Life is never, ever dull in Agatha Raisin's sleepy Cotswolds village!

Agatha Raisin's private detective agency is working flat out on a series of burglaries which take a violent turn when a friend of Agatha's is murdered during a raid on his antiques shop. Although determined to nail the villains, Agatha still makes time to help Sir Charles Fraith prepare to stage a massive, hugely glamorous event in the grounds of his ancestral home, Barfield House.

When Agatha begins to receive death threats she escapes to Majorca to lie low for a while. There she meets her partner who is working as a dance instructor on a cruise liner. Their relationship founders over John's closeness to his stage dance partner, so putting her love life on hold, Agatha heads home.

Can Agatha track down the would-be killer, nail her friend's murderers and rescue her romance with John?

'Every new Agatha Raisin escapade is a total joy' Ashley Jensen

'No wonder she's been crowned Queen of Cosy Crime' Mail on Sunday

'A Beaton novel is like The Archers on speed' Daily Mail

'The detective novels of M C Beaton have reached cult status' The Times