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Agatha Raisin and the Potted Gardener
MP3 CD
About the author
M.C. Beaton
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Marion Chesney Gibbons
aka: Ann Fairfax, Jennie Tremaine, Helen Crampton, Marion Chesney, Charlotte Ward, Sarah Chester.
Marion Chesney was born on 1936 in Glasgow, Scotland, UK, and started her first job as a bookseller in charge of the fiction department in John Smith & Sons Ltd. While bookselling, by chance, she got an offer from the Scottish Daily Mail to review variety shows and quickly rose to be their theatre critic. She left Smith’s to join Scottish Field magazine as a secretary in the advertising department, without any shorthand or typing, but quickly got the job of fashion editor instead. She then moved to the Scottish Daily Express where she reported mostly on crime. This was followed by a move to Fleet Street to the Daily Express where she became chief woman reporter. After marrying Harry Scott Gibbons and having a son, Charles, Marion went to the United States where Harry had been offered the job of editor of the Oyster Bay Guardian. When that didn’t work out, they went to Virginia and Marion worked as a waitress in a greasy spoon on the Jefferson Davies in Alexandria while Harry washed the dishes. Both then got jobs on Rupert Murdoch’s new tabloid, The Star, and moved to New York.
Anxious to spend more time at home with her small son, Marion, urged by her husband, started to write historical romances in 1977. After she had written over 100 of them under her maiden name, Marion Chesney, and under the pseudonyms: Ann Fairfax, Jennie Tremaine, Helen Crampton, Charlotte Ward, and Sarah Chester, she getting fed up with 1714 to 1910, she began to write detectives stories in 1985 under the pseudonym of M. C. Beaton. On a trip from the States to Sutherland on holiday, a course at a fishing school inspired the first Constable Hamish Macbeth story. They returned to Britain and bought a croft house and croft in Sutherland where Harry reared a flock of black sheep. But Charles was at school, in London so when he finished and both tired of the long commute to the north of Scotland, they moved to the Cotswolds where Agatha Raisin was created.
Learn more on her website!
Marion Chesney Gibbons
aka: Ann Fairfax, Jennie Tremaine, Helen Crampton, Marion Chesney, Charlotte Ward, Sarah Chester.
Marion Chesney was born on 1936 in Glasgow, Scotland, UK, and started her first job as a bookseller in charge of the fiction department in John Smith & Sons Ltd. While bookselling, by chance, she got an offer from the Scottish Daily Mail to review variety shows and quickly rose to be their theatre critic. She left Smith’s to join Scottish Field magazine as a secretary in the advertising department, without any shorthand or typing, but quickly got the job of fashion editor instead. She then moved to the Scottish Daily Express where she reported mostly on crime. This was followed by a move to Fleet Street to the Daily Express where she became chief woman reporter. After marrying Harry Scott Gibbons and having a son, Charles, Marion went to the United States where Harry had been offered the job of editor of the Oyster Bay Guardian. When that didn’t work out, they went to Virginia and Marion worked as a waitress in a greasy spoon on the Jefferson Davies in Alexandria while Harry washed the dishes. Both then got jobs on Rupert Murdoch’s new tabloid, The Star, and moved to New York.
Anxious to spend more time at home with her small son, Marion, urged by her husband, started to write historical romances in 1977. After she had written over 100 of them under her maiden name, Marion Chesney, and under the pseudonyms: Ann Fairfax, Jennie Tremaine, Helen Crampton, Charlotte Ward, and Sarah Chester, she getting fed up with 1714 to 1910, she began to write detectives stories in 1985 under the pseudonym of M. C. Beaton. On a trip from the States to Sutherland on holiday, a course at a fishing school inspired the first Constable Hamish Macbeth story. They returned to Britain and bought a croft house and croft in Sutherland where Harry reared a flock of black sheep. But Charles was at school, in London so when he finished and both tired of the long commute to the north of Scotland, they moved to the Cotswolds where Agatha Raisin was created.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
February 24, 2026
A new resident has arrived in Carsely and Agatha is not thrilled about it. Agatha returns back from a vacation to find a beautiful divorcee named Mary living in the village. Much to Agatha's ire, Mary is everything that James Lacey finds irresistible - leggy, blonde and a great gardener. Never to be outdone, Agatha embarks on a mission to become a gardener, tout de suite! Mary has made her share of enemies in the village, however, and while everyone is preparing for the big garden show and competition in the village, Agatha and James find Mary murdered in her greenhouse. James and Agatha pair up again to track down the killer and annoy Det. Bill Wong at every possible opportunity.
I finished this audiobook well before it had to be returned to the library because I couldn't stop listening. Agatha Raisin is just so fun that it puts a smile on my face every time. In typical Agatha fashion, she leaps into gardening with both feet and enters a competition with no gardening experience whatsoever. Just in time, Roy arrives on the scene to help Agatha cheat (again), which leads to some amusing misadventures. Despite repeated promises to herself, Agatha cannot resist pursuing James Lacey, even though he shows no interest in her as a romantic partner. Why she bothers is beyond me, since James seems to date every new woman that arrives in the village, only to lock himself in his cottage if she wants a commitment.
A good mystery, told in an amusing and entertaining manner, as usual. I found the conclusion of this one a little rushed however, as if the author was in a hurry to be done with it. That knocked a star off the rating. Overall I still enjoyed it immensely.
I finished this audiobook well before it had to be returned to the library because I couldn't stop listening. Agatha Raisin is just so fun that it puts a smile on my face every time. In typical Agatha fashion, she leaps into gardening with both feet and enters a competition with no gardening experience whatsoever. Just in time, Roy arrives on the scene to help Agatha cheat (again), which leads to some amusing misadventures. Despite repeated promises to herself, Agatha cannot resist pursuing James Lacey, even though he shows no interest in her as a romantic partner. Why she bothers is beyond me, since James seems to date every new woman that arrives in the village, only to lock himself in his cottage if she wants a commitment.
A good mystery, told in an amusing and entertaining manner, as usual. I found the conclusion of this one a little rushed however, as if the author was in a hurry to be done with it. That knocked a star off the rating. Overall I still enjoyed it immensely.
January 16, 2024
Nice short cozy mystery.
January 24, 2025
Fiel a la saga. En este libro se prescinde de James y se le da protagonismo a Charles.
February 8, 2025
Cute & short
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews