Agatha Raisin Mysteries

Plant one retired PR exec in a sleepy village and wait for murders to sprout! Agatha Raisin’s busybody adventures make delightful listening.

After a high-powered PR career in London, Agatha Raisin sets out to ease into middle age in a Cotswold village. Gardening, mooning over her handsome neighbor, James Lacey - such pursuits keep her occupied in between solving perplexing murders. In these cozy mysteries, M. C. Beaton presents an endearing amateur sleuth who gets herself into hilarious-yet-mostly-plausible, deadly situations. Agatha’s busybody nature makes her a beloved figure to some, and an irritating pest to others. Her friends - Mrs. Bloxby (the vicar’s wife), flamboyant Londoner Roy Silver, and English-Chinese cop Bill Wong - add to the fun.

Vivacious Penelope Keith is perfectly cast as the voice of Agatha Raisin. The narrator zestfully presents the assertive, perceptive, 50-something, crime-solving Agatha. Keith also brings a huge, eclectic cast of supporting players - neighbors, friends, love interests, and suspects - fully to life, making each engaging and distinct, and vividly evokes the sleepy Cotswold village setting.

In addition to her Agatha Raisin mysteries, M. C. Beaton has won international acclaim for her best-selling Hamish Macbeth mysteries. She is also the author of more than 100 romance titles and a series of romantic suspense, The Edwardian Mystery Series.

Listeners might kick off this long and engaging series with "Agatha's First Case," a short story that illuminates her background and decision to leave PR for village life. The mysteries inspired the British-made, Acorn TV series Agatha Raisin.