M C Beaton Books

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M C Beaton is a pseudonym used by prolific and popular British romance, mystery and crime fiction writer, Marion Chesney. She was born in 1936 in Glasgow, Scotland. She is married to Middle East Correspondent – Harry Scott Gibbons and has a son called Charles Gibbons. She has worked in several places such as John Smith & Sons Ltd as a book seller in the fiction department, Scottish Daily Mail as theatre critic, Scottish Daily Express as a crime reporter and Fleet Street as a journalist. Currently, she currently divides her time between Paris and Cotswolds, where she and her husband live in a small village.

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After the birth of her son Charles to her husband Harry Scott Gibbons, the family moved to the United States when her husband took a job as the editor of the Oyster Bay Guardian. From there, the two of them would go on to work at Rupert Murdoch’s start-up tabloid called The Star. They lived in New York at this time, but Marion’s time with The Star wouldn’t last long as she wanted to spend more time at home with her second child, Marion.

This is when she began writing Recency Romance novels at an incredible pace to support her working from home. She wrote close to 100 historical romance novels under her maiden name, Marion Chesney. Writing about the 1811-1820 period of time can get old though, especially when you write so many novels of the time period and she deicided to start writing detective stories under the pseudonym M C Beaton. These stories would be what took her to another level of writing success.

Her characters have been inspired by her surroundings in a lot of ways. A course at a fishing school in Sutherland on holiday inspired her first Hamish Macbeth story. A move to Cotswolds helped create the character of Agatha Raisin. She has used many pseudonyms throughout her career including Ann Fairfax, Jennie Tramaine, Charlotte Ward and Helen Crampton, but in the US and abroad M. C. Beaton is used most often as that is the most successful of her names.

M C Beaton has been writing since 1979, and has authored several successful novels including the Hamish Macbeth and the Agatha Raisin mystery series. Beaton’s Agatha Raisin series consists of over 25 mystery novels written from 1992 onwards. It depicts the character of Agatha Raisin as a retired public relations agent who moves from London to Cotswolds and strives hard to solve the mystery murders around her.

The Hamish Macbeth series on the other hand follows Hamish Macbeth, a fictional village police officer who uses his wit to solve crimes in his town, and occasionally bend the rules to suit him or his friends. The series has more than 30 books written from 1985 onwards.

M C BEATON AWARDS

M C Beaton’s long and outstanding writing career has not gone without being noticed. In 1986, she won the Romantic Times Award for Outstanding Regency Series Writer. She has also won international acclaim for her New York best selling Agatha Raisin series and the Hamish Macbeth series.

M C BEATON BOOKS INTO MOVIES

M C Beaton’s novel – Agatha Raisin and the Quiche of Death from the Agatha Raisin book series, was adapted into an eight-episode comedy drama and aired on Sky1 starting Dec. 2014. It stars actress Ashley Jensen as Agatha Raisin.

The Hamish Macbeth book series was also turned into a comedy-mystery drama series and first aired in 1995 by BBC Scotland. The Hamish Macbeth TV series, which is based loosely on the book series, stars Robert Carlyle as the main character. It aired between 1995 and 1997 before the show was cancelled. The first and second seasons had 6 episodes each, while the third episode had eight episodes.

M.C. BEATON BEST BOOKS

Agatha Raisin and the Quiche of Death: This is the first novel of the Agatha Raisin mystery series. The plot is set in Cotswolds, England and revolves around the main characters’ lives – Agatha Raisin, Bill Wong, Roy Silver and James Lacey. In the novel, Agatha Raisin is introduced as a successful former PR officer who sells her apartment in London and goes to begin a new life in Carsely town. She quickly finds out that she is unable to make friends with the locals because they are very quiet. Encouraged by Bill Wong, a local bobby, she decides to join a quiche competition at the village hoping to win.

However, things take a turn for the worst when the judge at the competition dies suddenly after taking a bite of the quiche that Agatha brought with her. When she becomes the prime suspect in the murder, Agatha decides to prove herself innocent and find the judge’s real killers.

The Vicious Vet: The plot of this novel is also set in Cotswolds. In the beginning, Agatha Raisin is portrayed as a woman who is addicted to city life, and finds it very difficult to adjust to her new life in the village. Quickly, she finds herself attracted to James Lacey, a retired military officer who lives in her neighborhood. However, when she realizes that he isn’t interested in her, she quickly tries to attract the smart and good-looking vet of the town.

However, the vet is found dead a few days later next to a high strung horse. The police believe that his death was accidental, but Agatha thinks he was murdered. She together with James Lacey, work together to investigate who killed him. However, Agatha’s attempts to solve the murder, puts her life in great danger, though she is unaware of it. She has to catch the murderer as soon as she can before she becomes his next victim.

When Does The Next M.C. Beaton book come out?

M.C. Beaton doesn't seem to have an upcoming book. Their newest book is Death of a Smuggler and was released on February, 18th 2025. It is the newest book in the Hamish Macbeth Series.

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