Sergeant Hamish Macbeth is worried about how the locals will react to his new assistant officer. The officer is none other than the enigmatic American James Bland, who is on an exchange scheme from his home city of Chicago, supposedly to study policing methods in Scotland. Hamish knows that this is far from the truth. Having recently become involved in identifying a Russian spy ring to solve a murder, he is aware that Bland’s mission is to track down the members of the spy network still at large. Bland trusts Hamish to help him find all of those who may have been, or may still be, in league with the Russians. In the meantime, a spate of burglaries and robberies committed by a man described as having a gold tooth and a spider’s web tattoo on his neck give Hamish cause for serious concern.

Kate Hibbert is all too eager to lend a hand to her neighbors. Although she has been a resident of the sleepy village of Lochdubh for only a year, in that time Kate has alienated one too many of its residents with her interfering --- and not entirely well-intentioned --- ways. When Kate’s neighbor sees her lugging a heavy suitcase to the bus stop, he hopes that the prying woman is leaving for good. But two weeks later, Kate’s cousin arrives in town with the news that Kate has gone missing --- and she demands that the local police step in. Sergeant Hamish Macbeth is called in to investigate the disappearance, and soon he is befuddled by a storm of lies, intrigue and scandal…and the sneaking suspicion that Kate was someone much more sinister than she claimed.

A visit to the local village fete for a spot of fun and relaxation turns into a nightmare for Agatha Raisin when she discovers the body of the local landowner in the woods --- with an arrow in his chest and trousers aound his ankles. Agatha’s old adversary, Detective Chief Inspector Wilkes, declares the death a tragic accident, believing the victim has been hit by a stray arrow from an archery demonstration. Agatha is convinced of foul play, however, and is shocked when Wilkes eventually agrees...with her as his prime murder suspect. Determined to clear her name and find the real killer, Agatha launches her own investigation, quickly becoming involved with a family at war, an unscrupulous gangster --- and a killer who is determined to make her the next victim.

Agatha Raisin and her assistant, Toni, are driving to their friend Bill Wong’s long-awaited wedding, thinking of nothing more than what the beautiful bride will be wearing when a terrified young man comes running down the country lane towards them wearing…nothing at all. The encounter leads them to become embroiled with a naturist group, a disappearing corpse, fantasy games, witchcraft, an ice cream empire, intrigue and murder. In the meantime, Agatha’s hectic life swirls along at a dizzying pace. But when she begins to close in on a suspected murderer, she finds herself in deadly peril, as the sinister nature of the ice cream business leads her to a chilling conclusion.

Sergeant Hamish Macbeth's new constable, Dorothy McIver, may be the most beautiful woman he's ever seen. Completely bewitched by her sparkling blue eyes, Hamish spends the summer traveling with her up and down Sutherland until he finally can take it no longer. He gets down on one knee beside the Land Rover and begs her to marry him --- and to his amazement and delight, she says yes. But just as the town of Lochdubh gets ready to celebrate, Hamish finds himself with a new murder on his hands. If he doesn't find the killer fast, Hamish's dream wedding could become a nightmare.

Private detective Agatha Raisin, having recently taken up power-walking, is striding along a path in Mircester Park during her lunch break when she hears a cry for help. Rushing over, she finds an elderly couple, Mr. and Mrs. Swinburn, in the middle of the green --- with the body of an old man lying at their feet. The man, who the coroner determines died by poisoning, was known as "the Admiral," a gardener notorious for his heavy drinking, and Chief Inspector Wilkes writes the death off as an accident caused by the consumption of weedkiller stored in a rum bottle. Agatha is not convinced that anyone would mistake weedkiller for rum but carries on with her work at Raisin Investigations, until she receives an anonymous tip that the Admiral’s death was no accident.

When Private Detective Agatha Raisin learns that her friend and one-time lover, Charles Fraith, is to be married to a mysterious socialite, Miss Mary Brown-Field, she sees it as her duty to find out what she can about the woman. Coming up empty, Agatha does the only sensible thing she can think of: she crashes their wedding, which ends in a public altercation. Nursing a hangover the next morning, she gets a phone call from Charles with even more disturbing news: Mary has been murdered. Agatha takes on the case and quickly becomes entrenched in the competitive equestrian world, in which Mary had been enmeshed --- as well as the victim’s surprisingly violent past.