There are a whopping 33 books in the Agatha Raisin book series which the Acorn TV series are based on – if you want to read in order, her’s how.
The mystery book series is written by MC Beaton, with three of the most recent books published posthumously – following her death in 2020.
Here’s everything you need to know about the books: which ones the Agatha Raisin episodes are based on and how they differ from the series.
Agatha Raisin and the Quiche of Death
Agatha Raisin and the Quiche of Death is the first book in the Agatha Raisin series of mystery novels by MC Beaton.
The novel was first published in December 1992.
It follows Agatha as she takes up an early retirement from her career in PR and moves to the fictional Carsley in the Cotswolds.
Bored and lonely, she enters a local baking contest – surely a blue ribbon for the best quiche will make her the toast of the town.
But her recipe for social advancement sours when Judge Cummings-Browne not only snubs her entry but falls over dead!
After her quiche’s secret ingredient turns out to be poison, Agatha must reveal the unsavoury truth…
The series followed suit by making this book the first in the series – originally intended as a one-off special.
The episode mostly follows the same plot and details of the book. The main difference being that the older Mrs Simpson is swapped for a younger and reimagined version, Gemma Simpson.
Agatha Raisin and the Vicious Vet
Agatha Raisin and the Vicious Vet is the second book in the Agatha Raisin series of mystery novels by MC Beaton.
The story was published August 1, 1993.
Agatha Raisin still hasn’t adjusted to village life, where the only prospect of a hot evening out is a meeting of the Ladies Society.
Agatha jumps at the chance to visit the new vet, Paul Bladen, who’s single and good-looking.
But Paul is soon found dead next to a high-strung horse.
The police call the vet’s demise a freak accident, but Agatha convinces James Lacey that playing amateur detective might be fun.
Unfortunately, just like curiosity killed the cat, Agatha’s inept snooping is soon a motivation for murder…
Whilst this is the second book in the series, it’s the fifth episode of the first series.
In the series, police think vet Paul Bladen killed himself, while in the book police believe it’s an accident.
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Agatha Raisin books in order – Agatha Raisin and the Potted Gardener
Agatha Raisin and the Potted Gardener is the third book in the Agatha Raisin series of mystery novels by MC Beaton.
The novel was published in 1994.
It follows Agatha becoming jealous as a new woman piques the interest of her neighbour, James Lacey.
The beautiful newcomer to the Cotswolds, Mary Fortune, is superior in every way – especially when it comes to gardening.
And Agatha is suddenly seeing nothing but green.
If only a nice juicy murder would come along to remind James of Agatha’s genius for investigation…
When a series of mysterious assaults on the town’s finest gardens is followed by a shocking murder, Agatha gets her wish.
Agatha starts digging up details about the victim who, as it turns out, may just have some hidden dirt of her own.
The TV series switched the order of this one too, as it was the fourth episode of the first run.
The series also introduced Mary Fortune earlier at the beginning of the season as James’ girlfriend.
Consequently, Mary’s character had been explored further than in the books.
Agatha Raisin and the Walkers of Dembley
Agatha Raisin and the Walkers of Dembley is the fourth book in the Agatha Raisin Mysteries series by MC Beaton.
The story was published in 1995.
Agatha has become consumed by her passion for crime solving when a woman is found dead in a quiet field nearby.
It’s Jessica Tartinck, a hiker who infuriated wealthy landowners by insisting on her hiking club’s right to trek across their properties.
Now it’s up to Agatha, with James’s help, to launch an investigation.
The events of this story were adapted in the first season of the Agatha Raisin television series. This is another change to the order from the books.
Agatha Raisin and the Murderous Marriage
Agatha Raisin and the Murderous Marriage is the fifth book in the Agatha Raisin Mysteries series by MC Beaton. It was published in 1996.
After Jimmy Raisin, Agatha’s first husband, who she presumed was dead, stops her wedding and she is left at the altar, he is found strangled to death.
Agatha Raisin must prove her innocence, along with that of her husband-to-be James, in this mystery filled with murder and mayhem.
The Murderous Marriage is the eighth and final episode of the first season of Agatha Raisin.
James and Agatha’s roles at the end are reversed in the book. In the book, James is the one who talks to Jimmy Raisin’s girlfriend and Agatha is the one speaking with the killer.
Agatha Raisin and the Terrible Tourist
Agatha Raisin and the Terrible Tourist is the sixth book in the Agatha Raisin mysteries series by MC Beaton.
The novel was published in 1997.
It follows Agatha as her marriage was put off when her ex-husband showed up, unfortunately alive.
Fortunately, he was murdered and Agatha solved the crime.
Now she is off to Cyprus to track down her ex-fiance. Instead of enjoying their planned honeymoon, they witness the murder of an obnoxious tourist.
Two sets of tourists surround the unhappy couple, arousing Agatha’s suspicions. And she won’t rest until she finds the killer.
Unfortunately, it seems the killer also won’t rest until Agatha is out of the picture.
Agatha is forced to track down the murderer all while trying to rekindle her romance with James.
The series didn’t cover this episode, and it wouldn’t really make logical sense to return to it now but it would be great to see that cast out in Cyprus for an episode!
Agatha Raisin books in order: Agatha Raisin and the Wellspring of Death
Agatha Raisin and the Wellspring of Death is the seventh book in the Agatha Raisin mysteries series by MC Beaton.
The book was published in 1998.
Agatha stumbles upon the victim of an unnatural death in the Cotswold village’s famous natural spring. Who was the unlucky corpse?
The Ancombe Parish Council chairman – and the only uncommitted member voting on whether to allow the Ancombe Water Company to tap into the town’s spring!
Add watery politicians, and slippery entrepreneurs to the mix, and you have Agatha up to her neck in a murky murder mystery.
Again, the series changes the order for this episode, with it appearing as series one’s third episode of the TV show, but the plot remains largely the same.
Agatha Raisin and the Wizard of Evesham
Agatha Raisin and the Wizard of Evesham is the eighth book in the Agatha Raisin mysteries series by MC Beaton.
The book was published in 1999.
After a home dye job ruins her hair, Agatha Raisin turns to the wonderful new hairdresser in the neighbouring town for help.
And as Agatha soon learns, Mr John is as skilled at repairing her hair as he is at romancing her heart.
But the charming Mr John isn’t all he appears to be.
According to gossip around the village, some of his former clients seem to be afraid of him. Could Mr John really be a ruthless blackmailer?
When a murderer strikes at the busy salon, Agatha must discover the truth and the killer’s identity before it’s too late.
This is the first episode of the second series in the television series, with Agatha returning from her disastrous Cyprus trip.
Mr John is modernised to Johnny in this adaptation, but the plot mainly remains the same.
Agatha Raisin and the Witch of Wyckhadden
Agatha Raisin and the Witch of Wyckhadden is the ninth book in the Agatha Raisin mysteries series by MC Beaton.
The novel was published in 1999.
Agatha travels to an old-fashioned hotel in order to repair her hair damage away from the neighbours in her all-too-cosy Cotswolds village.
Unhappy about the slow results and prompted by the elderly residents of the resort, she consults the local witch for help.
Agatha purchases a hair tonic (and a love potion, just in case!) and is soon sprouting hairs and capturing the fancy of the village police inspector.
But the quiet town is stunned by the murder of the witch.
Which one of the greying guests is capable of such a brutal crime? The brassy yet endearing Agatha won’t stop until she finds the culprit – and, of course, a little love, too.
The book order was swapped in the TV series once again for this story, with it appearing in the first series of Agatha Raisin.
Agatha Raisin and the Fairies of Fryfam
Agatha Raisin and the Fairies of Fryfam is the tenth book in the Agatha Raisin mysteries series by MC Beaton.
It was published in 2000.
When a fortune teller informs Agatha Raisin that her true love lies in Norfolk, she promptly rents a cottage in the quaint village of Fryfam.
No sooner does she arrive than strange things start happening.
Random objects go missing from people’s homes and odd little lights are seen dancing in the villagers’ gardens and yards.
Stories soon begin circulating about the presence of fairies.
But when a prominent village resident is found murdered, Agatha steps up her sleuthing for a human killer.
Will she catch her crook and a husband?
The book was adapted for the second episode of the second series of Agatha Raisin. The only change sees Agatha go to Fryham to escape the return of James.
Agatha Raisin and the Love From Hell
Agatha Raisin and the Love from Hell is the eleventh book in the Agatha Raisin mysteries series by MC Beaton.
The book was published in 2001.
Recently married to James Lacey, Agatha quickly finds that marriage, and love, are not all they are cracked up to be.
Rather than basking in marital bliss, the newlyweds are living in separate cottages and accusing each other of infidelity.
After a particularly raucous fight in the local pub, James suddenly vanishes -a bloodstain the only clue to his fate -and Agatha is the prime suspect.
Determined to clear her name and find her husband, Agatha begins her investigation.
But her sleuthing is thwarted when James’s suspected mistress, Melissa, is found murdered.
The book was adapted for the third episode of the third season of Agatha Raisin, the plot is largely the same.
Agatha Raisin and the Day The Floods Came
Agatha Raisin and the Day the Floods Came is the twelfth book in the Agatha Raisin mysteries series by MC Beaton.
The book was published in 2002.
Marital bliss was short-lived for Agatha Raisin and now James has decided to join a monastery in France.
Miserable and alone, Agatha hops on a plane and heads for a remote island in the South Pacific.
To Agatha’s surprise, she makes friends with her fellow travellers easily, despite the odd feeling she gets from one honeymooning couple.
But when she later finds that the pretty bride has drowned under suspicious circumstances, Agatha wishes she had found a way to intervene.
Agatha is grimly determined to move on with her life and what better way than to throw herself into another murder investigation?
The TV series adapted this book in the first series, while the murder case remains the same, the context about Agatha and James is obviously changed.
Agatha Raisin and the Curious Curate
Agatha Raisin and the Curious Curate is the thirteenth book in the Agatha Raisin series. It was published in 2003.
Agatha is down as her ex-husband, James, has abandoned her, but there is light at the end of this dark and lonely tunnel, and its source is Carsley’s beatific new curate, Tristan Delon.
Despite his charms, however, there is something odd about the curate and, after he’s found dead in the vicar’s study, it’s up to Agatha to investigate.
The book was adapted as part of the second season of the Agatha Raisin TV series – although the order is changed around, the plot of the story largely remains the same.
Agatha Raisin and the Haunted House
Agatha Raisin and the Haunted House is the fourteenth book in the Agatha Raisin Mysteries series by M. C. Beaton.
The novel was published in 2003.
It follows Agatha as her handsome new neighbour, Paul Chatterton, shows up on her doorstep and soon lures her into another investigation.
Paul has heard rumours about Agatha’s reputation and wastes no time offering their services to the crotchety owner of a haunted house.
Whispers, footsteps, and a cold white mist are plaguing Mrs Witherspoon.
But the police have failed to come up with any leads, supernatural or otherwise.
But Paul and Agatha are sure something more devious is going on. Someone’s playing tricks on Mrs Witherspoon.
And when she turns up dead under suspicious circumstances, Agatha finds herself caught up in another baffling murder mystery.
The events of this story were adapted as the first episode of the third season of Agatha Raisin.
As the order of the books was changed, the character of Paul Chatterton is not included.
In the episode, it is James Lacey rather than Paul who suggests investigating Ivy Hall – as at this point in the TV series, Agatha and James are still in a relationship.
Agatha Raisin and the Deadly Dance
Agatha Raisin and the Deadly Dance is the fifteenth book in the Agatha Raisin series.
The story was published in 2004.
It follows Agatha as she finally sets up her own private investigating agency.
Wealthy divorcée Catherine Laggat-Brown walks in with their first “real” case. Her daughter has received a death threat.
Even better, the case gives her a chance to reunite with her long-absent friend, Sir Charles Fraith.
Will she put her tiny agency on the map, or has even the outrageous Agatha finally bitten off more than she can chew?
It was adapted for the second episode of the third season of Agatha Raisin, again the plot is mainly the same.
But in the original book, Emma Comfrey poisons Agatha’s coffee with rat poison instead of lacing her cake with laxatives.
Agatha Raisin and the Perfect Paragon
Agatha Raisin and the Perfect Paragon is the sixteenth book in the Agatha Raisin mysteries series by MC Beaton.
It was published in 2005.
After being nearly killed by both a hired hit man and her former secretary, Agatha Raisin could use some low-key cases.
So when Robert Smedley walks in, determined to prove that his wife is cheating, she immediately offers to help.
As Agatha juggles cases, things are turned upside down when Robert Smedley is found poisoned in his office.
The prime suspect, his wife Mabel, immediately hires Agatha to find the real killer.
The book hasn’t been adapted yet, but rumour is that it will feature in the fifth season of the show!
Agatha Raisin and Love, Lies & Liquor
Agatha Raisin and Love, Lies and Liquor is the seventeenth book – the story was published in 2006.
James returns and takes Agatha to Snoth-on-Sea in Sussex where he has fond memories from his boyhood – but the Palace Hotel is now run-down, cold and sad.
Just as she and James are preparing to flee to warmer climes, Geraldine Jankers is found dead on the beach… strangled with Agatha’s scarf.
So much for Agatha’s holiday fantasies: not only is it time to put her detective skills to work, but the police are not even sure that she’ll be allowed to leave town.
It was adapted for the second episode for the fourth season of Agatha Raisin, with the main plot remaining the same, although with a few references to The Shining thrown in!
Agatha Raisin and Kissing Christmas Goodbye
Agatha Raisin and Kissing Christmas Goodbye is the eighteenth book in the Agatha Raisin series..
The story was published in 2007.
Agatha wants the perfect Christmas. She is sure that if she invites James to a really splendid Christmas dinner, their love will rekindle.
When a wealthy widow hires Agatha because she’s convinced a member of her family is trying to kill her, Agatha is intrigued.
Especially when the widow drops dead after high tea at the manor house. Who could have hated the old lady enough to poison her?
Agatha sets out to find the murderer, all the while managing a teenage trainee who makes her feel old and planning for a picture-perfect Christmas.
This book was adapted as a Christmas special to open the fourth season of Agatha Raisin, following the same plot as the book.
Agatha Raisin and a Spoonful of Poison
Agatha Raisin and a Spoonful of Poison is the nineteenth book.
The story was published in 2008.
Agatha takes a break from her detective agency and brings out crowds for the village fete.
But she has to turn back to investigating as the jam-tasting booth turns out to be poisoned, and the festive event becomes the scene of two murders.
Agatha must uncover the truth behind the jam tampering and expose the nasty secrets lurking in the village.
Agatha is also falling for handsome George, who may have secrets of his own.
The third episode of the fourth season of the show is based on this book. Again, it largely remains the same as the book.
Agatha Raisin: There Goes The Bride
Agatha Raisin: There Goes the Bride is the twentieth book in the Agatha Raisin mysteries series by MC Beaton. It was published in 2009.
Bossy, impulsive, yet hopelessly romantic, Agatha is dreading the upcoming marriage of her ex-husband, James Lacey.
Although she has set her sights on a handsome and beguiling new Frenchman, she can’t quite stop obsessing about James.
But when James’s young bride is shot to death just minutes before saying “I do”, Agatha is named the prime suspect.
Will her name be cleared, or has the outrageous Agatha finally had her last romp?
The book was adapted for the fourth and final episode of season 4 of the show, once again there is little to no change from the book!
Agatha Raisin and the Busy Body
Agatha Raisin and the Busy Body is the twenty-first book in the series.
The novel was published in 2010.
It’s Christmas once again but, this year, Health and Safety Board officer John Sunday is threatening to undo most of Carsley’s traditions.
The Carsley Ladies Society is in an uproar and will do anything to put a stop to this – only to find that someone else has done it for them… with a kitchen knife.
Soon Agatha’s detective agency is on the case.
But when a man has made as many enemies as Mr John Sunday, it’s hard to know where to start—or how to stop the killer from striking again.
The book is rumoured to be adapted in the fifth season of Agatha Raisin!
Agatha Raisin: As the Pig Turns
Agatha Raisin: As the Pig Turns is the twenty-second book in the main Agatha Raisin series.
It was published in 2011.
After a man is roasted instead of a pig at a village fair, the ‘pig’ is revealed to be Gary Beech, a policeman not exactly beloved by the locals.
Gary’s ex-wife, Amy, hires Agatha’s detective agency to investigate – and another murder ensues.
With that provocation, how could any sleuth as vain and competitive as Agatha do anything other than solve the case herself?
This story was used in the final for season three of Agatha Raisin, with the order changed but the plot the same.
Agatha Raisin and Hiss and Hers
Agatha Raisin and Hiss and Hers is the twenty-third book in the main Agatha Raisin series.
It was published in 2012.
Our sleuth has fallen in love – again. This time it’s the local gardener, George Marston, she has her eye on.
But when George is a no-show Agatha goes looking for him – and finds he has been murdered, having been bitten by a poisonous snake and buried in a compost heap.
Agatha plunges into an investigation and discovers that George had quite a complicated love life…
It’s rumoured that the events of this story will be adapted as part of the fifth season of the television series.
Agatha Raisin: Something Borrowed, Someone Dead
Agatha Raisin: Something Borrowed, Someone Dead is the twenty-fourth book in the Agatha Raisin Mysteries series by M. C. Beaton.
The story was published in 2013.
Piddlebury Parish councillor Jerry Tarrant hires Agatha Raisin to track down a murderer in the village.
But the village is creepy and secretive and the residents don’t seem to want Agatha to find out who the murderer is.
Agatha’s investigations are hampered by the emotional upset of finding her ex, James Lacey, has fallen in love with young detective Toni Gilmour.
It is also rumoured that the events of this story will be adapted as part of the fifth season of the television series.
Agatha Raisin and the Blood of an Englishman
Agatha Raisin and the Blood of an Englishman is the twenty-fifth book in the Agatha Raisin series by M. C. Beaton.
It was published in 2014.
Even though Agatha Raisin loathes Christmas panto, her friend Mrs Bloxby has persuaded her to support the local event in their festive offering.
Stifling a yawn, Agatha watches the baker playing an ogre, until a trapdoor opens… followed by a scream and silence!
When it turns out the local baker has been murdered, they soon discover more feuds in amateur dramatics than in a professional stage show.
And the team face more and more danger as Agatha and her team get too close to the killer…
Agatha Raisin: Dishing the Dirt
Agatha Raisin: Dishing the Dirt is the twenty-sixth book. It was published in 2015.
When therapist Jill Davent moves to the village of Carsley, Agatha Raisin is not a fan.
Not only is this therapist romancing Agatha’s ex-husband but she has dug up details of Agatha’s not-too-glamorous origins.
When Agatha learns that Jill has hired a private detective to investigate her background, she barges into Jill’s office, yelling: “I could kill you!”
So when Jill is found strangled to death in her office two days later, Agatha becomes the prime suspect.
But Agatha, along with her team of private detectives, is determined to prove her innocence and find the real culprit.
Agatha Raisin: Pushing up Daisies
Agatha Raisin: Pushing Up Daisies is the twenty-seventh book in the Agatha Raisin series. It was published in 2016.
Lord Bellingham has enraged locals by saying he is going to sell off their allotments to make way for a new housing development.
So when he turns up dead, poisoned by antifreeze, nobody mourns his passing.
Lord Bellingham’s son engages Agatha to do some digging of her own and Agatha is thrown into a world of feuds, jealousies and disputes over land.
It would seem that far from being tiny gardens of Eden, Carsley’s allotments are where passions – and the body count – run high!
Agatha Raisin and the Witches’ Tree
Agatha Raisin and the Witches’ Tree is the twenty-eighth book in the Agatha Raisin series. It was published in 2017.
Margaret Darby, an elderly spinster of the parish, has been murdered – and the villagers are bewildered as to who would commit such a crime, and why.
Agatha rises to the occasion and when two more murders follow the first, Agatha begins to fear for her reputation – and her life.
The fact that the village has its own coven of witches certainly doesn’t make her feel any better…
Agatha Raisin and the Dead Ringer
Agatha Raisin and the Dead Ringer is the twenty-ninth book in the Agatha Raisin series by MC Beaton. It was published in 2018.
The church of St. Ethelred is renowned for its team of bell-ringers. The troupe led by identical twins Mavis and Millicent Dupin.
Mavis and Millicent are lifelong residents of the remote village – or were, until their home is broken into one night, and Millicent is murdered.
But who’s the killer? Is it Joseph Kennell, a retired lawyer who was heard yelling at the sisters that he felt like strangling them?
Kennell swears his innocence and hires the ever-trusty Agatha Raisin to clear his name.
Only she can find the killer―and hopefully, a handsome man to buy her dinner while she’s at it.
Agatha Raisin: Beating About the Bush
This is the thirtieth book in the Agatha Raisin series by MC Beaton.
The novel was published in 2019.
When Agatha comes across a severed leg in a roadside hedge, it looks like she is about to become involved in a particularly gruesome murder.
But looks can be deceiving, as Agatha discovers when she investigates a factory where nothing is quite what it seems.
To add to her woes, Agatha finds herself grappling with growing feelings for her friend and occasional lover, Sir Charles Fraith.
Will Agatha get her man at last? Or will the killer get her first?
Agatha Raisin: Hot to Trot
Agatha Raisin: Hot to Trot is the thirty-first book in the Agatha Raisin series by MC Beaton. It was published in 2020.
This is the first book in the series not to be written solely by MC Beaton.
Due to her ill health, Beaton enlisted the help of her long-time friend and writer RW Green to help complete the book.
It follows Agatha as she immerses herself in the lifestyle of Charles Fraith, when he is accused of murder. And Agatha is named as his accomplice!
Evidence then emerges that appears to seal Sir Charles’s fate and Agatha must uncover the truth before he loses his entire estate and his freedom.
And if events weren’t complicated enough, Agatha’s ex-husband James Lacey is back in Carsely and back in Agatha’s heart…
Agatha Raisin: Down to Hatch
Agatha Raisin: Down the Hatch is the thirty-second book in the Agatha Raisin series by MC Beaton and RW Green.
It was published in 2021.
Agatha hears a cry for help while out power-walking.
Rushing over, she finds an elderly couple in the middle of the green.
With the body of an old man lying at their feet!
Chief Inspector Wilkes writes the death off as an accident caused by the consumption of weedkiller stored in a rum bottle.
Agatha receives an anonymous tip that the Admiral’s death was no accident.
When she’s run off the road, it becomes clear that someone doesn’t want the case closed. And they will stop at nothing to prevent Agatha from solving it.
Agatha Raisin and the Devil’s Delight
Finally, this novel will be the thirty-third book in the Agatha Raisin series by MC Beaton and RW Green.
It will be published on October 27, 2022.
Agatha is on her way to Bill Wong’s wedding when a naked young man comes running toward her.
Terrified, he explains that he has just seen a dead body in the woods.
When they reach the spot, however, there is nothing on the large, flat rock except a small wet patch.
Even that has dried up by the time the police arrive. And Wilkes accuses Agatha of wasting police time on a prank.
And when another disappearance occurs, it’s up to them to put together the pieces. Or end up on the altar themselves!
So there you have it – an awful lot of books to make your way through! And if you still have an appetite for more, why not learn everything there is to know about Agatha Raisin!
All episodes of Agatha Raisin are available on Acorn TV.
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