Featured Author -- February 2020 -- MC Beaton

[Heather L , Cozy Mysteries Moderator]

Our featured author for February is Marion Chesney, better known as cozy mystery writer M.C. Beaton.

Marion Gibbons (née Chesney; 10 June 1936 – 30 December 2019), a Scottish writer and journalist, was the senior woman reporter at the Daily Express before she turned to writing romance and mysteries in the late 1970s. She started writing fiction in middle age because “there was nothing in between Mills & Boon and Booker books. No books for a bad time on a wet day”.

She wrote numerous successful historical romance novels under a form of her maiden name, Marion Chesney, including the Travelling Matchmaker and Daughters of Mannerling series. She made her debut with My Dear Duchess (1979), published under the pen name Ann Fairfax. It was the first of some 150 historical romances in the Georgette Heyer mode that appeared under either her own name or one of half a dozen noms de plume.

Her first book as M. C. Beaton was Death of a Gossip (1985). It introduced Hamish Macbeth, the village constable of the fictional Lochdubh in northern Scotland, whose main ambition in life – to avoid promotion – is frequently endangered by his knack for solving murders.

Using the pseudonym M. C. Beaton, she also wrote the popular Agatha Raisin mystery series. Both the Hamish MacBeth and Agatha Raisin book series have been adapted for TV. She also wrote romance novels under the pseudonyms Ann Fairfax, Jennie Tremaine, Helen Crampton, Charlotte Ward, and Sarah Chester.

You can read a full obituary for Marion Chesney here.


HAMISH MacBETH SERIES:

01. Death of a Gossip
02. Death of a Cad
03. Death of an Outsider
04. Death of a Perfect Wife
05. Death of a Hussy
06. Death of a Snob
07. Death of a Prankster
08. Death of a Glutton (APA Death of a Greedy Woman)
09. Death of a Travelling Man
10. Death of a Charming Man

11. Death of a Nag
12. Death of a Macho Man
13. Death of a Dentist
14. Death of a Scriptwriter
15. Death of an Addict
16. Death of a Dustman
17. Death of a Celebrity
18. Death of a Village
19. Death of a Poison Pen
20. Death of a Bore

21. Death of a Dreamer
22. Death of a Maid
23. Death of a Gentle Lady
24. Death of a Witch
25. Death of a Valentine
26. Death of a Chimney Sweep
27. Death of a Kingfisher
28. Death of Yesterday
29. Death of a Policeman
30. Death of a Liar

31. Death of a Nurse
32. Death of a Ghost
33. Death of an Honest Man
34. Death of a Love (HC/Feb 6, 2020)

Companion Books:

01. A Highland Christmas
02. Knock, Knock, You're Dead!: A Hamish Macbeth Short Story (short story ebook)


AGATHA RAISIN SERIES:

01. The Quiche of Death
02. The Vicious Vet
03. Agatha Raisin and the Potted Gardener
04. Agatha Raisin and the Walkers of Dembley
05. Agatha Raisin and the Murderous Marriage
06. Agatha Raisin and the Terrible Tourist
07. Agatha Raisin and the Wellspring of Death
08. Agatha Raisin and the Wizard of Evesham
09. Agatha Raisin and the Witch of Wyckhadden
10. Agatha Raisin and the Fairies of Fryfam

11. Agatha Raisin and the Love from Hell
12. Agatha Raisin and the Day the Floods Came
13. Agatha Raisin and the Case of the Curious Curate
14. Agatha Raisin and the Haunted House
15. The Deadly Dance
16. The Perfect Paragon
17. Love, Lies and Liquor
18. Kissing Christmas Goodbye
19. A Spoonful of Poison
20. There Goes the Bride

21. Agatha Raisin and the Busy Body
22. As the Pig Turns
23. Hiss and Hers
24. Something Borrowed, Someone Dead
25. The Blood of an Englishman
26. Dishing the Dirt
27. Pushing up Daisies
28. The Witches' Tree
29. Agatha Raisin and the Dead Ringer
30. Beating About the Bush

31. Hot to Trot (HC/Nov 23, 2020)

Companion books:

01. Christmas Crumble
02. Agatha Raisin: Hell's Bells
03. Agatha's First Case: An Agatha Raisin Mystery
04. The Agatha Raisin Companion


WRITING UNDER OTHER NAMES:

* Marion Chesney
* Ann Fairfax
* Jennie Tremaine
* Helen Crampton
* Charlotte Ward
* Sarah Chester

[Heather L , Cozy Mysteries Moderator]

As always, please remember to use the “spoiler” tag (see “some html is ok”), so as not to ruin any plots for other readers.

Thank you!

[Nell]

Next month I will pick up where I left off with the Hamish Macbeth series at #13 - Death of a Dentist

[Lynn]

Death of a Gossip has been on my list for a while. Looks like it's moving to the top of the list now.

[Sallie(GeorgiaGirl)]

I will start with Agatha Raisin and read and I will try to start the Hamish MacBeth series as well with

[Heather L , Cozy Mysteries Moderator]

Finished Agatha Raisin and the Potted Gardener this evening. I thought this was a pretty good mystery. Agatha annoyed me a lot less than she did in the first two books.

[Cherry]

Heather L wrote: "Finished Agatha Raisin and the Potted Gardener this evening. I thought this was a pretty good mystery. Agatha annoyed me a lot less than she did in the first two books."

LOL. I find her a bit aggravating too but I usually enjoy them in the end.

[Meg]

Agatha Raisin and the Wizard of Evesham was my first read of February and she made me laugh as always.

I haven't religiously read the series in order so am going back to where I left off in the past. I already have the next two in the TBR.

[Gary]

Read Death of a Cad late last month. The Walkers of Dembley is up next in my read of the Agatha Raisin series.

[Alice]

I finished Death of a Gossip It is book 1 in the Hamish McBeth series. Truthfully it was just okay for me. I know a lot of folks love this series, but I thought it was just a bit boring.

[Icewineanne]

Loved Death of a Gossip. Read the first 3 in the series, looking forward to 😊

[Lina]

Gary wrote: "Read Death of a Cad late last month. The Walkers of Dembley is up next in my read of ..."

The Walkers of Dembley - that's the one where I always drop the series. Agatha is a fascinating non-likeable character I've grown to like but that particular book just doesn't work for me. Everybody is annoying and for me it becomes too much. Would love to hear your opinion. I'll get the next one (murderous marriage sounds great) and see if that sticks with me. And thanks for featuring MC. Beaton - I didn't even know she had died.