M.C. Beaton

Marion was not always a published author as she worked in the adjacent field of journalism, making a living on Fleet Street. At some point she transitioned into writing fiction and the literary world gained a unique new voice! M.C. Beaton was the creator and the writer of the fictional Hamish Macbeth series.

The best place to start is the Regency Royal series, the earliest of M.C. Beaton's multi-book series: it opens with Lady Margery's Intrigue (1980) and runs to 20 books across 1980–1996, ending with The Loves of Lord Granton (1996). M.C. Beaton's other series stand alone, so they can be read in any order.

M.C. Beaton has 136 books catalogued in this guide, published between 1980 and 2027. 127 of them belong to 6 named series — the largest being the Hamish Macbeth series with 42 books — and 9 are standalone titles, collections or anthologies.

Read each series in publication order — the numbered entries in each series follow the year each book first appeared. M.C. Beaton's series do not depend on one another, so they can be started in any order; by start date they are Regency Royal (1980–1996, 20 books), Changing Fortunes (1983, 1 book) and Hamish Macbeth (1985–2027, 42 books), plus 2 more.

This guide splits M.C. Beaton's 136 books into 6 named series and 9 titles that stand alone or appear only in collections: Hamish Macbeth (42 books, 1985–2027); Agatha Raisin (40 books, 1992–2026); Regency Royal (20 books, 1980–1996); Agatha Raisin Non-Fiction (1 book, 2010); Changing Fortunes (1 book, 1983), plus 1 further series.