Review
"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 inbred societies Beaton observes with such cynical humor."-The New York Times Book Review
"[Beaton's] imperfect heroine is an absolute gem!"-Publishers Weekly
"Beaton's 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
Book Description
Lady Rose Summer refuses to abide by her parents' insistence that she marry. Even more distressing, she wants to become self-supporting by moving out with her maid Daisy and going to work in trade. On advice from Captain Harry Cathcart-a noble-born private investigator who knows the independent-minded Rose all too well-the Earl and Countess of Hadshire agree to let Rose work as a typist and live in a women's hostel. It isn't long before Rose realizes that life as a working woman isn't quite what she imagined...or before she inadvertently discovers that recently-murdered playboy Freddy Pomfret was a blackmailer. In order to investigate properly, Rose must now return to London high society's glittering, treacherous rounds. And from elegant London townhouses that conceal ugly secrets to a tranquil country estate where danger lurks along every path, she and Harry will follow a trail of deception, rumors, and devious plots-even as a singularly calculating killer prepares to end the rebellious Lady Rose's sleuthing for good.
From the Back Cover
SECRETS TO DIE FOR
Lady Rose Summer refuses to abide by her parents' insistence that she marry. Even more distressing, she wants to become self-supporting by moving out with her maid Daisy and going to work in trade. On advice from Captain Harry Cathcart-a noble-born private investigator who knows the independent-minded Rose all too well-the Earl and Countess of Hadshire agree to let Rose work as a typist and live in a women's hostel. It isn't long before Rose realizes that life as a working woman isn't quite what she imagined...or before she inadvertently discovers that recently-murdered playboy Freddy Pomfret was a blackmailer. In order to investigate properly, Rose must now return to London high society's glittering, treacherous rounds. And from elegant London townhouses that conceal ugly secrets to a tranquil country estate where danger lurks along every path, she and Harry will follow a trail of deception, rumors, and devious plots-even as a singularly calculating killer prepares to end the rebellious Lady Rose's sleuthing for good.
"Fans of the author's Hamish Macbeth and Agatha Raisin mysteries, written under the name M.C. Beaton, will welcome this new series of historical whodunits."
-Booklist
About the Author
MARION CHESNEY, the widely acclaimed author of historical romances, also writes the popular Agatha Raisin and Hamish Macbeth mystery series under the name M.C. Beaton. Born in Scotland, she currently divides her time between the English Cotswolds and Paris.
Hasty Death: An Edwardian Murder Mystery FROM THE PUBLISHER
"Eager to join the working classes, Lady Rose Summer has abandoned the comforts of her parents' home to become self-supporting. But life as a working woman isn't quite what Rose had imagined - long hours as a typist and nights spent in a dreary women's hostel are not very empowering when you're poor, cold, and tired. Luckily for Rose, her drudgery comes to a merciful end when she learns of the untimely death of an acquaintance." Freddy Pomfret, a silly and vacuous young man, was almost certainly up to no good before he was shot dead in his London flat. When Rose discovers incriminating evidence pointing to several members of her class, she returns to London high society in order to investigate properly. With the help of Captain Harry Cathcart and Superintendent Kerridge of Scotland Yard, Rose prepares to do the social rounds - uncovering a devious blackmail plot and an unexpected killer.
FROM THE CRITICS
Publishers Weekly
Lady Rose Summer, the willful, spoiled and charming heroine of British veteran Chesney's light historical series that began with 2003's Snobbery with Violence, decides to break the class barriers and go out into the working world with her maid Daisy. Their adventures include a kidnapping, narrow escapes, a daring rescue and of course murder. After returning to the comforts of her London home, Lady Rose turns to dashing Captain Harry Cathcart, a Boer War veteran turned detective, for aid in solving the murder. Once again Chesney has concocted an amusing brew of mystery and romance that will keep her fans turning the pages. (July 30) FYI: Under the pen name M.C. Beaton, Chesney is the author of the Agatha Raisin and the Hamish Macbeth mystery series. Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.
Library Journal
Lady Rose Summer bucks societal expectations by denying all her born-to comforts and going to work. She must reenter society, however, in order to find the murderer of an acquaintance-with a little assist from Capt. Harry Cathcart. Another cozy charmer from the author (as M.C. Beaton) of the Agatha Raisin series. Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.
Kirkus Reviews
What are Edwardian parents to do when their headstrong daughter prefers solving murders to marrying?Under the impression that they're sending Lady Rose to a rest home to reconsider her spunky ways, the earl and the countess are actually committing her to a lunatic asylum run by the dastardly Dr. McWhirter. Rose escapes, of course, through the stealth of her companion, the cockney-voweled ex-showgirl Daisy, and her allies, dashing Captain Harry Cathcart and his man Becket, who have saved them once before (Snobbery with Violence, 2003). But Lady Rose's travails continue. Her declasse career as a "typewriter" is cut short when she's kidnapped (Cathcart to the rescue again). What next? Determined to discover who shot the Honourable Freddy Pomfret, she finds herself at a country-house party that includes his blackmail victims Lord Alfred Curtis, Mrs. Angela Stockton, and Mrs. Jerry Trumpington. Dr. McWhirter, reappearing, is providently dispatched by Cathcart. But then Mrs. Trumpington is strangled, another marriage proposal is proffered, Lady Rose and Cathcart are at odds, and Det. Supt. Kerridge waits at the pub while Lady Rose confronts Pomfret's nemesis and succumbs to yet a third marriage proposal. Much absorbing description of an Edwardian lady's undergarments and chances of marriage after her season passes. But Chesney, a.k.a. M.C. Beaton, might have paid a tad more attention to plotting and, dash it all, suspense.
Art & Photography
Book Info
