M. C Beaton
21) Hot to trot
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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...
22) Death of a Bore
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Hamish Macbeth mysteries volume 20
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Confounded by the murder of Lochdubh writing circle's long-winded organizer, police officer Hamish Macbeth investigates the victim's writings for clues and wonders at sinister themes within an unfinished soap opera script.
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Scottish constable Hamish Macbeth, finding his reputation on the line, agrees to a public fight with a tattooed stranger who claims to be a professional wrestler. When someone prevents the match by murdering the stranger, suspicion falls on Hamish, who then investigates.
24) Hiss and Hers
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Agatha Raisin is back and 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. She has her eye on the local gardener, George Marston, but then again, so do many of the other women in their little Cotswold village,. Shameless and determined, Agatha will do anything to get her man - including footing the bill...
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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...
26) Busy body
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Agatha Raisin is ambivalent about holiday cheer, but the village of Carsely has long prided itself on its Christmas festivities. John Sunday, a self-important officer with the Health and Safety Board, is putting a damper on the celebrations. The Carsely Ladies' Society joins forces with the ladies in the neighboring village of Odley Cruesis to try to put a stop to his meddling only to find that someone has literally put a stop to him with a kitchen...
28) Death of a maid
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Scottish policeman Hamish Macbeth is charged with investigating the death of a maid struck down by a bucket of water.
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2017.
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Cotswolds inhabitants are used to inclement weather, but the night sky is especially foggy as Rory and Molly Devere, the new vicar and his wife, drive slowly home from a dinner party in their village of Sumpton Harcourt. They strain to see the road ahead - and then suddenly brake, screeching to a halt. Right in front of them, aglow in the headlights, a body hangs from a gnarled tree at the edge of town. Margaret Darby, an elderly spinster, has been...
30) The Banishment
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Daughters of Mannerling volume 1
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In this Regency romance series opener by the bestselling author of the Agatha Raisin mysteries, a family’s future rests on a daughter’s engagement.
Isabella Beverley is blessed with unparalleled beauty but, unfortunately, has been raised in the most snobbish and haughtiest of families. And when her father gambles away their fortune—including Mannerling, the exquisite family mansion—Isabella discovers there is
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When the jolly widow Gloria French first moved to the charming Cotswolds hills, she was heartily welcomed. She seemed a do-gooder par excellence. But she had a nasty habit of borrowing things and not giving them back. So it's quite the shock when she is poisoned with a bottle of wine. Parish councilor Jerry Tarrant hires private detective Agatha Raisin to track down the murderer. But the village is secretive, and the residents resent Agatha's investigation....
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The local ladies all deem Mr John a wizard, so when Agatha finds a few grey hairs on her head - and the rinse she tries at home turns her hair purple - she makes a beeline for the handsome Evesham hairdresser. And as well as sorting out her hair it soon becomes clear the charming man also has designs on her heart - but their future together is cut short when Mr John is fatally poisoned in his salon. Once again Agatha finds herself embroiled in a murder...
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The poor relation volume 2
Pub. Date
2012
Description
Theoddly assorted group met some time ago. All of them were poor relations, the genteel paupers of society, living on little more than their dignity. They banded together and started the Poor Relation hotel, hoping to be bought out by their embarrassed relations. Though as the hotel prospered, they began to enjoy the fruits of their labor. But once more they are in need of funds.
To stoop to crime in their days of poverty was one thing, but to turn...
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Pub. Date
2009
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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...
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"The morning of Agatha Raisin's long-awaited marriage to her attractive and elusive neighbor, James Lacey, dawns bright and clear. But the storm clouds of the day before would have been more appropriate. A new anti-wrinkle cream turns Agatha's face into one large red rash, James refuses to discuss his feelings for her, and then Agatha's first husband, Jimmy Raisin, reappears just in time to keep her from committing bigamy. The ensuing brouhaha - Agatha...
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In this, the seventh installment in Beaton's popular series, Agatha Raisin returns to her homey Cotswold village, moves back into her cottage next door to her ex-fiance James Lacey, and tries to settle back into her comfortable if lonely semi-retirement. True to form, however, Agatha gets involved in another murder when she discovers a body at the bottom of a local natural spring.
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Pub. Date
2016.
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"Gloria French was a jolly widow with dyed blonde hair, a raucous laugh and rosy cheeks. When she first moved from London to the charming Cotswolds Hills, she was heartily welcomed. She seemed a do-gooder par excellence, raising funds for the church and caring for the elderly. But she had a nasty habit of borrowing things and not giving them back, just small things, a teapot here, a set of silverware there. So it's quite the shock when she is found...
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Pub. Date
2018.
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"Nobody loves an honest man, or that was what police sergeant Hamish Macbeth tried to tell newcomer Paul English. Paul had moved to a house in Cnothan, a sour village on Hamish's beat. He attended church in Lochdubh. He told the minister, Mr. Wellington, that his sermons were boring. He told tweedy Mrs. Wellington that she was too fat and in these days of increasing obesity it was her duty to show a good example. Angela Brody was told her detective...
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Hamish Macbeth mysteries volume 13
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Scottish police inspector Hamish Macbeth finds himself with yet another case on his hands when a painful toothache sends him running to the office of the slightly unethical Dr. Gilchrist, only to find the dentist has been poisoned.