Synopses & Reviews
An irresistible new adventure for the bossy, vain, and endearing Agatha Raisin, from New York Times bestselling M.C. Beaton, "the reigning queen of the cozies" (Booklist).Winter Parva is a “picturesque” (touristy) Cotswold village with gift shops, a medieval market hall, and thatched cottages. After a disappointing Christmas season, the parish council has decided to hold a special event in January, complete with old-fashioned costumes, morris dancing, and a pig roast on the village green.
Always one for a good roasting, Agatha Raisin organizes an outing to enjoy the merriment. The rotary spit turning over a bed of blazing charcoals is sure to please on this foggy and blistery evening. But as the fog lifts slightly, the sharp-eyed Agatha notices something peculiar about the pig: a tattoo of a heart with an arrow through it and the name Amy.
“Stop!” she screams suddenly. “Pigs dont have tattoos.”
The “pig,” in fact, is Gary Beech, a policeman not exactly beloved by the locals, including Agatha herself. Although Agatha has every intention of leaving matters to the police, everything changes when the Garys ex-wife, Amy, hires Agathas detective agency to investigate—and another murder ensues. With that provocation, how could any sleuth as vain and competitive (and secretly insecure) as Agatha do anything other than solve the case herself?
Review
CRITICS HAIL AGATHA RAISIN AND M. C. BEATON!
“Tourists are advised to watch their backs in the bucolic villages where M. C. Beaton sets her sly British mysteries...Outsiders always spell trouble for the societies Beaton observes with such cynical humor.”—The New York Times Book Review
“[Beatons] imperfect heroine is an absolute gem!”—Publishers Weekly
“Beatons Agatha Raisin series just about defines the British cozy.”—Booklist
“Anyone interested in...intelligent, amusing reading will want to make the acquaintance of Mrs. Agatha Raisin.”—Atlanta Journal Constitution
“Beaton has a winner in the irrepressible, romance-hungry Agatha.”—Chicago Sun-Times
“Few things in life are more satisfying than to discover a brand-new Agatha Raisin mystery.”—Tampa Tribune Times
“The Raisin series brings the cozy tradition back to life. God bless the Queen!”—Tulsa World
“The Miss Marple-like Raisin is a refreshingly sensible, wonderfully eccentric, thoroughly likable heroine...a must for cozy fans.”—Booklist
AS THE PIG TURNS
“Beaton has written a pleasantly twisty cozy for the holidays.”—RT Book Reviews
“Its been said of Agatha Christie that shes given more pleasure in bed than any other woman, but M.C. Beaton is matching her as a prolific purveyor of cosy whodunits perfect for pre-lights out reading…like Midsomer Murders with wit and a bit of edge.”—The Daily Telegraph (UK)
“Hilarious…Beaton's legion of fans will most definitely enjoy her latest Agatha Raisin mystery, As the Pig Turns. Newcomers to the series will be pleasantly surprised by this unique cozy.” —Gumshoe Reviews
BUSY BODY
“M. C. Beaton has a foolproof plot for the village mystery.”—The New York Times Book Review
“Beaton does a brilliant job.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“Agatha scores again with a cunning mix of satire and mystery.”—Kirkus Reviews
Synopsis
An irresistible new adventure for the bossy, vain, and endearing Agatha Raisin, from New York Times bestselling M.C. Beaton, "the reigning queen of the cozies" (Booklist).The picturesque Cotwsold village of Winter Parva has decided to warm the winter months after the holidays by roasting a pig in the town square. Agatha, always one for a good roasting, has arrived with her former protegée and current rival in the private detection racket, Toni, to enjoy the merriment. But as the rotary spit is placed over a bed of fiery charcoals and the pig is carried toward its final resting place, Agatha realizes that things are not as they seem....
“Stop!” she screams suddenly.
The "pig," in fact, is Gary Beech, a policeman not exactly beloved by the good people of the village. Although Agatha has every intention of leaving matters to the police, everything changes when Gary's ex-wife hires Toni to investigate. With that provocation, how could any sleuth as obviously vain and competitive (and secretly insecure) as Agatha could do anything other than solve the case herself?
Synopsis
This little piggy went to investigate…
After a disappointing Christmas season, the touristy Cotswold town of Winter Parva is upping the stakes with an old-fashioned pig roast, complete with music, merriment, and medieval Morris-dancing. Always one for a good roasting, Agatha Raisin is looking forward to the event, especially after a heated dispute over a traffic ticket has her picturing a certain boorish cop turning on the spit. But when the big night arrives—and the smoke clears—Agatha notices that the slow-roasting “pig” has a tattoo with the name Amy on it. Its the body of the policeman who had Agatha all fired up. And now his ex-wife Amy wants her to find the butcher who did the deed—and solve a murder thats disturbingly well done...
“Who but Agatha Raisin could spot such an unusual method of
disposing of a body?” —Kirkus Reviews
“I laughed out loud…hilarious.” —Gumshoe Reviews
“Once you meet Agatha Raisin, youll keep coming back.”
—New York Journal of Books
Synopsis
M.C. Beaton
As the Pig Turns
This little piggy went to investigate…
After a disappointing Christmas season, the touristy Cotswold town of Winter Parva is upping the stakes with an old-fashioned pig roast, complete with music, merriment, and medieval Morris-dancing. Always one for a good roasting, Agatha Raisin is looking forward to the event, especially after a heated dispute over a traffic ticket has her picturing a certain boorish cop turning on the spit. But when the big night arrives—and the smoke clears—Agatha notices that the slow-roasting “pig” has a tattoo with the name Amy on it. Its the body of the policeman who had Agatha all fired up. And now his ex-wife Amy wants her to find the butcher who did the deed—and solve a murder thats disturbingly well done...
About the Author
M. C. BEATON is the pen name of Marion Chesney, known primarily for the more than 100 historical romance novels she has published under her own name and under several pseudonyms: Helen Crampton, Ann Fairfax, Jennie Tremaine, and Charlotte Ward. M.C. Beaton is the pseudonym she reserves for her New York Times bestselling Agatha Raisin mysteries, and her Hamish Macbeth series. Born in Glasgow, Scotland, in 1936, Marion Chesney has worked as a fiction buyer for a bookseller, as women's fashion magazine editor, and as a reporter and theater critic. Like her amateur sleuth Agatha Raisin, Chesney lives in a cottage in the English Cotswolds.