Showing results by author "M. C. Beaton" in All Categories

Agatha est ravie ! Chargée d'organiser une garden-party spectaculaire dans le château de son ami Charles Fraith, elle fourmille d'idées... Au programme : envol de montgolfières et vente aux enchères. Pour se mettre dans le bain, elle assiste à une vente locale et y acquiert, pour une fortune, une horloge ancienne. Mais lorsqu'elle reçoit des menaces de mort sous forme de charades et découvre le cadavre de l'antiquaire à qui elle avait confié le précieux objet (qui entretemps s'est envolé), l'esprit festif cède la place à la peur.

London was all on edge and astir to have in its midst the exquisite Princess Felicity of Brasnia. What scandal would ensue should society discover that the bejeweled heir to a royal throne was in truth Miss Felicity Channing of Cornwall, fleeing a match she did not want and that had been arranged by her conniving stepfather! It was questionable how long Felicity could carry off this lively masquerade before she would falter, especially since the dark, raffish eyes of Lord Arthur Bessamy seemed to look right through her disguise - and set her spirited heart to pounding.

Agatha Raisin se lía la manta a la cabeza y decide marcharse de Londres para saborear las mieles de una jubilación anticipada en un tranquilo pueblo de los Cotswolds, donde no tarda en aburrirse como una ostra. Desplegar su talento para la alta cocina en el concurso gastronómico de la parroquia tendría que convertirla, por fuerza, en una celebridad. Sin embargo, al primer bocado de su exquisita quiche, el juez del concurso cae desplomado y Agatha se ve obligada a confesar la amarga verdad: la quiche letal era comprada.

The handsome but arrogant Lord Charles Hawksborough desperately wants to catch the infernally insolent thief who held him up at pistol point on the King's Highway and rode off with his family's inheritance and jewels. Hawksborough tries just as desperately to not want the piquant and penniless Miss Amanda Colby when this young lady and her twin brother come to stay at his London townhouse during the height of the social season.

What do you do if you are of noble stock, but impoverished, and living in London with a certain style to maintain? One has to work... but One's relatives will be appalled when One turns One's hand to trade - and opens a hotel, The Poor Relation, offering employment to others of the same social standing and in the same awkward situation. This is precisely what Mrs Fortescue decides upon and, together with friend Colonel Sandhurst, transforms her decrepit Bond Street home into a posh hotel, offering guests the pleasure of being waited upon by the nobility.

Agatha has fallen in love - again. This time it's the local gardener, George Marston, she has her eye on. But competition for his attention abounds. With her shameless determination Agatha will do anything to get her man - including footing the bill for a charity ball in town just for the chance to dance with him. But when George is a no-show Agatha goes looking for him - and finds he has been murdered, having been bitten by a poisonous snake and buried in a compost heap.

Tras haber desenmascarado al asesino de la quiche letal, la fortuna parece sonreír a Agatha Raisin. Aceptada por la pintoresca comunidad de Carsely, y felizmente acompañada de sus dos gatos, su vida transcurre sin otro objetivo que doblegar la indiferencia de James Lacey, militar jubilado por el que Agatha siente verdadera devoción.

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 his trousers round his ankles. At first her 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 the man was murdered and is shocked when Wilkes eventually agrees...particularly as he considers her to be his prime suspect!

Daisy Jenkins never expected to be anything more than trespasser on the idyllic lawns of Marsden Castle. Then, suddenly, she was admitted into the magic circle of the Earl and Countess of Nottenstone, to await the arrival of the notorious Lord Chatterton, her father - a stranger whosever name was foreign to her. She was Daisy Chatterton now, adrift in a sea of aristocratic sharks who seemed both to court and mock her.

Quelque chose ne tourne pas rond dans le village écossais de Stoyre. Lors d'une visite de routine, Hamish Macbeth trouve le pub vide, l'église étonnamment pleine et les ouailles animées d'une étrange ferveur. La maison de retraite l'inquiète aussi : en échange de moyens de paiement pour le moins douteux, elle propose des services très efficaces, à en juger par le taux de mortalité... explosif !

She couldn't paint to save her life - so someone's given her a lesson by taking it! Most newcomers don't stay long in remote Lochdubh - usually boredom, dampness and nosy locals drive them out. But it looks as if artist Effie Garrand has come to stay. When Hamish Macbeth calls on her he's amazed to find the woman in residence after a particularly harsh winter. Unfortunately, Effie is also quite delusional, having convinced herself that fellow local artist Jock Fleming is in love with her, and that they are engaged.

The Beast - that was what they called her. With her plump body and rough tomboy ways, she felt more like a clown. It was hopeless. Poor penniless Tilly could only sit among the chaperons as a paid companion to the spiteful Lady Aileen. The best she could do was sit…and dream. But suddenly Philip, Marquess of Heppleford, the most eligible bachelor of all, decided he wanted her for himself, to be his wife, and they were married. His intent was to keep his freedom, fulfill the conditions of his father's will, and shock his aunts.

The team of bells at St. Ethelred church is the pride and glory of the idyllic Cotswolds village of Thirk Magna, together with the most dedicated bell ringers in the whole of England: the twins Mavis and Millicent Dupin. As the village gets ready for the Bishop's visit, the twins get overly excited at the prospect of ringing the special peal of bells created for the occasion and start bullying the other bell ringers, forcing them to rehearse and rehearse...so much so that Joseph Kennell, a retired lawyer, yells at the sisters that he 'felt like killing them'!

Agatha and her assistant, Toni, are driving to their friend Bill Wong's wedding, thinking of nothing more than what the beautiful bride will be wearing when a terrified young man comes running down the country lane towards them wearing...nothing at all. The encounter leads them to become embroiled with a naturist group, a disappearing corpse, fantasy games, witchcraft, an ice cream empire, intrigue and murder.

When private detective Agatha Raisin comes across a severed leg in a roadside hedge, it looks like she is about to become involved in a particularly gruesome murder. Looks, however, can be deceiving, as Agatha discovers when she is employed to investigate a case of industrial espionage at a factory where nothing is quite what it seems. The factory mystery soon turns to murder, and a bad-tempered donkey turns Agatha into a national celebrity, before bringing her ridicule and shame.

Des Highlands à Amsterdam, entre stupéfiants et monstres marins, le plus grand danger pour Hamish sera-t-il de tomber à l'eau... ou de tomber amoureux ?

Mrs. Gillespie is famous around the northwest of Sutherland for being the best charwoman ever. Of course, if anyone has any social pretensions one does not say charwoman, one talks about "my maid". Hamish Macbeth wins Mrs. Gillespie's services in a church raffle but spends most of the day trying to avoid her. She is a malicious gossip and she bangs around the furniture and clanks pots--he wonders how on earth she managed to get such a good reputation.

Tras una larga temporada en Londres, Agatha Raisin regresa a su querido pueblo de Carsely y a su deseado James Lacey, el apuesto coronel retirado que no parece precisamente encantado de tener a su vecina de vuelta. Sin embargo, Agatha apenas tiene tiempo de elaborar nuevas estrategias de conquista cuando se produce un espantoso asesinato. La víctima es la joven y animosa Jessica Tartinck, conflictiva líder de un grupo de excursionistas enfrentada a los relamidos terratenientes locales al reclamar el derecho de paso de los miembros de la asociación a través de sus tierras.

During the dark, grey days of early December Agatha is obsessed by two things - the looming festivities, and her ex, James Lacey. In order to drive the latter from her thoughts, Agatha concentrates on planning the perfect Christmas for her friends. Even the murder of a Mrs Tamworthy, poisoned with hemlock, does little to distract her and yet it should, as Mrs Tamworthy had written to Agatha, telling her that one of her family wanted to see her dead before the year was out. So slightly guiltily (and belatedly), Agatha sets out to solve the case before the 25th rolls around.

All Sergeant Hamish Macbeth ever wants is a quiet life in the tranquil surroundings of Lochdubh, his home village in the Scottish Highlands. Although the area he polices is vast, he's happiest when he's working alone, yet the police authorities insist he has an assistant. In the past, they have supplied a variety of problematic misfits, but they surpass themselves with their latest effort - an American named James Bland.