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

Calme plat dans les Cotswolds : pas un meurtre à la ronde pour notre détective préférée, Agatha ! Lorsqu'une riche divorcée lui demande d'élucider les menaces de mort dont sa fille Cassandra est victime, Agatha saute sur la proposition. Enfin une grosse affaire et sûrement un sacré coup de pub ! Elle ne croit pas si bien dire : lors d'un bal en l'honneur des fiançailles de Cassandra, elle déclenche une émeute en déjouant un assassinat... dont elle risque bien d'être la prochaine cible.

After a brief and ill-advised dalliance with the Suffragette movement, Lady Rose Summers' debut season in London society turns out to be a complete disaster. Rose's father suspects that her fiancé, Sir Geoffrey Blandon, is a first class scoundrel and calls in Captain Harry Cathcart to investigate. But when a malicious guest is found dead in suspicious circumstances, Rose becomes far more interested in discovering the truth than in landing a more appropriate suitor.

Lady Rose Summer prides herself on not being a jealous woman - and she knows her engagement to Captain Harry Cathcart is only a ruse to keep her parents from shipping her off to India to find a husband. But then Harry's latest client, Dolores Duval - French, curvaceous, flirtatious - starts appearing everywhere at his side. And that changes everything. In a fit of temper Rose threatens Dolores - only to be found the very next day standing over her dead body.

Longing for a life of emancipation, Lady Rose Summer has abandoned the comforts of her parent's house to become self supporting. But life as a working woman isn't quite as liberating as Rose has imagined - fortunately for her, though, her drudgery comes to an end when old acquaintance Freddy Pomfret is murdered and her help - and upper class connections - are required by amateur sleuth Captain Harry Cathcart.

It would seem that even a pretend engagement cannot keep Lady Rose Summer from trouble. Bored with endless parties, teas and balls, she befriends Dolly Tremaine, a beautiful young girl newly arrived from the country and overwhelmed by the demands of the Season. Their friendship is cut tragically short, however, when Dolly is found dead in the river, with flowers in her hair and blood on her breast.

Lady Jane Lovelace has conceived the idea of approaching the most notorious man about town, Lord Charles Welbourne, with a most unique proposition. But when he counters her offer with a condition that he thinks will halt her impudence, much to the surprise of both, she accepts. A novel of passion and intrigue, The Westerby Inheritance is the first volume of this new and emotionally charged romantic saga all played out against a backdrop of elegant 18th-century society.

Winter Parva, a traditional Cotswolds village next door to Carsely, has decided to throw a celebratory hog roast to mark the beginning of the winter holiday festivities and Agatha Raisin has arrived with friend and rival in the sleuthing business, Toni, to enjoy the merriment. But, as the spit pig is carried towards the bed of fiery charcoal, Agatha - and the rest of the village - realise that things aren't as they seem...

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.

Agatha Raisin's detective agency has become so successful that she decides to take time off for rest and relaxation. But as soon as she does, she remembers that when she does have time on her hands, she doesn't know what to do with it. So it doesn't take much for the vicar of a nearby village to persuade her to help publicise the church fete - especially when the event organiser, George Selby, turns out to be a handsome widower.

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!

Morag Merrilea is working at the Shopmark Fashions factory during her summer holidays to earn some extra cash. But when the art student complains to Hamish about the theft of her sketchbook in the pub, he doesn't take her too seriously. After all, she had been drinking and can't quite remember what happened... and then turns out to be snippy when Hamish questions her further. But then her body is discovered - and Hamish is forced to investigate a crime where the only witness has been murdered.

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!

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.