New York Times bestseller M. C. Beaton's cranky, crafty Agatha
Raisin--now the star of a hit T.V. show--is back on the case again in
The Dead Ringer.
The idyllic Cotswolds village of Thirk Magna is best known for the
medieval church of St. Ethelred and its bells, which are the pride and
glory of the whole community.
As the bell-ringers get ready for the visit of the dashing Bishop Peter
Salver-Hinkley, the whole village is thrown into a frenzy. Meanwhile,
Agatha convinces one of the bell-ringers, the charming lawyer Julian
Brody, to hire her to investigate the mystery of the Bishop's
ex-fiancée: a local heiress, Jennifer Toynby, who went missing years ago
and whose body was never found...
Meanwhile, the bodies in the village just keep on piling up: the corpse
of Larry Jensen, a local policeman, is discovered in the crypt.
Millicent Dupin, one of a pair of bell-ringing identical twins, is
murdered near the church. And Terry Fletcher, a journalist and (briefly)
Agatha's lover, is found dead in her sitting room! Agatha widens her
investigation and very soon her main suspect is the handsome Bishop
himself. But could he really be behind this series of violent killings,
or is it someone who wants to bring him--and his reputation--down?