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

Décidément insoumise, Lady Rose refuse de faire comme toutes les jeunes filles de son rang : elle ne se mariera pas ! Pire, elle veut quitter la maison pour gagner sa vie. My god ! Ses parents finissent par céder à ses extravagances, sachant que le détective Harry Cathcart la chaperonne. Mais la vie de femme indépendante n'est pas aussi excitante que Rose l'avait imaginé.

Après "Agatha Raisin" et "Hamish Macbeth", la nouvelle série incontournable de M.C Beaton ! Belle et rebelle, telle est Lady Rose. Après s'être compromise avec les suffragettes, au grand désespoir de ses parents, la jeune fille de bonne famille fait une entrée désastreuse dans la haute société londonienne... Ce qui ne dissuade pas un Sir aux allures distinguées de lui faire les yeux doux. Très louche, selon le père de Lady Rose, qui charge le capitaine Harry Cathcart, aristocrate désargenté, d'en savoir plus sur le prétendant.

Poor Lucy was living a dream. She had married a gambler, a womaniser and a drunkard. And she refused to admit that his frequent overnight absences were of any significance. The sting came when it was revealed that Lucy's parents had bought her husband for her. And then one night at a ball, Lucy met the charismatic Duke of Habard, and suddenly anything seemed possible.

Miss Jennie Bemyss was in a position that any intelligent young lady would envy. The wealthy, worldly Marquis of Charrington proposed a marriage of convenience that would leave him free to pursue his pleasures and leave Jennie free of his undoubtedly depraved desires. At the same time, handsome, charming Guy Chalmers, whom Jennie had loved since childhood, proposed to aid her in enjoying her freedom to the fullest.

In den Cotswolds herrscht Feierstimmung: Agatha Raisins lang ersehnte Hochzeit mit ihrem Nachbarn, dem stets korrekten James Lacey, steht vor der Tür. Doch dann taucht urplötzlich Agathas tot geglaubter Ehemann Jimmy im Standesamt auf. Die aufgebrachte Agatha geht Jimmy an die Gurgel, der gedemütigte James sucht das Weite, die Hochzeit platzt. Als Jimmy am nächsten Tag ermordet im Straßengraben liegt, sind Agatha und James prompt die Hauptverdächtigen. Kann Agathas Spürnase ihr auch diesmal wieder aus der Patsche helfen?

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.

He stated quite bluntly - and much to Isabella's relief - that theirs would be a marriage in name only. But neither Harry nor Isabella was aware of the other's disguise - contrived in vain to thwart the impending nuptials. Isabella was not the selfish ice princess she seemed, nor was Harry a mincing dandy but rather a merry profligate. A search for buried treasure and a thwarted suitor out for revenge add adventure to the marital mayhem, as two hearts discover that love lies no further than the nearest kiss.

No sooner does Miss Pym board her next stagecoach than she finds herself embroiled in the plight of Miss Belinda Earle, a spirited heiress banished to Bath after swearing off the marriage market.

When the coach founders near Baddell Castle, and the dashing Marquis of Frenton comes to the rescue, Miss Pym decides to give Fate a hand. Although the austere bachelor disdains romance, his furtive glances towards Belinda prove to Miss Pym that her expert matchmaking will soon turn this star-crossed couple into a heavenly match.

From the moment honey-tressed young Annabelle met her sister Minerva's intended, Lord Sylvester, she developed a secret passion for him that obsessed her. Now she was determined to take him away from Minerva - no matter what! But Annabelle hadn't reckoned on Lord Sylvester's best friend, Peter, who falls in love with her and decides to tame her growing passions towards the wrong man!

Für Agatha Raisin ist es an der Zeit, ihre Tätigkeit als Hobby-Detektivin zur Profession zu machen, und sie eröffnet ihr eigenes Detektivbüro. Der erste Fall ist eine vermisste Katze. Immerhin ein Anfang, aber mit viel Luft nach oben. Als dann eine junge Frau, die eine Todesdrohung erhalten hat, beschützt werden soll, ist Agatha voll in ihrem Element. Mit diesem Auftrag nehmen allerdings auch so einige Dinge ihren Lauf, die dafür sorgen, dass Agatha in mehr als nur ein Fadenkreuz gerät.

Miss Harriet Brown, daughter of a Methodist minister, is the embodiment of propriety and Christian charity - too much so, perhaps, for her own good. The virtues Harriet possesses are far from fashionable, but the Tribble sisters feel confident their new charge will attract a worthy vicar or two before the end of the season - if first they can vanquish confirmed rake and gambler Lord Charles Marsham who seems perversely determined to woo Harriet!

When Amy and Effie Tribble, two charming but impoverished spinster sisters, lose out on an inheritance, they place an advertisement in The Morning Post and hire themselves out as professional chaperones. Vowing to prepare even the most difficult misses for marriage, the Tribble sisters will spend a London season on each client, educating them in their School for Manners. Maria Kendall is seemingly a dream client - beautiful, impeccably mannered, effortlessly graceful and extremely well dowered. In short, she doesn't seem to need the Tribbles' help at all.

Lovely, wealthy and well bred, Clarissa Vevian has been unable to find a suitable husband because of her terrible clumsiness. Her petite and fastidious mother has tried to mould Clarissa into a dainty miss to fit the fashion - but all her efforts are doomed to failure. And when Clarissa enters the Tribble sister's home, they fear that their reputation for matchmaking success may be destroyed - along with their carpets and furniture!

Stunningly beautiful, the dazzling Delilah has had plenty of marriage proposals but having once been spurned by Sir Charles Digby, the only man she has ever loved, she is now a hardened heartbreaker who toys with all her suitors. And so it is up to the eccentric Tribble sisters to teach her the meaning of true love again.

Arranging a season for an unruly young lady whose habit was to enter drawing rooms by sliding down banisters presented a challenge at best - especially since the hoydenish Mira had a sister of incomparable grace and beauty. Mira wasn't daunted at all by the local society and its ridiculous marriage mart. Her heart belonged to Lord Charles, who had been the object of her dreams ever since she was a child. Alas, Charles had eyes only for her ever-perfect sister, Drusilla.

L’agenzia investigativa ha poco da investigare e Agatha Raisin si annoia. È quindi con fin troppo entusiasmo che accetta l’invito di James Lacey, il mai dimenticato ex marito, a trascorrere una vacanza in una destinazione a sorpresa. Peccato che, ad attenderla, non ci sia un romantico hotel affacciato sul Mediterraneo, ma lo squallido e decrepito Hotel Palace di Snoth-On-Sea, nel Sussex, in cui James ha trascorso le estati della sua infanzia.

L’idea della felicità coniugale è rimasta una chimera per Agatha Raisin. Il matrimonio con James Lacey è stato un disastro fin dall’inizio e, alla fine, lui l’ha lasciata… per entrare in monastero. E, per consolarsi, Agatha non ha potuto contare sul suo vecchio amico sir Charles Fraith, perché anche lui, in un certo senso, l’ha abbandonata, dato che è andato a Parigi per sposare una giovane francese.

Dopo l’abbandono del marito James – che l’ha lasciata per entrare in monastero – Agatha Raisin ha toccato il fondo della tristezza e non si preoccupa neppure di quello che gli altri pensano di lei, quando la vedono senza trucco, infagottata in informi camicioni e con indosso le – prima aborrite – scarpe ortopediche. Ma c’è una luce in fondo al tunnel e ha pure un nome: Tristan Delon. È il nuovo curato di Carseley ed è a dir poco affascinante: capelli biondi, grandi occhi azzurri, bocca perfetta, fisico atletico… In più, dimostra un sincero interesse proprio per Agatha.

Di ritorno da lungo soggiorno a Londra, Agatha Raisin viene accolta da piogge torrenziali e da un torrente di... noia. Per fortuna il suo nuovo vicino, Paul Chatterton, non solo è (quasi) irresistibilmente affascinante, ma le propone anche un caso quantomeno insolito: sinistri sussurri, un rumore di passi e una gelida nebbia bianca sembrano infatti aver invaso il cottage della signora Witherspoon, benché la perquisizione della polizia non abbia rilevato nulla di insolito.

Non è che una piccola agenzia investigativa possa sempre ambire a occuparsi di casi importanti o sensazionali. Per sopravvivere, talvolta bisogna accontentarsi e quindi Agatha deve accettare l’incarico che le affida il ricco e arrogante Robert Smedley, convinto che sua moglie Mabel lo tradisca, benché Agatha detesti occuparsi di divorzi e sebbene Mabel sembri davvero una moglie perfetta, un autentico modello di virtù.