Allotment wars!
Lord Bellington, Carsely's biggest landholder, has enraged locals by saying he is going to sell off their allotments to make way for a new housing development. So when he turns up dead, poisoned by antifreeze, nobody mourns his passing.
On another fine summer's day Agatha visits Carsley's allotments where everything looks peaceful and perfect: people of all ages digging in the soil and working hard to grow their own fruit and veg. Agatha feels almost tempted to take on a strip herself . . . but common sense soon prevails. She doesn't really like getting her hands dirty.
She is introduced to three oldtimers who have just taken over a new strip; Harry Perry, Bunty Daventry and Josephine Merriweather are lamenting the neglected condition of the patch. But as Harry starts to shovel through the weeds and grass his spade comes across something hard so he bends down and tries to move the object. And then he starts to yell . . .
The body is that of Peta Currie, a newcomer to the village - but who would want to murder her? Blonde and beautiful she's every local male's favourite. And then Lord Bellingham's son engages Agatha to do some digging of her own and very soon Agatha is thrown into a world of petty feuds, jealousies and disputes over land. It would seem that far from being tiny gardens of Eden, Carsley's allotments are local battlefields where passions - and the bodycount - run high!
Praise for the Agatha Raisin series:
'Sharp, witty, hugely intelligent, unfailingly entertaining, delightfully intolerant and oh so magnificently non-PC, M.C. Beaton has created a national treasure' Anne Robinson
'M.C. Beaton's imperfect heroine is an absolute gem' Publishers Weekly
'The Miss Marple-like Raisin is a refreshing, sensible, wonderfully eccentric, thoroughly likeable heroine' Booklist
The page-turning new mystery in the bestselling
Hamish Macbeth series set in the Scottish highlands
All Hamish Macbeth ever really wants is a quiet life in the peaceful surroundings of his home in the Highland village of Lochdubh. Unfortunately for him, the time he would normally find most relaxing, after the tourists have gone and before the winter sets in, turns out to be far from peaceful.
The new love in his life, Claire, is keen for them to take a holiday and Hamish is mulling over the idea when his newly-assigned constable arrives, presenting Hamish with both a surprise and a secret. Getting to the bottom of the secret becomes the least of Hamish's problems when, at the opening of the revamped village pub, he meets a family who have a score to settle with a sinister man who has mysteriously gone missing. Discovering a murdered woman's body puts further pressure on Hamish, especially when it becomes clear that the murdered woman and the missing man were linked, although their true identities become yet another mystery.
To Hamish's horror, he then finds himself working on the murder case with the despicable Detective Chief Inspector Blair, his sworn enemy, who has been drafted in under curious circumstances. With a growing list of suspects, ever more bewildering circumstances and Blair hindering him at every turn, Hamish must find the murderer before anyone else falls victim.
Never has a quiet life seemed further from his grasp!
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Praise for the Hamish Macbeth series . . .
'It's always a treat to return to Lochdubh' New York Times
'Unmissable!' Peterborough Telegraph
'First rate ... deft social comedy and wonderfully realized atmosphere' Booklist
'Beaton catches the beauty of the area's natural geography and succinctly describes its distinct flavour' Library Journal
'Befuddled, earnest and utterly endearing, Hamish makes his triumphs sweetly satisfying' Publishers Weekly
M.C. Beaton
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