M. C. Beaton is the author of two enormously popular mystery series, Hamish Macbeth and Agatha Raisin. The Scottish Highlands are the setting for the Hamish books, which has been made into a successful television series in England. The quaint village of Lochdubh, plentiful eccentric characters, and easygoing local constable Hamish--solving the murders of a nag, a glutton, a macho man, a cad, and more--make this series an entertaining read. Agatha Raisin is a retired London public relations executive trying to adapt to living in the English countryside. Her attempts to be accepted by the Cotswold villagers often lead to mysterious deaths of such characters as a tourist, a veterinanian, and a… gardener with Raisin becoming the village sleuth. Beaton, who also writes romance novels under the name of Marion Chesney, was born in Scotland. Beaton lives in the English Cotswolds.