M.C. Beaton: The Deadly Dance / Agatha Raisin and the Deadly Dance

M.C. Beaton: Agatha Raisin and the Deadly Dance (UK 2016)

From the Publisher:
There may be trouble ahead... so will Agatha face the music?
Can the feisty Agatha cut it as a private investigator? She soon learns that running her own detective agency in the Cotswolds is not quite like starring in a Raymond Chandler movie. But then in walks wealthy divorcee Catherine Laggat-Brown, and Agatha is given her first real case. Death threats, blackmail and physical attacks soon follow, and once again Agatha is off scouring the countryside for clues and showing friends and enemies alike what Raisin Investigations can do!

Praise for M.C. Beaton:
'The detective novels of M.C. Beaton, a master of outrageous black comedy, have reached cult status' -- The Times
'Agatha is like Miss Marple with a drinking problem, a pack-a-day habit and major man lust. In fact, I think she could be living my dream life' -- Entertainment Weekly

M.C. Beaton: Agatha Raisin and the Deadly Dance. Queen of the Village Mystery. Constable, ISBN: 9781472121394 (April, 2016), 280 p., £7.99.

M.C. Beaton: Agatha Raisin and the Deadly Dance (UK 2010)

'An enchanting series... M.C. Beaton has a foolproof plot for the village mystery,' -- New York Times Book Review
'Sharp, witty, hugely intelligent, unfailingly entertaining... M.C. Beaton has created a national treasure.' -- Anne Robinson
'M.C. Beaton's imperfect heroine is an absolute gem.' -- Publishers Weekly

M.C. Beaton: Agatha Raisin and the Deadly Dance. A Quick Step to Murder... Robinson, ISBN: 9781849011488 (June, 2010), 287 p., £6.99.

M.C. Beaton: Agatha Raisin and the Deadly Dance (UK 2006)

From the Publisher:
Now private eye Agatha's ready to rock and roll...
Can the feisty Agatha Raisin cut it as a private investigator? She soon learns that running her own detective agency in the Cotswolds is not quite like starring in a Raymond Chandler movie. But then in walks wealthy divorcée Catherine Laggat-Brown, and presents Agatha with her first real case.

Death threats, blackmail and worse quickly follow, and once again Agatha is off scouring the countryside for clues and showing friends and enemies alike what Raisin Investigations can do!

Praise for the Agatha Raisin series
'Compare this to lemon meringue pie: light... with a delicious hint of tartness at its heart.' -- Washington Times
'M.C. Beaton has created a national treasure.' -- Anne Robinson
'The Miss Marple-like Raisin is a refreshingly sensible, wonderfully eccentric, thoroughly likeable heroine.' -- Booklist

M.C. Beaton: Agatha Raisin and the Deadly Dance. Now a popular Radio 4 series starring Penelope Keith. Robinson, ISBN: 1845293819 (June, 2010), 287 p., £5.99.

M.C. Beaton: The Deadly Dance (USA 2006)

From the Publisher:
SHE'S OUTCLASSED, OUTMATCHED, AND OUTGUNNED...
Infuriated that her holiday was ruined by a mugging, Agatha Raisin decides to open up her own detective agency. The romance-minded sleuth is thrilled by visions of handsome fellow gumshoes and headline-making crimes -- but soon finds the only cases she can get are a non-glamorous lot of lost cats and an errant teenager. But when a wealthy divorcée hires the agency to investigate a death threat against her daughter Cassandra, Agatha thwarts a vicious attack on the heiress bride. Now Agatha is in hot pursuit of the culprit.

When the groom's father turns up dead, Agatha must untangle a growing list of suspects, from Carsely's quiet village lanes to Paris's most fashionable streets. Soon the willfully undaunted Agatha is in trouble with French and British police, on the outs (again) with old friends -- and dead in the sights of a murderer.

"Anyone interested in intelligent, amusing reading will want to make the acquaintance of Mrs. Agatha Raisin." -- Atlanta Journal-Constitution

"I simply love mysteries that have all the requirements necessary to make them great-the characters, the action, the plots, and that thing we call humanity. Beaton has them all in spades." -- Tulsa World

M.C. Beaton: The Deadly Dance. An Agatha Raisin Mystery. St. Martin's Paperbacks, ISBN: 031298474X (January, 2006), 249 p., $6.99.

M.C. Beaton: The Deadly Dance (USA 2004)

From the Publisher:
BOSSY, IMPULSIVE, AND UNLUCKY IN LOVE, the all-too-human Agatha Raisin has proved to be a surprisingly effective -- and endearing -- amateur sleuth. But can Agatha make it as a private investigator? After getting mugged on vacation, in what she will always think of as the Paris Incident, she decides to find out.

Agatha soon learns that running her own detective agency in the Cotswolds is not quite like starring in a Raymond Chandler movie. Instead of dames in distress with big shoulder pads, her clients are ladies with missing cats and a man whose son has run off with his car. Agatha even worries that she might be outclassed by her sixty-seven-year-old secretary, Emma Comfrey.

But then wealthy divorcée Catherine Laggat-Brown walks in with their first "real" case. Mrs. Laggat-Brown's daughter has received a death threat, and when Agatha thwarts an attack on the girl at a dinner dance, she recognizes an opportunity to show what Raisin Investigations can do. Even better, the case gives her a chance to reunite with her long-absent friend, Sir Charles Fraith. As they scour the Cotswolds in search of leads, Charles' insights prove invaluable and his charms irresistible, leading poor Emma to fall madly in love with him.

As ever, Agatha bumbles her way through the case, trying her friends' patience and flirting shamelessly with the chief suspect. Will she put her tiny agency on the map, or has even the outrageous Agatha finally bitten off more than she can chew?

M.C. Beaton: The Deadly Dance. An Agatha Raisin Mystery. St. Martin's Minotaur, ISBN: 0312304366 (November, 2004), 249 p., $22.95.