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

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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Finessing Clarissa

In the fourth volume in the School for Manners series, we meet another of the young ladies deemed unsuitable for the marriage mart because of some awkward attribute. This time it is the remarkably clumsy Clarissa Vevian, whose Junoesque proportions and flame-colored hair make her a daunting prospect for marriage-minded dandies. Dispatched to London by her despairing family, she is taken in hand by the redoubtable Tribble sisters, Amy and Effie, who tutor, groom and pummel her into shape for an accident-ridden debut. When the Earl of Greystone, a most eligible bachelor, finds the unconventional, freckle-faced beauty entrancing, we know the Tribbles can relax until the next client appears.
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Rake's Progress

The newest master of 67 Clarges Street--that good address in London’s fashionable Mayfair--is a single gentleman, the handsome, rich, and notorious rake Lord Guy Carlton. After years of fighting in the wars against Napoleon, the dashing lord is determined to kick up his heels with wine, women, and song, undeterred by appalled reaction. Never before have the Clarges Street servants earned so much money or eaten so well, but their pleasure-loving master seems liable to die of dissipation. In desperation, the staff, led by the witty and resourceful butler, Rainbird, sets out to find a "good woman" who can calm the lord’s boisterous spirit and save his black soul. Their search ends with the discovery of Miss Esther Jones of Berkely Square, a prim and righteous woman who seems the perfect reformer. But complications lie ahead as the servants’ ingenious scheme creates warmhearted chaos both above and below the stairs at 67 Clarges Street, and no one, not even Miss Jones herself, is prepared for the transformation that ultimately takes place.
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Books By
M. C. Beaton