M. C. Beaton

Penelope-golden-haired, azure-eyed, fresh from the county-has stolen the heart of the most desirable Earl of Hestleton. Rich, startlingly handsome, he is the most eligible lord in the realm. He had planned to toy with her affections then toss her to the bon ton, but when the Earl discovers that he is a pawn in Penelope's Aunt Augusta's social-climbing scheme, he begins to doubt Penelope's true love. Can the belle keep her beau or will her aunt's ambitious...

Life is finally looking up for the poor relations. The Prince of Wales' coat of arms gleams over the hotel entrance. All but one of the rooms are filled by the open-handed Prince Hugo and his entourage. The owners have taken on a new partner, Mr. Jason Davy, a popular actor. Even curmudgeonly Sir Philip hasn't uttered anything loathsome for days. They have finally reached a position comfortable enough to allow them to consider offers to buy the hotel. The...

Surprised that a newcomer to the Scottish Highlands has remained steadfast to her new home in spite of an inhospitable winter, constable Hamish Macbeth learns that the woman has deluded herself into believing that she is engaged to a local artist.

"After six months in London, Agatha Raisin returns to her beloved Cotswold village--and her dashing neighbor, James Lacey. Well, sort of. James might not be so interested in Agatha. But soon enough, Agatha becomes consumed by her other passion: crime solving. A woman has been found dead in a lonely field nearby. Her name is Jessica Tartinck, a hiker who infuriated wealthy landowners by insisting on her hiking club's right to trek across their properties....

Hamish Macbeth, the laid-back constable of Lochdubh, Scotland, has a new Land Rover to drive and a Highland summer to savor, but as fast as rain rolls in from the loch, his happy life goes to hell in a handbasket. The trouble begins when his beloved Priscilla Halburton-Smythe returns from London-with a fiancé on her arm. His miseries multiply when clouds of midges, the diabolical Scottish mosquito, descend on the town. Then a paragon of housewifery...

When Agatha Raisin returns home after a sojourn in the capital, she finds a new woman ensconced in the affections of her attractive bachelor neighbor, James Lacey. The newcomer, Mary Fortune, is superior to Agatha in every way, especially when it comes to gardening. With Carsely Open Day approaching, Agatha longs for some fascinating crime to remind James of her genius for investigation and to distract him from Mary. Soon a series of assaults on the...

Christmas Crumble continues the tradition in M. C. Beaton's beloved Agatha Raisin mystery series-now a hit show on Acorn TV and public television. At home alone for the holidays, Agatha Raisin decides to host a dinner party for the elder residents in her Cotswold village of Winter Parva. Agatha's never been much of a homemaker, but she's dead-set on making this the perfect holiday for the "crumblies," as she affectionately calls them. She's decorated...

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....