When a wealthy land developer who had been planning to turn a community garden into a housing estate winds up dead, Agatha Raisin is hired by the victim's accused son to clear him of suspicion and identify the real killer among numerous suspects.

Private detective Agatha Raisin, having recently taken up power-walking, is striding along a path in Mircester Park during her lunch break when she hears a cry for help. Rushing over, she finds an elderly couple, Mr. and Mrs. Swinburn, in the middle of the green-with the body of an old man lying at their feet. The man, who the coroner determines died by poisoning, was known as "the Admiral," a gardener notorious for his heavy drinking, and Chief Inspector...

Returning to the humdrum routine of her home, Agatha Raisin finds herself falling for charming new neighbor Paul Chatterton and becomes involved in the investigation of a believed-haunted house and its murdered owner.

Agatha Raisin's latest plan to catch bachelor James Lacey is to take up gardening and enter the prestigious Carsley Horticultural Contest. "Compare this one to lemon meringue pie: light ... with a delicious hint of tartness at its heart." (Washington Times)

The local ladies all deem Mr. John a wizard, so when Agatha finds a few grey hairs on her head--and the rinse she tries at home turns her hair purple--she makes a beeline for the handsome Evesham hairdresser. And as well as sorting out her hair it soon becomes clear the charming man also has designs on her heart--but their budding romance is cut short when Mr. John is fatally poisoned in his salon. Once again Agatha finds herself embroiled in a murder...

When Mr. John Sunday, a self-important officer with the Health and Safety Board, is stabbed to death with a kitchen knife during the village's Christmas festivities, Agatha's detective agency is on the case.

The morning of Agatha's longed-for marriage to James Lacey dawns bright and clear. But her luck runs out in the church when Jimmy, the husband she had believed long dead, turns up large as life and twice as ugly. Agatha has a go at strangling him. It's all too much for James, who breaks off the engagement. So when Jimmy is found murdered the next day, Agatha and James are both suspects. And they'll have to work together in order to clear their names....

Agatha Raisin thinks she's in for a treat when her ex-husband, James Lacey, invites her on a holiday. But to her horror, his idea of an exotic destination is a small, rundown resort of Snoth-on-Sea. Needless to say, the break doesn't go as planned. When a fellow guest in their hotel is found murdered, Agatha herself becomes a suspect--and it looks as if she will be solving this particular case from the confines of a prison cell.