Agatha Raisin‘s life as a sleuth begins with a spinach quiche. She buys it in a London shop and enters it in a Cotswold village contest as her own baking. The judge eats it and dies, and the newcomer has to clear her name. M.C. Beaton wrote that first case in 1992. There are now 37 novels, and the newest appeared in 2026.
This page gives the complete order of the novels, the newest release, who wrote the later books and whether Agatha marries James. The TV adaptation with Ashley Jensen and our pick of similar cozy mysteries follow at the end.
Agatha Raisin Books in Order: All 37 Novels in Publication Order
The official numbering follows the dates of publication, and that is also the best reading sequence. Books 1 to 15 first appeared as “Agatha Raisin and the…”; the list gives the short titles.
Books 1 to 15: Agatha the Amateur Sleuth
- The Quiche of Death (1992)
- The Vicious Vet (1993)
- The Potted Gardener (1994)
- The Walkers of Dembley (1995)
- The Murderous Marriage (1996)
- The Terrible Tourist (1997)
- The Wellspring of Death (1998)
- The Wizard of Evesham (1999)
- The Witch of Wyckhadden (1999)
- The Fairies of Fryfam (2000)
- The Love from Hell (2001)
- The Day the Floods Came (2002)
- The Case of the Curious Curate (2003)
- The Haunted House (2003)
- The Deadly Dance (2004)
Books 16 to 30: Raisin Investigations and the Last Solo Beaton Books
In book 15 Agatha opens her own detective agency, and from then on the cases come to her as a private investigator.
- The Perfect Paragon (2005)
- Love, Lies and Liquor (2006)
- Kissing Christmas Goodbye (2007)
- A Spoonful of Poison (2008)
- There Goes the Bride (2009)
- Busy Body (2010)
- As the Pig Turns (2011)
- Hiss and Hers (2012)
- Something Borrowed, Someone Dead (2013)
- The Blood of an Englishman (2014)
- Dishing the Dirt (2015)
- Pushing Up Daisies (2016)
- The Witches’ Tree (2017)
- The Dead Ringer (2018)
- Beating About the Bush (2019)
Books 31 to 37: The Series Continues With R.W. Green
- Hot to Trot (2020)
- Down the Hatch (2021)
- Devil’s Delight (2022)
- Dead on Target (2023)
- Killing Time (2024)
- Sugar and Spite (2025)
- Dead Before Teatime (2026; US title: Dead Before Tea Time)
Short Stories, the Companion and Box Sets
- Agatha Raisin and the Christmas Crumble (2012) – a short ebook story, called Christmas Crumble in the US.
- Hell’s Bells (2013) – a short story, listed only on the UK site.
- Agatha’s First Case (2015) – a prequel story with Agatha at 26, still a PR secretary in London.
- The Agatha Raisin Companion (2010) – a non-fiction guide to the books.
- Omnibus volumes such as Introducing Agatha Raisin collect novels that are already on the list.
How Many Agatha Raisin Books Are There?
There are 37 Agatha Raisin novels as of November 2026. Beaton wrote the first 30 alone, between 1992 and 2019. The other seven carry the credit “M.C. Beaton with R.W. Green”. In the US, book 37 is published on November 10, 2026, so American shelves show 36 until then. The three short stories, the Companion and the box sets are not counted. Lists that include the short stories arrive at higher numbers.
Is There a New Agatha Raisin Book? Dead Before Teatime and What Comes Next
Yes. The latest release is Dead Before Teatime, book 37, published by Constable in the UK on 1 October 2026. The US edition from Minotaur, Dead Before Tea Time, is due on November 10, 2026. In it, Sir Charles and James Lacey compete for Agatha once again. The novel before it was Sugar and Spite (2025). Nobody has named a book 38 yet.
What Are the Agatha Raisin Mysteries About? A Former London PR Boss in a Cotswold Village
Agatha Raisin was born Agatha Styles in a Birmingham slum. She built her own PR firm in Mayfair, then takes early retirement and moves to Carsely, a fictional village in the Cotswolds. Agatha finds village life lonely, and trouble keeps finding her, usually in the form of murder. In the early books she is an amateur sleuth. From book 15 she runs Raisin Investigations in Mircester, the nearby town where the local police are based.
The books are funny about social class, gossip and a heroine who is bossy, abrasive and lonelier than she admits. Beaton herself called Agatha in some ways the antithesis of her Scottish constable, Hamish Macbeth. The recurring cast is a big part of the charm:
- James Lacey – the retired colonel next door and her great love interest, who moves in at the end of book 1.
- Sir Charles Fraith – a stingy aristocrat from Barfield House and her on-and-off lover.
- Mrs Bloxby – the vicar’s wife and her most loyal friend.
- Bill Wong – a detective constable with the Mircester police, the first friend she makes.
- Roy Silver – a former colleague from her London PR days.
- Toni Gilmour – a young investigator at the agency.
Did M.C. Beaton Write All of the Agatha Raisin Books?
No. M.C. Beaton is the pen name of Marion Chesney, born in Glasgow in 1936 and once a crime reporter there. She wrote books 1 to 30, and Beating About the Bush (2019) was the last to appear in her lifetime. She died on 30 December 2019. Every novel from Hot to Trot (2020) on carries her name together with R.W. Green’s. The first of these were begun together with her and finished after her death.
R.W. Green is Rod Green, a long-time friend whom she asked to carry on as her health failed. So the story has not ended: a new novel has appeared every year since 2020. Our M.C. Beaton author page tells her life story and lists her other books.
Reading the Agatha Raisin Mysteries in Order: Does It Matter?
It helps. The case in each novel closes within that novel, so any book can be read alone. What carries over is Agatha’s personal life, her relationship with James and her career. James arrives at the end of book 1, and a wedding is planned in book 5. In book 15 the agency opens. Read at random, the love story and the staff at Raisin Investigations make less sense. Agatha’s First Case is a prequel and fits in at any point.
Does Agatha Raisin Marry James Lacey? (Spoiler)
Spoiler warning: this section gives away how the romance with James develops. Skip to the next heading if you want to discover it in the books.
Yes, Agatha marries James, but it does not last. In The Murderous Marriage (book 5) the wedding is stopped when her first husband, Jimmy Raisin, turns up. By The Love from Hell (book 11) they are married but live in separate cottages, and then James disappears. In book 12 he leaves for a monastery in France. Later books call him her ex. The romantic tug of war never quite ends: in book 37 he and Sir Charles still compete for her.
Agatha Raisin on Screen: The TV Series With Ashley Jensen
The novels became a TV show starring Ashley Jensen as Agatha. It began with a two-hour film of book 1, Agatha Raisin and the Quiche of Death, shown on Sky1 on 26 December 2014. It was filmed mainly in Biddestone, Wiltshire, and on screen the village is spelled Carsley. Jamie Glover plays James Lacey and Jason Merrells plays Sir Charles.
| Season | Years | Channel | Based on the books |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pilot film | 2014 | Sky1 | The Quiche of Death |
| Series 1 (8 episodes) | 2016 | Sky One | The Walkers of Dembley, Hell’s Bells, The Wellspring of Death, The Potted Gardener, The Vicious Vet, The Day the Floods Came, The Witch of Wyckhadden, The Murderous Marriage |
| Series 2 to 4 (11 films) | 2018–2022 | Acorn TV | The Wizard of Evesham, The Fairies of Fryfam, The Curious Curate, The Haunted House, The Deadly Dance, The Love from Hell, As the Pig Turns, Kissing Christmas Goodbye, Love, Lies and Liquor, A Spoonful of Poison, There Goes the Bride |
From series 2, each episode is a 90-minute film based on one novel. That makes 20 episodes in all, the last shown on 20 February 2022. The publisher calls it “a hit show on Acorn TV and public television”. No broadcaster has announced a fifth season as of November 2026, though the author‘s estate says one is in pre-production.
Where to watch: Acorn TV streams it in the US, and in the UK it is on Sky and Acorn. Availability changes, so check your service. BBC Radio 4 also adapted the books from 2004, with Penelope Keith as Agatha.
What Is the First Agatha Raisin Book? Where a New Reader Should Start
The opening novel is Agatha Raisin and the Quiche of Death, published by St. Martin’s Press in 1992, and it is the right book to read first. Agatha enters the quiche contest with a shop-bought quiche, and the judge dies. She has to prove she did not poison him. Our review of The Quiche of Death found the mystery thin and Agatha herself the reason to read on.
Agatha Raisin Books Reviewed on This Site
Cozy Mystery Series Like Agatha Raisin: Hamish Macbeth Mysteries and More
- Hamish Macbeth Mysteries – Beaton’s other hero, the village constable of Lochdubh in Sutherland, from Death of a Gossip (1985).
- Royal Spyness Mysteries – Rhys Bowen‘s books set in 1930s England, which in her own words poke gentle fun at the British class system.
- Constable Evans Mysteries – also by Rhys Bowen, set in Llanfair, a village in Snowdonia, North Wales.
For more villages, vicars and tea, see our British cozy mysteries page.
Frequently Asked Questions About the Agatha Raisin Series
Is the Agatha Raisin book series over?
No. R.W. Green has written a new novel every year since 2020, and book 37 appeared in 2026.
Where is Carsely?
It is a fictional village in the Cotswolds, England. Agatha also visits real towns such as Evesham, Moreton-in-Marsh, Stow-on-the-Wold and Chipping Campden.
What is Raisin Investigations?
It is the agency Agatha opens in The Deadly Dance (book 15), based in Mircester.
Looking for the top 10 Agatha Christie books?
Agatha Raisin is Beaton’s creation, not a Christie character, so for Poirot and Miss Marple see our Agatha Christie page.