Order of Book Series
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M.C. Beaton Books in Order

9 books are credited to M.C. Beaton, published between 1984 and 2023; 2 of them appeared after M.C. Beaton's death in 2019. The first book is The Poor Relation (1984) and the newest is Cozy Case Files, Volume 19 (2023). Publication order is the reading order below.

M.C. Beaton is the pen name of Marion Chesney. M.C. Beaton also publishes as Ann Fairfax, Charlotte Ward, Helen Crampton, Jennie Tremaine.

Books
9
Published
1984–2023
Confirmed
8 of 9 titles
Pages on record
242 in 1 of 9 books
See all 9 books in order Printable M.C. Beaton checklist
Photo of M.C. Beaton, author

M.C. Beaton was a pen name of Marion Gibbons, born Marion Chesney (1936-2019), a Scottish writer of romance and mystery novels who began publishing in 1979. The Beaton name carried the Agatha Raisin and Hamish Macbeth mystery series, both adapted for television; the Marion Chesney name carried historical Regency romances. Subjects in this listing cover Regency romance, Scotland, the village of Lochdubh and police procedural mystery. The listing also gathers Cozy Case Files anthology volumes, which credit other writers.

How many M.C. Beaton books are there?

M.C. Beaton has 9 books, released between 1984 and 2023. 2 of them were published after M.C. Beaton's death in 2019.

M.C. Beaton Books in Publication Order

The table lists all 9 M.C. Beaton books in the order they were released, with the release year, the page count where one is on record, and how many independent book listings confirm each title. Catalogue data as of September 2026.

  1. Cover of Summertime Splendor by M.C. Beaton, book 2 of the M.C. Beaton Standalone Novels series (1992)
  2. Cover of Death of a Travelling Man by M.C. Beaton, book 9 of the Hamish Macbeth series (1993)
  3. Cover of The Skeleton in the Closet by M.C. Beaton, book 3 of the M.C. Beaton Standalone Novels series (2001)
  1. 1
    The Poor RelationM.C. Beaton Standalone Novels #11984 · confirmed 3/4
    1984–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  2. 2
    Summertime SplendorM.C. Beaton Standalone Novels #21992 · confirmed 3/4
    1992–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  3. 3
    Death of a Travelling ManHamish Macbeth #91993 · confirmed 3/4
    1993–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  4. 4
    The Skeleton in the ClosetM.C. Beaton Standalone Novels #32001 · 242 pages · confirmed 3/4
    2001242
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  5. 5
    Kissing Christmas GoodbyeAgatha Raisin #182007 · confirmed 3/4
    2007–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  6. 6
    Summer of Discontent2015 · confirmed 2/4
    2015–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  7. 7
    Cozy Case Files Volume 3Cozy Case Files Mystery Sampler #32017 · confirmed 3/4
    2017–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  8. 8
    Cozy Case Files Volume 8Cozy Case Files Mystery Sampler #82020 · confirmed 3/4
    2020–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  9. 9
    Cozy Case Files, Volume 19Cozy Case Files Mystery Sampler #192023 · confirmed 3/4
    2023–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK

M.C. Beaton books grouped by series

Each title below is a row in the publication-order table above. A group whose heading is a link has its own reading-order page; the other groups have no page of their own on this site.

M.C. Beaton Standalone Novels

3 books

3 titles published under this heading without a numbered place in a series.

Cozy Case Files Mystery Sampler in order

3 books
  1. 3. Cozy Case Files Volume 3
  2. 8. Cozy Case Files Volume 8
  3. 19. Cozy Case Files, Volume 19

Hamish Macbeth in order

1 book
  1. 9. Death of a Travelling Man

Agatha Raisin books in order

1 book by M.C. Beaton
  1. 18. Kissing Christmas Goodbye

Standalone books

1 book

1 M.C. Beaton title here is not listed as part of any series.

M.C. Beaton Books in Chronological Order

By publication date, the M.C. Beaton books run from The Poor Relation (1984) to Cozy Case Files, Volume 19 (2023), the sequence in the table above. No separate story order is recorded for M.C. Beaton in the book listings this catalogue merges, so publication order is the only order on record.

Do you have to read M.C. Beaton books in order?

No. No source lists any of the 9 M.C. Beaton books here as part of a series. The numbered table above gives them by publication date.

Where to start with M.C. Beaton

Start with The Poor Relation (1984), the earliest published title.

What is the newest M.C. Beaton book?

Cozy Case Files, Volume 19 (2023) is the newest M.C. Beaton book released so far.

Is there a new M.C. Beaton book coming?

No next M.C. Beaton book is announced in the catalogue, which is a gap in the listings it merges rather than a sign that the run has ended.

M.C. Beaton at a glance

Died
M.C. Beaton died in 2019, according to Wikidata.
After death
Books credited to M.C. Beaton are still being published after M.C. Beaton's death in 2019; the newest appeared in 2023.
Release pace
M.C. Beaton books have appeared about one every 5 years on average.
Length
242 pages across the 1 of 9 books with a recorded length, a median of 242 pages each.
Busiest decade
Most M.C. Beaton books, 2 of 9, were published in the 2020s.

What the M.C. Beaton books are about

4 of the 9 M.C. Beaton books carry subject tags in Open Library's catalogue. No subject is tagged on more than one of them, so each one below describes a single book. The subjects are cataloguers’ headings, not a plot summary.