AGATHA RAISIN: SOMETHING BORROWED, SOMEONE DEAD

By M C Beaton

Synopsis

Gloria French is at first welcomed in the Cotswold village of Piddlebury. She seems like a do-gooder par excellence, raising funds for the church and caring for the elderly. But she has a bad habit of borrowing things and not giving them back, so when she is discovered dead, poisoned by a bottle of elderberry wine, folk in the village don't mourn her passing too intently. Parish councillor Jerry Tarrant hires Agatha Raisin to track down the murderer. But the village is creepy and secretive and the residents don't seem to want Agatha to succeed.

Sample Player

Narrator	Kay Morrison
Length	7hrs
Catalogue No.	14870
Publisher	Constable; 2017

Other audiobooks by M C Beaton

AGATHA RAISIN AND THE BUSY BODY

Agatha Raisin has never been one for enforced holiday cheer, but her friendly little village of Carsely has always prided itself on its traditional Christmas festivities. Then Mr John Sunday, an officer with the Cotswold Health and Safety Board, goes too far when he rules that there cannot be a Christmas tree atop the church tower this year.

AGATHA RAISIN AND THE DEAD RINGER

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AGATHA RAISIN AND THE DEADLY DANCE

When wealthy divorcée, Catherine Laggat-Brown walks in, Agatha gets her first real case. Death threats, blackmail and physical attack soon follow, and once again Agatha is off scouring the countryside for clues and showing friends and enemies alike what Raisin Investigations can do.

AGATHA RAISIN AND THE FAIRIES OF FRYFAM

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AGATHA RAISIN AND THE MURDEROUS MARRIAGE

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AGATHA RAISIN AND THE POTTED GARDENER

Mary Forunte is quite superior in every way, and has even ensconced herself in the affections of Agatha Raisin's neighbour, an eligible bachelor. When Mary is murdered and found buried upside down in a plant pot, Agatha seizes the moment to dig up village secrets. But is this wise?

AGATHA RAISIN AND THE QUICHE OF DEATH

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AGATHA RAISIN AND THE TERRIBLE TOURIST

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AGATHA RAISIN AND THE VICIOUS VET

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AGATHA RAISIN AND THE WALKERS OF DEMBLEY

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AGATHA RAISIN AND THE WELLSPRING OF DEATH

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AGATHA RAISIN: HISS AND HERS

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AGATHA RAISIN: THERE GOES THE BRIDE

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ANIMATING MARIA

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BEATING ABOUT THE BUSH

Private Detective Agatha Raisin returns for her 30th mystery. She is employed to investigate a case of industrial espionage at a factory where nothing is quite what it seems. The factory mystery soon turns to murder and a bad-tempered donkey turns Agatha into a national celebrity, before bringing her ridicule and shame. To add to her woes, Agatha finds herself grappling with growing feelings for her friend and occasional lover, Sir Charles Fraith. As a possible solution to the factory murder unfolds, her own life is thrown into deadly peril.

BELINDA GOES TO BATH

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. 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.

DEATH OF A CAD

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DEATH OF A CELEBRITY

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DEATH OF A GENTLE LADY

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DEATH OF A PERFECT WIFE

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DEATH OF A SNOB

PC Hamish Macbeth is enjoying a holiday at a health farm on the Isle of Eileencraig, when one of the guests is found dead at the foot of a cliff. Who pushed her, and why?

DECEPTION

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EMILY GOES TO EXETER

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ENLIGHTENING DELILAH

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FINESSING CLARISSA

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

FOLLY

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HASTY DEATH

Longing for a life of emancipation, Lady Rose Summer has abandoned the comforts of her parent's house to become self supporting. But when old acquaintance, Freddy Pomfret, is murdered, her help - and upper class connections - are required by amateur sleuth Captain Harry Cathcart. So as Rose and Harry prepare to take on the usual Edwardian social rounds, they uncover a devious blackmail plot and an unexpected killer.

A HIGHLAND CHRISTMAS

In dark, wintry Lochdubh, Christmas Cheer is about as welcome as a flat tyre on a deserted road. The Calvinist element in town has always resisted what they view as secular frivolity, so for most of the townsfolk there'll be no carols, feasting, gifts - or even whisky on Christmas Day! And for PC Hamish Macbeth there's no holiday from crime - he finds himself hunting for a missing cat belonging to a lonely spinster. Curt and unfriendly, the woman is convinced her pet has been stolen but once behind her heavily-bolted door, Hamish can spot her true problem - she lives in fear, though of who or what he cannot guess. Then someone steals a Christmas tree and lights from the nearby village of Cnothan. So it is up to Hamish to sort all these problems out - and he had better do it quickly, for the church bells will soon peal on the eve of Christmas. This one-off standalone story is a special Christmas treat for all fans of Hamish Macbeth and can be read at any point in the ongoing series.

HOT TO TROT

Private Detective Agatha Raisin immerses herself in the glittering lifestyle of the fabulously wealthy when Sir Charles Fraith is accused of murder - and Agatha is named as his accomplice! A high-society wedding, a glitzy masked ball, and an introduction to the world of international show-jumping where the riders are glamorous, the horses are beautiful, and intrigue runs deep, leave Agatha with a list of suspects as long as a stallion's tail.

INTRIGUE

Mannerling, the splendid family estate gambled away by Sir Beverley, remains the passion of his daughters. Beverley himself has died; the eldest daughter, Isabella - having failed in her bid to reclaim the family home - is blissfully wed. The mantle of saviour now falls to the next eldest daughter, Jessica and as scandal and intrigue swirl around her, Jessica must discover where the heart finds true happiness. . . .

LADY FORTESCUE STEPS OUT

Tired of being a poor relation to England's upper crust, Lady Fortescue persuades the equally down-and-out Colonel Sandhurst to help her open a posh hotel. The establishment is an immediate hit with London's most illustrious citizens, save the Duke of Rowcester, Lady Fortescue's nephew. He believes that his aunt's entry into the trade will denigrate their family name, and is determined to shut the hotel down.

LADY MARGERY'S INTRIGUE

At age 23, Lady Margery has graced the rows of wallflowers for many a season. When her father is forced into bankruptcy by his child-bride's lust for luxury, Margery launches an all-out, military-like campaign to ensnare herself a wealthy husband and save her ancestral family home. Everything seems to be going according to plan until an unforeseen intervention sabotages Margery's plan, giving her a run for her money.

THE MARQUIS TAKES A BRIDE

Miss Jennie Bemyss was in a position that any intelligent young lady would envy. The wealthy Marquis of Charrington has proposed a marriage of convenience, and the handsome Guy Chalmers, whom she has loved since childhood, proposed to aid her in enjoying her freedom to the fullest. Why, then, did she feel so confused?

MARRYING HARRIET

Miss Harriet Brown, daughter of a Methodist minister, is the embodiment of propriety and Christian charity. 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!

OUR LADY OF PAIN

Lady Rose Summer prides herself on not being a jealous woman and she knows her engagement to Captain Harry Cathcart is only a ruse to keep her parents from shipping her off to India to find a husband. But then Harry's latest client, Dolores Duval starts appearing everywhere at his side. And that changes everything. In a fit of temper Rose threatens Dolores - only to be found the very next day standing over her dead body. Only Harry can clear Rose's name - and to do that he has to put the real murderer behind bars. Book 4 of the Edwardian Murder Mysteries.

PERFECTING FIONA

Fiona has been sent to the School For Manners by her guardians as a last resort, for at nineteen, the beautiful Scottish heiress still has no prospect of a suitable marriage. The Tribble sisters are puzzled, however, by their charge's demure perfection, until they take her to her first ball - and discover she is an incorrigible flirt! And when Fiona betrays her real feelings ... so the sisters are forced to confront the truth about her past!

REFINING FELICITY

When Amy and Effie Tribble, two charming but impoverished spinster sisters, lose out on an inheritance, they decide to hire themselves out as professional chaperones, vowing to prepare even the most difficult misses for marriage. But Felicity Baronsheath, their first assignment, turns out to be more of a challenge than they could have ever imagined, and the Tribbles begin to fear that her season - and their new business venture - will end in disaster.

SICK OF SHADOWS

It would seem that even a pretend engagement cannot keep Lady Rose Summer from trouble. She befriends Dolly Tremaine, a beautiful young girl newly arrived from the country and overwhelmed by the demands of the Season. Their friendship is cut tragically short, however, when Dolly is found dead in the river. Rose immediately summons her fiance, Captain Harry Cathcart, to help solve the mystery of Dolly's death.

SNOBBERY WITH VIOLENCE

Lady Rose Summers' debut season is a disaster. Her father believes that her fiance is a complete scoundrel and asks Captain Harry Cathcart to investigate. After the suspicious death of a malicious guest Rose is much more interested in working with Harry to discover the truth, than landing a more appropriate suitor.

THE WESTERBY INHERITANCE

Lady Jane Lovelace has conceived the idea of approaching the most notorious man about town, Lord Charles Welbourne, with a most unique proposition. But when he counters her offer with a condition that he thinks will halt her impudence, much to the surprise of both, she accepts. The Westerby Inheritance is set against a backdrop of elegant eighteenth century society.