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.
Read more

Lady Fortescue Steps Out

The impecunious Lady Fortescue, widowed and alone save for two loyal, unpaid servants, has sold off almost all of the furnishings in her large Bond Street home and faces a grim future as a member of the aristocracy too proud to seek employment or charity, yet too poor to survive on the infrequent largess of wealthy relatives oblivious to her plight. Salvation arrives in the unlikely form of old Colonel Sandhurst, an equally impoverished retired military man who falls at her feet in a hunger-induced faint one afternoon in Hyde Park. The two decide to join forces: the Colonel will share Lady Fortescue's home, and they will invite others of their station and situation to live with them and pool their resources. Thus is born what eventually becomes one of London's most popular hotels, The Poor Relation, to which the nobility flocks to enjoy the novelty of being waited upon by members of their own class.
Read more

The Deception

Like her sisters, Abigail Beverley is obsessed with winning back Mannerling, the ancestral home--no matter what it takes. But marrying Harry Devers, the rakish and repugnant son of the manor's present owner, isn't an appealing option. Marrying the handsome Lord Burfield, just back from the war, is far more appealing.

But then the intolerable Harry Devers suffers a fall from a horse--and is forced to recover with Abigail's family. When Abigail's twin sister Rachel nurses him back to health, Harry proposes marriage--but Rachel has doubts. Determined to win back Mannerling once and for all--and not by marrying Harry--Abigail launches an audacious plan that's sure to keep you turning pages.

Read more

Books By
M. C. Beaton