Agatha Raisin Books in Order

Agatha Raisin - retired London PR queen, Cotswolds transplant, serial poisoner of her own love life - is M.C. Beaton's second great series and, at thirty-six novels and counting, her longest. Beaton died on December 30, 2019; her friend R.W. Green completed the series from Hot to Trot (#31) onward and now writes it solo, keeping the machine on its annual October schedule: #37, Dead Before Tea Time, arrives October 13, 2026. Ashley Jensen has played her on screen since the 2014 Sky1 pilot. The order question here is simple - strict numerical order, it is one continuous village saga - but the series has a real midpoint gear-change at #15, and this page marks it along with the full shelf (1992–present).

Where to start

Agatha Raisin and the Quiche of Death (1992), always - the poisoned-competition debut that establishes Carsely, James Lacey and the whole machinery. It is also the TV pilot, so screen-first readers land here anyway.

Does the reading order matter?

Strict publication order, 1 through 36 (then 37 in October 2026). The one structural note: through #14 Agatha is an amateur sleuth; in The Deadly Dance (#15, 2004) she opens her own detective agency, and the books become ensemble cases with her staff. From #31 (Hot to Trot, 2020) the byline is M.C. Beaton and R.W. Green - Beaton's last work before her death - and from #32 Green writes it alone. Nothing needs skipping: even the weaker middle run carries the Charles-and-James triangle forward. The three short works (Christmas Crumble, Hell's Bells, Agatha's First Case) slot anywhere after #10.

Which one is the best?

The Quiche of Death (1992) for the debut; The Deadly Dance (2004) for the reboot that kept the series alive for another twenty years; and As the Pig Turns (2011) - the fan-picked peak of the agency era.

Related guides

Readers finishing this shelf usually want the map next door: Agatha Christie books in order, Hercule Poirot books in order, Richard Osman books in order. Every guide follows the same format — the shelf, the entry point, the honest answer about order.

Make it a project

Pick a session size and let the days accumulate — at the pace our reading speed test measures, most shelves above clear in a few weeks of half-hours. Every guide on the books in order shelf follows this same format, and when a book lands, its 8-question quiz is waiting on the original book quiz.