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

Lochdubh, ein kleines Dorf in den schottischen Highlands. Hier genießt Police Constable Hamish Macbeth das ruhige Leben weitab vom Schuss. Dem gutmütigen Dorfpolizisten eilt der Ruf voraus, notorisch faul zu sein - etwas, das Hamish selbst nie bestreiten würde. Als allerdings der Besitzer der örtlichen Angelschule die Leiche einer seiner Schülerinnen aus dem Wasser angelt, ist für Hamish die Zeit des Müßiggangs vorbei und er muss ermitteln.

Home Sweet Home. Als Agatha Raisin nach einer anstrengenden Weltreise ihr Cotswolds-Cottage betritt, ist sie heilfroh, endlich wieder zu Hause zu sein. Die Freude währt allerdings nicht lange, denn in Agathas Abwesenheit hat ihr attraktiver Nachbar James doch tatsächlich mit einer anderen Frau angebandelt! Mary Fortune heißt das blutjunge Ding, das leidenschaftlich gern gärtnert - ganz im Gegensatz zu Agatha. Trotzdem ist diese sich sicher, die unliebsame Konkurrentin in der bevorstehenden Gartenschau zu übertrumpfen. Doch dazu kommt es erst gar nicht, denn ausgerechnet Agatha stolpert eines Nachts über Marys Leiche - und die steckt kopfüber in einem Blumenkübel.

Molly had dared to turn a cold shoulder on London's prize catch. She was a precocious American upstart who thought beauty, brains, and bravery were enough to conquer London society. Well, he'd show her! Nobody publicly (or privately!) spurned Lord David Manley, the most eligible bachelor in town. He was determined that soon she'd be trembling in his arms, desperately in love with the man she had dared to mock. David Manley always got his way, and Miss Molly Maguire presented a challenge he couldn't resist!

The Earl of Tredair has had his fill of balls, routs, and silly misses, and he despairs of finding anyone out of the ordinary - that is, until he meets Miss Fanny Waverley. Most unique and intriguing, she and her two sisters are the adopted daughters of the reclusive bluestocking Madame Waverley. They have been raised as her disciples to spread the word of women's rights and to encourage poor oppressed females to stand up against the iniquities of the male sex.

I am going to die, Polly thought. The crowd clamored for a speech. Polly raised her hands, and the crowd fell silent. From the foot of the gallows, she asked the spectators why she, a poor woman, should hang for theft while the abbess of Covent Garden could commit murder on the souls of innocent country girls over and over again and yet go free - and then she condemned them to hell.

Raven-haired Minerva, eldest daughter of an impecunious vicar, When the Reverend Charles Armitage, an impecunious country vicar in Regency England, announces that raven-haired Minerva, the eldest of his six daughters, is to have her coming-out in London, the news is not well received by the rest of the family. Mrs. Armitage has one of her Spasms and has to be brought round by burning a quantity of feathers under her nose. Annabelle, the nearest in age to Minerva, is clearly jealous, the boys are all surly, and the other girls just start off crying.

No young lady can be more devoted to the teachings of the infamous blue stocking Mrs Waverley than Felicity, her adopted author. Yet Felicity leads a secret life: that of an author of a scandalous new novel - the tale of a lady 'rake' and her passionate exploits. Yet there is one titled gentleman who is intrigued with this mysterious, headstrong young woman who is taking Society by storm - and Felicity soon learns that real life is infinitely more interesting than fiction!

Entre orgueils et préjugés, bienvenue dans La Saison des débutantes ! " Parents d'une jeune fille turbulente, insolente et indisciplinée ? Engagez deux dames bien nées pour lui enseigner les bonnes manières et raffiner le matériau le plus brut. Nous tirons le meilleur du pire ! " Être pauvre n'empêche pas d'avoir de riches idées ! Privées d'un héritage qui leur aurait assuré une belle rente, Amy et Effy Tribble, deux charmantes soeurs ruinées, proposent leurs services en tant que chaperons professionnels. L'annonce passée dans le Morning Post saura attirer une clientèle fortunée.

Ignorance is bliss... especially when it comes to murder! Ever since the death of his father, Fellworth Dolphin has slaved away as a waiter to support his miserly, cold-hearted mother. So when she suddenly dies Fellworth is shocked to discover she has left him a fortune. Somewhat confused, Fell teams up with a girl from work, Maggie, to investigate the source of the riches. But what they find instead is a closet full of skeletons... Is it really possible Fell's father was involved in a decades-old train robbery? And who is the mysterious woman in the portrait?

Hallucination ou fantasme ? C'est la question que se pose Agatha Raisin lorsque, au détour d'une route, surgit devant elle un homme dans le plus simple appareil. Paniqué, il dit avoir aperçu un cadavre... Pourtant, une fois sur place, nulle trace du corps. Si la police crie au canular, Agatha est persuadée que le nudiste dit vrai.

Agatha Raisin ist fassungslos: Ihr Verlobter James hat sich einfach aus dem Staub gemacht. Nach Zypern. Dorthin, wo sie die Flitterwochen verbringen wollten. Eigentlich. Bevor er die Hochzeit platzen ließ. Doch Agatha wäre nicht Agatha, wenn sie tatenlos zusehen würde, wie ihr Glück den Bach runtergeht. Beherzt packt sie ihre Koffer und reist James hinterher. Doch Agathas Traum von der romantischen Versöhnung unter mediterraner Sonne ist schnell ausgeträumt: Kaum gelandet, muss sie sich mit englischen Urlaubern und einem Mörder rumschlagen, der es auf ebendiese abgesehen hat.

Lady Beatrice is fleeing an arranged marriage by stagecoach to Brighton, where the proud beauty meets her match in Miss Hannah Pym who is determined to find her a proper beau.

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; sit and dream. But suddenly Phillip, 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.

In any given glittering social season, Edwardian London's dizzying whirl had its share of surprises. The latest was Kitty Harrison, once achingly poor, suddenly an heiress and now, thanks to her determined mother, she was about to become a Baroness. From the moment Kitty set eyes on Lord Chesworth, she found him to be the most exciting man she had met. But Kitty was young, innocent, and easily dazzled.

Poor Ginny Bloggs! She had inherited a fortune, a magnificent country estate, and her benefactor's disgruntled relatives - a quartet of querulous schemers - who were horrified to find themselves suddenly at the mercy of a low, common girl; a total stranger - the coal merchant's daughter! The handsome Lord Gerald de Fremney himself had pledged to keep the more unruly relatives in line.

Polly was a bewitching young girl, that pretty Polly Marsh, and she knew it. She also knew that beauty could be her passport into the castles where she had always known she belonged. So she set her sights for a duke and joined the firm of Westerman's as a stenographer. Surely one of that noble family would notice her and then all of her dreams would come true!

La détective Agatha Raisin s'est récemment mise à la marche sportive : c'est bon pour la santé, mais... pas de tout repos ! Sur le terrain de boulingrin d'un parc, le corps d'un vieux monsieur lui fait accélérer le pas. Harry Nelson, surnommé l'Amiral, aurait succombé un herbicide conservé dans une bouteille de rhum.

Quoi de mieux pour oublier ses soucis qu'une joyeuse kermesse de village ? C'est compter sans le hasard, funeste cela va sans dire, qui met sur le chemin d'Agatha Raisin un cadavre... Aussi raide que la flèche qui lui transperce le cœur, sir Godfrey Pride, propriétaire terrien de la région, a dans sa poche la carte de visite d'Agatha. L'occasion idéale pour l'inspecteur divisionnaire Wilkes, qui n'aime pas qu'une détective privée mette son nez dans les affaires de la police, d'accuser sa rivale.

Que font des aristocrates désargentés qui veulent garder un certain style dans le Londres du XIXe siècle ? Ils ouvrent un hôtel !

Malgré son rang, lady Fortescue, veuve septuagénaire, n’a ni rente ni héritage pour vivre dignement. Lasse de dépendre de la charité familiale, elle renonce cependant à se séparer de sa grande demeure décrépite de Bond Street et de ses domestiques qu’elle ne paye plus depuis longtemps... Surgit alors la folle idée de faire cause commune avec d’autres infortunés et de transformer sa maison en hôtel.

Une nouvelle enquête pour Hamish Macbeth... lui seul pourra mettre le véritable meurtrier sous le feu des projecteurs.