Are you a fan of cozy mystery books ? then you ’ re going to love these M.C. Beaton novels. M.C. Beaton is one of many pen names for the scottish writer Marion Gibbons ( née Chesney ), a fecund writer of romance and mystery novels. Under the name M.C. Beaton, this generator wrote over 100 cozy mysteries in her life. many of these novels feature the detectives Agatha Raisin or Hamish Macbeth. And if you ’ re a fan of romanticism, M.C. Beaton throws a little spot of that in these books besides. But with so many M.C. Beaton books to choose from, where on earth do you start ? here are the acme ten best M.C. Beaton books, great for first-time readers and longtime fans of the cozy mystery writer .
Death of a Gossip
death of a Gossip is the first book in M.C. Beaton ’ s Hamish Macbeth serial. Society widow and tabloid reporter Lady Jane Winter ’ s body has just been pulled out of the river. now Hamish Macbeth, a patrol officer in the scots Highlands distant village of Lochdubh, must figure out who was provoked adequate to kill this womanhood. Jane Winter exposed so many people ’ s guilty secrets, so there is a long tilt of suspects.
The Quiche of Death
In this book, we meet Agatha Raisin, an amateurish spy who gives up her PR fast to live a quiet life in the Cotswold village of Carsely. But the township international relations and security network ’ t arsenic passive as it beginning appears. Looking for a bit of playfulness, Raisin enters her quiche into the greenwich village ’ s local anesthetic bake contest, but to Agatha ’ s storm and dismay, Judge Cummings-Browne falls over dead. apparently Agatha ’ s quiche was poisoned !
Death of a Cad
We return to the universe of Hamish Macbeth for the future M.C. Beaton novel on this list. The entire town of Lochdubh is thrilled to meet Priscilla Halburton-Smythe ’ s London dramatist fiancé, whom she is ultimately bringing home to meet everyone. Wait, did I say the stallion town ? There ’ s one person who isn ’ deoxythymidine monophosphate indeed thrilled about Priscilla ’ second engagement… and that would be Hamish Macbeth. But when one of the guests at Priscilla ’ s date party is murdered, everything is shaken up. And now Hamish will have to solve a mangle while besides getting Priscilla out of this atrocious engagement .
Death of a Liar
For this following read, let ’ s pop ahead a few books in the Hamish Macbeth series. This is the thirtieth book in the series, because a fantastic thing about these cozy mysteries is that they ’ ra episodic enough that you can skip around in the books and still enjoy them. In Death of a Liar, Hamish Macbeth receives word that a charwoman in the small greenwich village of Cronish in the scots Highlands has been viciously attacked, and her attacker is still on the loose. But is this womanhood being wholly truthful about what happened to her ?
Knock, Knock, You’re Dead!
here ’ s a short circuit story that comes adjacent in the Hamish Macbeth series after Death of a Liar. This story starts innocently enough. Mrs. Morag McPhie decides she wants to sell her previous furniture to raise money so she can visit her daughter who lives all the way in Australia. But then a dead soundbox turns up, and Hamish has the clues to solve the case .
Death of a Nurse
Let ’ s have a little more Hamish Macbeth ! New people have moved to the township of Sutherland, James Harrison and his private breastfeed Gloria Dainty. When Hamish tries to pay them a visit to welcome them to the neighborhood, he finds that James Harrison is uncivil, while Gloria Dainty is… beautiful and alluring. Wanting to get to know Gloria a little better, Hamish invites her to dinner. But on the nox of their date, she never arrives. Four days subsequently, Gloria ’ s body washes up on the beach, and Hamish has a fresh murder mystery on his hands.
Read more: 15 Mystery Series That’ll Keep You Guessing
Death of a Ghost
There are so many fantastic Hamish Macbeth novels to choose from, so let ’ s keep the ball rolling with the future book in the Hamish Macbeth series, Death of a Ghost. In this novel, Hamish investigates a haunted castle near Drim with the help of his policeman, Charlie “ Clumsy ” Carson. Hamish is sealed the spill the beans of hauntings are probably equitable teenagers goofing about, but then Hamish and Charlie find something refer in the basement : a all in soundbox propped against a wall .
Death of an Honest Man
This is the survive Hamish Macbeth fresh in the series, and it ’ s the final one that will make this list of the best M.C. Beaton books. however, if you need more Hamish Macbeth books, please know there are plenty more where these came from. so here ’ s what Death of an Honest man is about. Newcomer Paul English loves to be honest. To a mistake. He tells the minister at the church in Lochdubh that his sermons were boring. He calls Mrs. Wellington fatness. He tells Angela Brody that her mystery novels are a waste of prison term and that she should focus on real literature. Is it in truth surprising that that type of honesty got Paul killed ?
The Vicious Vet
For the final two books on this number, we return to amateur spy Agatha Raisin. Everyone in town is enamored with the fine-looking veterinarian Paul Bladen, including Agatha herself. then, in a shock spin, Dr. Bladen is incidentally injected with a blast mean for a knight, and he dies instantaneously. Or was it an accident ? Agatha Raisin international relations and security network ’ t sol certain .
The Potted Gardener
In the third book in M.C. Beaton ’ s Agatha Raisin series, Agatha returns home to find that her big neighbor James Lacey has become involved with an attractive newcomer, Mary Fortune. Agatha is besides romantically concern in her neighbor, so she immediately compares herself to this new woman and finds herself lacking in every direction. particularly when it comes to garden. The only way for Agatha to prove her superiority would be to have another murder mystery to solve. Luckily for Agatha, nothing in Carsely stays steady for long…
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Emily Martin earned her ph at the University of Southern Mississippi. She besides works as a subscriber for Book Riot and as a blogger/podcaster at Book Squad Goals .
