by M C Beaton
She opened the connecting door and shouted to Charles, “Going to have a shower.”
“Right,” he called back. “I’ll see you in the bar.”
Showered and changed into a cotton dress, Agatha was about to leave when she decided to have a look at Charles’s room to see if it had the same view. It proved to be exactly the same. She was about to turn away when she saw a folder of papers with a travel agent’s name on the bed.
She decided to have a quick look in case Charles had arranged a boat trip or something like that for them. A letter caught her eye. She wouldn’t have read it had it not begun, “Dear Charles, I am so sorry…”
She sat down on the bed and proceeded to read it. It was from Olivia’s father. Agatha’s heart sank as she read it. It seemed that Jake was forgiven everything because of the television job and had said he was devoted to Olivia, so her father, thinking they could do with some time together, had bought them a week’s holiday in Madeira. That was when Jake had moved out of Olivia’s flat, found accommodation and refused to answer calls or messages. He ended by saying, “I feel you have suffered more than most of us from this wretched young man. So instead of cancelling the holiday, I am sending it all to you.”
Agatha bit her lip in vexation. If Charles had told her the truth, she would not have hoped … But Agatha’s mind clamped down on what she had perhaps hoped.
She went out and along the corridor to take the lift up to the bar. Reid’s is built on a cliff, so you go down to the rooms.
The other occupant of the lift was a little old lady bent over two sticks.
“Life is a bitch,” said Agatha and then blushed as she realised she had said it out loud.
“How very true,” said the old lady.
Also by M. C. Beaton
AGATHA RAISIN
Dishing the Dirt: An Agatha Raisin Mystery
The Blood of an Englishman: An Agatha Raisin Mystery
Something Borrowed, Someone Dead: An Agatha Raisin Mystery
Hiss and Hers: An Agatha Raisin Mystery
As the Pig Turns: An Agatha Raisin Mystery
Busy Body: An Agatha Raisin Mystery
There Goes the Bride: An Agatha Raisin Mystery
A Spoonful of Poison: An Agatha Raisin Mystery
Kissing Christmas Goodbye: An Agatha Raisin Mystery
Love, Lies and Liquor: An Agatha Raisin Mystery
The Perfect Paragon: An Agatha Raisin Mystery
The Deadly Dance: An Agatha Raisin Mystery
Agatha Raisin and the Haunted House
Agatha Raisin and the Case of the Curious Curate
Agatha Raisin and the Day the Floods Came
Agatha Raisin and the Love from Hell
Agatha Raisin and the Fairies of Fryfram
Agatha Raisin and the Witch of Wyckhadden
Agatha Raisin and the Wizard of Evesham
Agatha Raisin and the Wellspring of Death
Agatha Raisin and the Terrible Tourist
Agatha Raisin and the Murderous Marriage
The Walkers of Dembley: An Agatha Raisin Mystery
The Potted Gardener: An Agatha Raisin Mystery
The Vicious Vet: An Agatha Raisin Mystery
The Quiche of Death: An Agatha Raisin Mystery
The Skeleton in the Closet
EDWARDIAN MYSTERY SERIES
Our Lady of Pain
Sick of Shadows
Hasty Death
Snobbery with Violence
About the Author
M.C. Beaton, who was the British guest of honor at Bouchercon 2006, has been hailed as the “Queen of Crime” (The Globe and Mail). In addition to her New York Times and USA Today bestselling Agatha Raisin novels, Beaton is the author of the Hamish Macbeth series and four Edwardian mysteries. Born in Scotland, she currently divides her time between the English Cotswolds and Paris. Visit her on Facebook or at www.mcbeaton.com. Or sign up for email updates here.
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Contents
Title Page
Copyright Notice
Dedication
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Epilogue
Also by M. C. Beaton
About the Author
Copyright
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
PUSHING UP DAISIES. Copyright © 2016 by M. C. Beaton. All rights reserved. For information, address St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010.
www.minotaurbooks.com
Cover art by Tierney and Wood
The Library of Congress has cataloged the print edition as follows:
Names: Beaton, M. C., author.
Title: Pushing up daisies: an Agatha Raisin mystery / M. C. Beaton.
Description: First edition.|New York: Minotaur Books, 2016.|Series: Agatha Raisin mysteries; 27
Identifiers: LCCN 2016010568|ISBN 9781250057440 (hardcover)|ISBN 9781466861190 (e-book)
Subjects: LCSH: Raisin, Agatha (Fictitious character) —Fiction.|Women private investigators—England—Cotswold Hills—Fiction.|Murder— Investigation—Fiction.|BISAC: FICTION / Mystery & Detective / Traditional British.|FICTION / Mystery & Detective / Women Sleuths.|GSAFD: Mystery fiction.
Classification: LCC PR6053.H4535 P87 2016|DDC 823/.914—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016010568
e-ISBN 9781466861190
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First Edition: September 2016
