
by M. C. Beaton
Description :
DANCING LIGHTS, DISAPPEARING VALUABLES...AND MURDER- A FANCIFUL MYSTERY FOR THE INDOMITALTE AGATHAFeeling jilted, cross and desperate to reclaim the love of her life, James, Agatha Raisin follows a fortune teller's advice and rents a cottage in the picturesque village of Fryfam, where she hopes good fortune and true love will come chasing after her.Adding a bit of spice to her adventure, she's pronounced to the locals that she's a mystery writer penning a whodunit called Murder at the Manor. Unfortunately, her romantic notions are quickly dispelled by strange doings here in Fryfam. What are those strange lights in her backyard?Who is stealing paintings and pottery?Where are her beloved cats? And who murdered the local squire-ironically, at the manor?Agatha's nose for trouble leads her into a hodge-podge of jealousy, blackmail and dangerous liaisons-and a murderer who plans to keep irrepressible Agatha here in Fryfam permanently, as a resident corpse.AUTHORBIO: M.C. BEATON, the Scottish-born author of nine previous Agatha Raisin novels as well as the Hamish Macbeth mystery series, lives in a village in the English Cotswolds.
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Book 11Agatha Raisin and the Love from Hell
by M. C. Beaton
Description :
Agatha Raisin Has Finally Married The Man Of Her Dreams. But Now Her Life Is Nothing Short Of A Nightmare... The honeymoon is most definitely over for Agatha Raisin and her new husband, James Lacey. It's only been a short time since their wedding-and already they aren't getting on. But his wandering eye and her God-awful housekeeping are the least of their problems. Just days after a very public, very ugly marital row, James disappears-and when his mistress is later found murdered, he's the prime suspect. Agatha just doesn't buy it. Sure, he's a liar and a sneaky, low-down cheat. But a murderer? That's bloody impossible! And as some speculate on the role Agatha may have played in his vanishing, the forever-feisty Mrs. Raisin must piece together the most unsavory parts of the dead woman's past to clear James's name-and her own...
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Book 12Agatha Raisin and the Day the Floods Came
by M. C. Beaton
Description :
Crankier than ever, Agatha Raisin wants to forget that her husband left her to enter a monastery-a turn of affairs more humiliating than when she caught him with a mistress. She feels abandoned, fat, frumpy, and absolutely furious. What are her options? She takes an island vacation and joins a Pilates class. But what finally lifts her spirits is finding a corpse. The dead girl is a member of Agatha's exercise class, afloat in a rain-swollen river, dressed in a bridal gown, and clutching a wedding bouquet. Agatha's policeman friend Bill Wong suggests she leave this macabre murder to the Worcester CID. Pah! What do they know? Once she enlists the aid of the bachelor mystery writer next door, puts on a disguise, and interviews some likely suspects, Agatha will be her brash, redoubtable self again- unless she becomes the killer's next victim first...
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Book 13Agatha Raisin and the Case of the Curious Curate
by M. C. Beaton
Description :
Wretched after being dumped by her husband, bored with pottering about Carsely, and wishing every man would sod off, including her neighbor John Armitage, Agatha Raisin is unmoved by news of the captivating new curate. But when she meets the golden-haired, blue-eyed Tristan Delon, she is swept off her feet...along with nearly every other female in the village. Wrapped in brightly coloured dreams of the curate (never mind that he's a tad odd), Agatha is as ecstatic as a girl when he invites her to dine. But his cold body is found the next day, and Carsely is whisked from time-warp monotony to a hotbed of murder and intrigue-and a clear-headed Agatha Raisin is back on track, this time with John. As the corpses multiply, ever-obstinate Agatha trails clues from Lilac Lane to London, unmindful that someone wicked is arranging that Mrs. Raisin's cats never again hear their mistress' footfall on the path...
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Book 14Agatha Raisin and the Haunted House
by M. C. Beaton
Description :
Just back from an extended stay in London, Agatha Raisin finds herself greeted with torrential rains and an old, familiar feeling of boredom. When her handsome new neighbor, Paul Chatterton, shows up on her doorstep, she tries her best to ignore his obvious charms, but his sparkling black eyes and the promise of adventure soon lure her into another investigation. Paul has heard about Agatha's reputation as the Cotswold village sleuth and wastes no time offering their services to the owner of a haunted house. Paul and Agatha are sure something devious is going on-and when the owner turns up dead, Agatha finds herself caught up in another baffling murder mystery.
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Book 15The Deadly Dance
by M. C. Beaton
Description :
Infuriated that her holiday was ruined by a mugging, Agatha Raisin decides to open up her own detective agency. The romance-minded sleuth is thrilled by visions of handsome fellow gumshoes and headline-making crimes—but soon finds the only cases she can get are a non-glamorous lot of lost cats and an errant teenager. But when a wealthy divorcée hires the agency to investigate a death threat against her daughter Cassandra, Agatha thwarts a vicious attack on the heiress bride. Now Agatha is in hot pursuit of the culprit. But when the groom’s father turns up dead, Agatha must untangle a growing list of suspects, from Carsely’s quiet village lanes to Paris’ most fashionable streets. Soon the willfully undaunted Agatha is in trouble with French and British police; on the outs (again) with old friends—and dead in the sights of a murderer.
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Book 16The Perfect Paragon
by M. C. Beaton
Description :
AGATHA RAISIN...AND THE CASE FROM HELLShe’s nosed in on murder investigations, annoyed law enforcement on two continents, and been targeted by everyone from a hit man to a killer secretary. But now Agatha Raisin must take on her greatest nightmare—a divorce case. Bad enough that her struggling detective agency needs the whacking great fee pompous businessman Robert Smedley is offering to prove his wife is unfaithful; it’s even worse that Mrs. Smedley is the kind of sweet, accomplished, lovely, gentle, and all-around perfectly wonderful spouse that Agatha couldn’t be in a thousand years. So, when Smedley turns up poisoned, Agatha is relieved enough to help his now-desperate wife clear her name. And with the assistance of her firm’s eccentric new staff, Agatha enthusiastically follows leads and a batch of suspects through the English countryside’s seediest byways. But the police aren’t about to let an interfering “amateur” beat them to the punch. And as Agatha hits one dead end after another, a particularly devious killer is looking forward to making sure the indomitable Agatha never has to worry about old age—or anything else.
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Book 17Love, Lies And Liquor
An Agatha Raisin Mystery
by M. C. Beaton
Description :
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 when he suddenly resurfaces and invites her on holiday at a surprise location, she’s ready to go yesterday. With visions of a romantic hideaway in Italy or the Pacific dancing in her head, Agatha sets off with James to...Snoth-on-Sea, in Sussex. While James may have fond memories of boyhood holidays there, the once-grand Palace Hotel is in shambles and freezing cold—as are fellow guests and newlyweds Mr. and Mrs. Jankers, who pick a fight with Agatha one night. Just as she and James prepare to flee to warmer climes, Geraldine Jankers is found dead on the beach…strangled with Agatha’s scarf. So much for holiday fantasies: For Agatha, trouble has a way of following her even when romance does not…
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Book 18Kissing Christmas Goodbye
An Agatha Raisin Mystery
by M. C. Beaton
Description :
Unlike quite a number of people, Agatha had not given up on Christmas. To have the perfect Christmas had been a childhood dream whilst surviving a rough upbringing in a Birmingham slum. Holly berries glistened, snow fell gently outside, and inside, all was Dickensian jollity. And in her dreams, James Lacey kissed her under the mistletoe, and, like a middle-aged sleeping beauty, she would awake to passion once more.... Agatha Raisin is bored. Her detective agency in the Cotswolds is thriving, but she’ll scream if she has to deal with another missing cat or dog. Only two things seem to offer potential excitement: the upcoming Christmas festivities and her ex, James Lacey. This year she is sure that if she invites James to a really splendid, old-fashioned Christmas dinner, their love will rekindle like a warm Yule log. When a wealthy widow hires Agatha because she’s convinced a member of her family is trying to kill her, Agatha is intrigued---especially when the widow drops dead after high tea at the manor house. Who in this rather sterile house, complete with fake family portraits, could have hated the old lady enough to poison her? Agatha sets out to find the murderer, all the while managing a pretty, teenage trainee who makes her feel old and planning for a picture-perfect Christmas, with James, all the trimmings, and perhaps even snow.
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Book 19A Spoonful of Poison
An Agatha Raisin Mystery
by M. C. Beaton
Description :
Cranky but lovable sleuth Agatha Raisin’s detective agency has become so successful that she wants nothing more than to take quality time for rest and relaxation. But as soon as she begins closing the agency on weekends, she remembers that when she has plenty of quality time, she doesn’t know what to do with it. So it doesn’t take much for the vicar of a nearby village to persuade her to help publicize the church fete---especially when the fair’s organizer, George Selby, turns out to be a gorgeous widower. Agatha brings out the crowds for the fete, all right, but there’s more going on than innocent village fun. Several of the offerings in the jam-tasting booth turn out to be poisoned, and the festive family event becomes the scene of two murders. Along with her young and (much to her dismay) pretty sidekick, Toni, Agatha must uncover the truth behind the jam tampering, keep the church funds safe from theft, and expose the nasty secrets lurking in the village---all while falling for handsome George, who may have secrets of his own.
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Book 20There Goes the Bride
An Agatha Raisin Mystery
by M. C. Beaton
Description :
James Lacey wandered over to the window of his hotel room. His fiancée, Felicity, was asleep. He was feeling some twinges of unease. What he loved about Felicity was the way she looked at him with her large eyes, appearing to drink in every word. But on the plane journey, he wondered if she were listening to him. “The order to charge was given,” said James, “and a spaceship landed in the valley and some little green men got out.” “Fascinating,” breathed Felicity. “You weren’t listening!” “Just tired, darling. What were you saying?” James heard a commotion down below the hotel. He opened the window and leaned out. A woman had tripped and fallen getting into a cab. He only got a glimpse but he was suddenly sure the woman was Agatha. A familiar voice rose on the Crimean air, “Snakes and bastards!” Bossy, impulsive, yet hopelessly romantic, Agatha is dreading the upcoming marriage of her ex-husband, James Lacey. Although she has set her sights on a handsome and beguiling new Frenchman, she can’t quite stop obsessing about James. Her best intentions to move on with her life are put on hold when James’s young bride is shot to death just minutes before saying “I do,” and Agatha is named the prime suspect. Agatha’s sleuthing sidekick Toni stands ready to help find the real killer, but the case proves trickier than ever. Will her name be cleared, or has the outrageous Agatha finally had her last romp?
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