Marion Chesney


Marion Gibbons was a Scottish writer of romance and mystery novels, whose career as a published author began in 1979. She wrote numerous successful historical romance novels under a form of her maiden name, Marion Chesney, including the "Travelling Matchmaker" and "Daughters of Mannerling" series.
Using the pseudonym M. C. Beaton, she also wrote many popular mystery novels, most notably the Agatha Raisin and Hamish Macbeth mystery series. Both of these book series have been adapted for TV. She also wrote romance novels under the pseudonyms Ann Fairfax, Jennie Tremaine, Helen Crampton, Charlotte Ward, and Sarah Chester.
Writing as Marion Chesney, her final endeavour was an Edwardian mystery series featuring Lady Rose Summer, a charming debutante with an independent streak, and Captain Harry Cathcart, an impoverished aristocrat. In an interview, she stated that she ceased writing the Edwardian series as a result of the pressure of writing for the Agatha Raisin and Hamish Macbeth series.

Biography

Marion Chesney was born on 10 June 1936 in Glasgow, Scotland, and worked as a buyer of fiction for the Glasgow bookshop, John Smith & Son, before working at the Scottish Daily Express as a theatre critic, newspaper reporter, and editor. She married Express Middle East Correspondent Harry Scott Gibbons in 1969; they had a son, Charles. The couple moved to the Cotswolds when their son was about to go to university, assuming that he would go to Oxford, though in fact he did not.
Chesney had also lived in the USA. In later life, she divided her time between a cottage in the Cotswolds and Paris. She died at a hospital in Gloucester, England on 30 or 31 December 2019, at the age of 83.
Little Brown, Chesney's publisher at the time of her death, announced that before the author became ill, she continued to write and was working on new material for her beloved characters, Hamish Macbeth and Agatha Raisin.

As Ann Fairfax

  • My Dear Duchess
  • Henrietta
  • Annabelle
  • ''Penelope''

    As Jennie Tremaine

  • Kitty
  • Daisy
  • Lucy
  • Polly
  • Molly
  • Ginny
  • Tilly
  • Susie
  • Poppy
  • Sally
  • Maggie
  • ''Lady Anne's Deception''

    As Helen Crampton

  • The Marquis Takes a Bride
  • Marriage a la Mode
  • ''The Highland Countess''

    As Marion Chesney

Stand-alone novels

  • Regency Gold
  • Lady Margery's Intrigue
  • The Constant Companion
  • Quadrille
  • My Lords, Ladies and Marjorie
  • The Ghost and Lady Alice
  • Love and Lady Lovelace
  • Duke's Diamonds
  • The Flirt
  • At The Sign of the Golden Pineapple
  • Miss Davenport's Christmas
  • The Chocolate Debutante
'
Those Endearing Young Charms'
  1. The French Affair
  2. To Dream of Love
  3. A Marriage of Inconvenience
  4. A Governess of Distinction
  5. The Glitter and the Gold
  6. Duke's Diamonds
  7. Those Endearing Young Charms''

    Westerby

  8. The Westerby Inheritance
  9. ''The Westerby Sisters''

    The Six Sisters

  10. Minerva
  11. The Taming of Annabelle
  12. Deirdre and Desire
  13. Daphne
  14. Diana the Huntress
  15. ''Frederica in Fashion''

    A House for the Season series

  16. The Miser of Mayfair
  17. Plain Jane
  18. The Wicked Godmother
  19. Rake's Progress
  20. The Adventuress
  21. ''Rainbird's Revenge''

    The School for Manners

  22. Refining Felicity
  23. Perfecting Fiona
  24. Enlightening Delilah
  25. Finessing Clarissa
  26. Animating Maria
  27. ''Marrying Harriet''

    Waverley Women

  28. The First Rebellion
  29. Silken Bonds
  30. ''The Love Match''

    The Travelling Matchmaker

  31. Emily Goes to Exeter
  32. Belinda Goes to Bath
  33. Penelope Goes to Portsmouth
  34. Beatrice Goes to Brighton
  35. Deborah Goes to Dover
  36. ''Yvonne Goes to York''

    Poor relation

  37. Lady Fortescue Steps Out
  38. Miss Tonks Turns to Crime aka Miss Tonks Takes a Risk
  39. Mrs. Budley Falls From Grace
  40. Sir Philip's Folly
  41. Colonel Sandhurst to the Rescue
  42. ''Back in Society''

    The Daughters of Mannerling

  43. The Banishment
  44. The Intrigue
  45. The Deception
  46. The Folly
  47. The Romance
  48. ''The Homecoming''

    Edwardian Murder Mystery

  49. Snobbery with Violence
  50. Hasty Death
  51. Sick of Shadows
  52. ''Our Lady of Pain''

    As Charlotte Ward

  • ''The Westerby Inheritance''

    As M. C. Beaton

Hamish Macbeth series

  1. Death of a Gossip
  2. Death of a Cad
  3. Death of an Outsider
  4. Death of a Perfect Wife
  5. Death of a Hussy
  6. Death of a Snob
  7. Death of a Prankster
  8. Death of a Glutton OR Death of a Greedy Woman
  9. Death of a Travelling Man
  10. Death of a Charming Man
  11. Death of a Nag
  12. Death of a Macho Man
  13. Death of a Dentist
  14. Death of a Scriptwriter
  15. Death of an Addict
  16. A Highland Christmas
  17. Death of a Dustman
  18. Death of a Celebrity
  19. Death of a Village
  20. Death of a Poison Pen
  21. Death of a Bore
  22. Death of a Dreamer
  23. Death of a Maid
  24. Death of a Gentle Lady
  25. Death of a Witch
  26. Death of a Valentine
  27. Death of a Chimney Sweep
  28. Death of a Kingfisher
  29. Death of Yesterday
  30. Death of a Policeman
  31. Death of a Liar
  32. Death of a Nurse
  33. Death of a Ghost
  34. Death of an Honest Man
Short Stories and Companion books:
  • Knock, Knock, You're Dead, ebook short story
  • Death of a Laird, ebook short story
Posthumous:
  1. Death of a Green-Eyed Monster
  2. ''Death of a Traitor''

    Agatha Raisin series

  3. Agatha Raisin and the Quiche of Death
  4. Agatha Raisin and the Vicious Vet
  5. Agatha Raisin and the Potted Gardener
  6. Agatha Raisin and the Walkers of Dembley
  7. Agatha Raisin and the Murderous Marriage
  8. Agatha Raisin and the Terrible Tourist
  9. Agatha Raisin and the Wellspring of Death
  10. Agatha Raisin and the Wizard of Evesham
  11. Agatha Raisin and the Witch of Wyckhadden
  12. Agatha Raisin and the Fairies of Fryfam
  13. Agatha Raisin and the Love from Hell
  14. Agatha Raisin and the Day the Floods Came
  15. Agatha Raisin and the Case of the Curious Curate
  16. Agatha Raisin and the Haunted House
  17. Agatha Raisin and the Deadly Dance
  18. Agatha Raisin and the Perfect Paragon
  19. Love, Lies and Liquor: An Agatha Raisin Mystery
  20. Agatha Raisin and Kissing Christmas Goodbye
  21. A Spoonful of Poison: An Agatha Raisin Mystery
  22. Agatha Raisin: There Goes The Bride
  23. Busy Body: An Agatha Raisin Mystery
  24. As the Pig Turns: An Agatha Raisin Mystery
  25. Hiss and Hers
  26. Something Borrowed, Someone Dead: An Agatha Raisin Mystery
  27. The Blood of an Englishman
  28. Dishing the Dirt
  29. Pushing up daisies
  30. The Witches' Tree
  31. The Dead Ringer
  32. Beating About the Bush
Short stories and related works:
  1. Agatha Raisin and the Christmas Crumble
  2. Hell's Bells
  3. Agatha's First Case
  4. The Agatha Raisin Companion with introduction by M. C. Beaton.
Posthumous:
  1. Hot to Trot
  2. Down the Hatch
  3. Devil's Delight
  4. Dead on Target
  5. Killing Time
  6. ''Sugar and Spite''

    Stand-alone novels

  • The Education of Miss Patterson
  • Ms. Davenport's Christmas
  • ''The Skeleton in the Closet''

    As Sarah Chester

  • ''Dancing on the Wind''