M. C. Beaton

M. C. Beaton is the pen name of bestselling novelist Marion Chesney. She was a prolific writer of historical romances and small village mysteries. Born in Scotland, the author began her writing career as a fiction buyer for a Glasgow bookstore and worked as a theater critic, newspaper reporter, and editor.

The author wrote under various names, most notably as M. C. Beaton for her Hamish Macbeth and Agatha Raisin series. She also wrote under the names Sarah Chester, Helen Crampton, Ann Fairfax, Marion Gibbons, Jennie Tremaine, and Charlotte Ward.

M.C. BEATON® is a registered trademark of M.C. Beaton Limited

Featured Books By Author

The Folly

Lovely Rachel Beverley, 19, having narrowly avoided an entanglement with a cad more interested in her former family home, Mannerling, than in her lissome person, is surprisingly still in that house's spell. The new owner, widower Charles Blackwood, is thought at "nearly forty" to be too old for marriage prospects by the remaining Misses Beverley, including Rachel. But a chance meeting with him, during which Rachel castigates the man for his inattention to his two children, shows her what a handsome and impressive "old" man he is. Shades of the Von Trapps, with fewer kids and no singing nuns. Two potential rivals are introduced to quell this budding attraction, as are hauntings, intrigues and a near-murder. And then there is the Beverleys' scheming reputation: for although Mannerling seems to be loosening its hold on Rachel, does she really want the man or the manor? Chesney's sketchy plotting and facile resolution of the lovers' situation will not disturb her many fans.
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The Constant Companion

"I am Miss Lamberton. Miss Constance Lamberton. I hoped that you would employ me as your companion." So it was that quiet, reserved Constance came to the household of the haughty but beautiful Lady Amelia. She would serve as the lady’s chaperone throughout the Season’s many festivities, finding herself an unwitting accomplice in Lady Amelia’s scheme to trap the very eligible Lord Philip into marriage. But it was not Lady Amelia who won Lord Philip’s heart. It was the pale, golden-eyed Constance herself. And very soon, Constance became Lady Philip Cautry. It was not a marriage made in heaven, but surely in time… And then Constance disappeared. Lord Philip didn’t know how or why. Nor did he care. All that mattered to him was the safe return of his beloved Constance…
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Annabelle

It’s a maiden’s miracle! Annabelle Quennell, daughter of a poor country parson, gets a chance at a London Season to snare a wealthy husband. But before she sets off, Mad Meg the Gypsy predicts trouble ahead! And it is nothing but woe that Annabelle finds. Godmother Lady Emmeline sponsors Annabelle’s spree-and demands she wed the oafish Capt. MacDonald. But things get worse when Annabelle fears she is losing her heart to Lord Varleigh - elegant, well-pursed, but who is taken by another mistress! What a pickle Annabelle had gotten into, and it only gets more sour by the moment! Blessed with beauty, Mrs. Manners had never bothered with the more practical (and to her, lesser) skills of grammar and spelling. So it is, in order to snag a second husband, namely the handsome Duke of Denbigh, she needed the help of Miss Verity Bascombe. Surely the modest chit would be honored to help write her love letters. Poor Verity! Her old school-girl friend remained as selfish as ever. But the lovely girl’s gilded pen soon had the duke most intrigued by the poetic Mrs. Manners! But alas, what began as a seemingly minor deception became a larger problem and Verity soon found herself enamored of the handsome duke, wanting him all for herself!
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Books By
M. C. Beaton