M. C. Beaton

Gentle by name, gentle by nature. Everyone in the sleepy Scottish town of Lochdubh adores elderly Mrs. Gentle - everyone but Hamish Macbeth, that is. Hamish thinks the gentle lady is quite sly and vicious, and the citizens of Lochdubh think he is overly cranky. Perhaps it's time for him to get married, they say. But who has time for marriage when there's a murder to be solved? When Mrs. Gentle dies under mysterious circumstances, the town is shocked...

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.

In the isolated villages of northern Scotland, the residents rely on chimney sweep Pete Ray. After Police Constable Hamish Macbeth finds a dead body stuffed inside a chimney, the entire town of Lochdubh suspects Pete. Then Pete's body is found on the Scottish moors, and the mystery deepens.

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. When George doesn't show up, Agatha finds his dead body in a compost heap. The killer chose no ordinary weapon: a poisonous snake...

When society widow and gossip columnist Lady Jane Winters joins the fishing class, she wastes no time in ruffling the feathers -- or was it fins? -- of those around her. Among the victims of her sharp tongue and unladylike manner is Lochdubh Constable Hamish Macbeth. Yet not even Hamish thinks someone will permanently silence Lady Jane's shrills -- until her strangled body is fished out of the river. Now, with the help of the lovely Priscilla Halburton-Smythe,...

Investigating the murder of a local baker during an amateur theatrical production, curmudgeon Agatha Raisin and her team of private detectives uncover a web of feuds and temperamental behaviors that place the team in mortal danger.

Constable Hamish Macbeth's quiet life in the Highlands is turned upside down when he uncovers a vicious letter writer who uses the local post to spread seeds of gossip, fear, and murder.

After her husband leaves her to join a monastery in France, Agatha Raisin heads for a remote island in the South Pacific, where, to her surprise, she finds herself enjoying her time alone, but her peaceful vacation is shattered when a fellow traveler turns up dead.

Love, like hell, is a four-letter word for Agatha ... No happily ever after for her! Recently married to neighbour James Lacey, Agatha quickly finds that love is not all it's cracked up to be - soon the newly-weds are living in separate cottages and accusing each other of infidelity. Then, after a fight down the local pub, James vanishes - a bloodstain the only clue to his fate. Naturally, Agatha is Suspect Number One. Determined to clear her name...

When a Scrooge-like officer with the Health and Safety Board spoils the Costwolds holiday festivities by trumping up reasons to ban town decorations and May Dimwoody's hand-made toys, Agatha Raisin is called on to investigate the officer's subsequent murder.