Agatha dates handsome vet Paul Bladen but next day he is murdered, injected with an overdose of horse tranquillizer whilst at Lord Pembury's stable. Agatha spots that Pembury has a motive, as do Percy Parr, whose wife Harriet was seeing Paul, and spurned receptionist Chloe Mabbs. Then a villager about to divulge a secret about the deceased to Agatha is also killed in the same way. When the murderer kidnaps Agatha's cat in an effort to get her to back off with her investigation this inadvertently provides a clue, enabling Agatha to solve the killings.

Penelope Keith stars as freelance detective Agatha Raisin.

Agatha Raisin is a self-made woman from a down-trodden part of Birmingham. In her early years she worked in a biscuit factory in order to fund a move to London and a secretarial course. Once qualified, she started her own thriving PR firm. On reaching middle-age, Agatha sells the company and goes into early retirement in the Cotswold village of Carsely, close to the town of Mircester.

As with her namesake, this Agatha enjoys solving murders – helping out her good friend DC Bill Wong – to such an extent that she eventually sets up her own detective agency. There is a brooding sexual tension between Agatha and her handsome neighbour James Lacey, the object of desire for many of the women in Carsely.

In this adventure, the amateur sleuth is going through a man-hating phase after being left by her husband. However, when she meets the new curate, Adonis-like Tristan Delon, she is swept off her feet – along with every other woman in the village. She is positively ecstatic when he invites her to dine with him but the next day Agatha is left with a hangover from hell, and Tristan is dead.

Stars Penelope Keith, Malcolm Sinclair, Liza Sadovy and Stephen Hogan

The terrible tourist (First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 8 November 2006) ; Part two: The green-eyed monster (First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 15 November 2006).
The Terrible Tourist: Now that their marriage plans have collapsed, Agatha is furious to find that James is taking a holiday on the island where they were to have their honeymoon. But when she sets out in pursuit of him, she stumbles upon another murder.
The Fairies of Fryfam: Having been hurt by James once too often, Agatha takes a trip to the Cornish village of Fryfam and is soon disturbed by some strange lights at the bottom of the garden.

On the eve of the village's best kept garden contest many of the entrants' gardens are sabotaged. Shortly afterwards a keen contestant is murdered, following a row between the couple. Since the victim's garden was left virtually untouched Agatha initially suspects one of the other contestants, all of whom hated her, but switches her opinion upon meting the dead woman's spoiled daughter and sole heir, Beth, being wrong on both counts. However a new lead is opened up on the discovery that the victim used to be a singer and music provides a clue to Agatha solving the murder - and for good measure she also identifies the garden vandals.

Agatha is promoting a charity film evening for Sir Charles Fraith, who has made it clear that the Dembley ramblers group are not welcome on his land. When their outspoken leader Jessica Tartinck is murdered, Fraith is the prime suspect, but Agatha discovers that Jessica's campaigning and promiscuity did not make her universally popular. Persuading the reluctant object of her affections, James Lacey, to pose with her as a married couple, Agatha infiltrates the ramblers, who include bereaved boyfriend Jeff and gay couple Alice and Kirsty, as well as Deborah, Fraith's fiancee, to investigate. After surviving a hit and run, Agatha believes she has found the killer, but then realizes they are possibly the least likely of her suspects.

Agatha Raisin is feeling miserable—and with good reason. Her ex-husband, James, has abandoned her, and she’s been humiliated by an unseemly proposition from John Armitage, her handsome neighbor. So complete is her devastation that Agatha has given up on makeup and taken to wearing the loose cotton dresses and flat, sensible shoes she has always abhorred.

But there is light at the end of this dark and lonely tunnel, and its source is Carsely’s beatific new curate, Tristan Delon. With his golden hair, large blue eyes, and perfect mouth, Tristan has attracted the interest of more than a few of his female congregants. And to her surprise, he seems to have taken a special interest in Agatha.

Despite his charms, however, there is something odd about the curate, and after he’s found dead in the vicar’s study, it’s up to Agatha and John to investigate.

After years of bullying and cajoling others as a high-flying public relations boss, Agatha Raisin’s early retirement to the picture-postcard village of Carsley in the Cotswolds is a dream come true. And how better to begin making herself a local leading light than by entering the village quiche-making competition? Unburdened by old-fashioned ideas of fair play, the ruthless Agatha decides to ensure she wins by buying her entry from a London delicatessen. Alas, Agatha’s perfect product is soon exposed - as not only store-bought but poisoned. The contest judge succumbs after eating it, and with him go Agatha’s reputation and her chances of rural bliss - unless she can expose the poisoner....