When Agatha Raisin learns that her friend and one-time lover Charles Fraith is to be married to socialite, Miss Mary Brown-Field, she sees it as her duty to find out what she can about the woman. Out of selfless concern for Charles, of course. When Agatha crashes their wedding, it ends in a public altercation. There's a scream from the stable-- and now Agatha and Charles are suspects in a murder. Clues lead to the competitive equestrian world, in...

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...

A visit to the local village fete for a spot of fun and relaxation turns into a nightmare for Agatha Raisin when she discovers the body of the local landowner in the woods--with an arrow in his chest and trousers round his ankles. Agatha's old adversary, Detective Chief Inspector Wilkes, declares the death a tragic accident, believing the victim has been hit by a stray arrow from an archery demonstration. Agatha is convinced of foul play, however,...

Allotment wars! Lord Bellington has enraged locals by saying he is going to sell off their allotments to make way for a new housing development. So when he turns up dead, poisoned by antifreeze, nobody mourns his passing. On another fine summer's day, Agatha visits Carsley's allotments where everything looks peaceful and perfect: people of all ages digging in the soil and working hard to grow their own fruit and veg. Agatha feels almost tempted to...

Stifling a yawn at the local production of "Babes in the Woods," Agatha Raisin watches the baker playing an ogre strut and threaten on the stage, until a trapdoor opens and the Ogre disappears in an impressive puff of smoke. Only he doesn't re-appear at final curtain. When it turns out the popular baker has been murdered, Agatha puts her team of private detectives on the case. They soon discover more feuds and temperamental behavior in amateur theatrics...

New York Times bestseller M. C. Beaton's Agatha Raisin—now the star of a hit show on Acorn TV and public television—is beloved by millions and this short story takes readers back to where it all began with Agatha's first case.
At age twenty six, Agatha Raisin has already come a long way. She has clawed her way up since leaving the Birmingham slum where she was born. She's lost her Birmingham accent, run away from her

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When a Scrooge-like officer with the Health and Safety Board spoils the Cotswolds 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.

"The picturesque Cotwsold village of Winter Parva has decided to warm the winter months after the holidays by roasting a pig in the town square. Agatha, always one for a good roasting, has arrived with her former protegě and current rival in the private detection racket, Toni, to enjoy the merriment. But as the rotary spit is placed over a bed of fiery charcoals and the pig is carried toward its final resting place, Agatha realizes that things are...

When therapist Jill Davent moved to the village of Carsely, Agatha Raisin was not a fan. Not only was this therapist romancing Agatha's ex-husband but she dug up details of Agatha's not-too-glamorous origins. Jill also counsels a woman, Gwen Simple, that Agatha firmly believes assisted her son in some grisly murders, although there is no proof. Not one to keep her feelings to herself, Agatha tells anyone that would listen that Jill is a charlatan...

Can the feisty Agatha cut it as a private investigator? She soon learns that running her own detective agency in the Cotswolds is not quite like starring in a Raymond Chandler movie. But then walks in wealthy divorcee Catherine Laggat-Brown, and Agatha is given her first real case. Death threats, blackmail and physical attack soon follow, and once again Agatha is off scouring the countryside for clues and showing friends and enemies alike what Raisin...