M C Beaton Agatha raisin and the potted gardener

Agatha goes digging where she shouldn't.

Agatha is taken aback when she finds a new woman ensconced in the affections of her attractive bachelor neighbour, James Lacey.

The beautiful Mary Fortune is superior in every way, especially when it comes to gardening - and with Carsely Garden Open Day looming, Agatha feels this deficiency acutely.

So when Mary is discovered murdered, buried upside down in a pot, Agatha seizes the moment and immediately starts yanking up village secrets by their roots and digging the dirt on the hapless victim.

But Agatha has an awkward secret too .

Praise for the Agatha Raisin series: 'Sharp, witty, hugely intelligent, unfailingly entertaining .

Beaton has created a national treature.

' Anne Robinson, The Times 'The Miss Marple-like Raisin is a refreshingly sensible, wonderfully eccentric, thoroughly likeable heroine.

' Booklist.