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Last edited by Tom Morris
April 24, 2025 | History
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Marion Chesney

Marion Chesney was born in 1936 in Glasgow, Scotland. Her first job was a bookseller in charge of the fiction department in John Smith & Sons Ltd. While working there, the Scottish Daily Mail hired her to review variety shows; she quickly rose to be their theatre critic. She left Smith’s to work as a secretary--albeit without typing or shorthand skills--in the advertising department of Scottish Field magazine but was soon the fashion editor instead. She moved to the Scottish Daily Express, where she reported mostly on crime, then to Fleet Street and the Daily Express, where she was their chief woman reporter.

Marion married Harry Scott Gibbons, and they had a son, Charles. Harry was offered a job as editor of the Long Island, New York, Oyster Bay Guardian, and the small family moved to the United States. The Oyster Bay job didn’t work out, and the trio moved to Virginia. Marion and Harry worked in the same greasy spoon in Alexandria--Marion waited tables, and Harry washed dishes. Happily, they both got jobs on Rupert Murdoch’s new tabloid, The Star, and returned to New York.

Marion wanted to spend more time at home with young Charles. In 1977, encouraged by her husband, she started to write historical romance novels, eventually publishing over one hundred books under her maiden name, Marion Chesney, and under a variety of pseudonyms: Ann Fairfax, Jennie Tremaine, Helen Crampton, Charlotte Ward, and Sarah Chester.

By 1985, Marion was weary of historicals and turned to detectives stories, writing as M. C. Beaton. A course at a fishing school during a holiday in Sutherland provided inspiration for the first Constable Hamish Macbeth story. Eventually, the family returned to Scotland and and bought a croft house and croft in Sutherland, where Harry reared a flock of black sheep. Another move, to the Cotswolds, led to the birth of Agatha Raisin.

Photo of Marion Chesney

British writer (1936–2019)

Born 1936
Died 2019

1241 works Add another?

  • Cover of: The Walkers of Dembley: An Agatha Raisin Mystery

    First published in 2009 — 2 editions
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  • Cover of: Death of a Hussy

    First published in 2012 — 2 editions
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  • Cover of: Cozy Case Files: a Cozy Mystery Sampler, Volume 4

    First published in 2017 — 2 editions
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  • Cover of: Pushing up Daisies
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    First published in 2017 — 2 editions
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  • Cover of: Deborah Goes to Dover

    First published in 2012 — 2 editions
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  • Cover of: Daisy
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    First published in 1979 — 2 editions
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  • Cover of: Poppy

    First published in 1989 — 2 editions
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  • Cover of: Death of a Poison Pen

    First published in 2015 — 2 editions
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  • Cover of: Death of a Cad

    First published in 2008 — 2 editions
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  • Cover of: Lady Margery's Intrigue
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    First published in 1988 — 2 editions
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  • Cover of: The banishment
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    First published in 1995 — 2 editions
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  • Cover of: Sir Philip's Folly
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    Cover of edition sirphilipsfolly0000ches First published in 1993 — 2 editions
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  • Cover of: The Love Match / Quadrille
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    Cover of edition lovematch00ches First published in 1992 — 2 editions
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  • Cover of: My lords, ladies, and Marjorie

    First published in 1981 — 2 editions
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  • Cover of: The Intrigue
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    First published in 1995 — 2 editions
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  • Cover of: The Glitter and the Gold

    First published in 1998 — 2 editions
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  • Cover of: Poor Relation
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    First published in 1984 — 2 editions
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  • Cover of: Agatha Raisin and the Witch of Wyckhadden

    First published in 2016 — 2 editions
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  • Cover of: There Goes the Bride

    First published in 2009 — 2 editions
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  • Cover of: Hiss and hers
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    Cover of edition hisshers0000beat_u8o8 First published in 2013 — 2 editions
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Photo of Marion Chesney

British writer (1936–2019)

Born 1936
Died 2019

Subjects

Fiction, Raisin, agatha (fictitious character), fiction, Fiction, mystery & detective, women sleuths, Macbeth, hamish (fictitious character), fiction, Private investigators, fiction, Scotland, fiction, Cotswold hills (england), fiction, Police, England, fiction, Fiction, mystery & detective, police procedural, Large type books, Women private investigators, Fiction, mystery & detective, general, Fiction, romance, historical, general, Lochdubh (scotland : imaginary place), fiction, Agatha Raisin (Fictitious character), Fiction, Romance, Historical, Regency, Fiction, romance, general, Fiction, mystery & detective, traditional, Investigation, Murder, History, London (england), fiction, Crimes against, Fiction, romance, regency

Places

England, Scotland, Highlands, Cotswold Hills, Highlands (Scotland), Cotswold Hills (England), Great Britain, London (England), London, Cotswold Hills Region, Bath, Bath (England), Cyprus, Norfolk, Norfolk (England), Oceania, Portsmouth (England), Brighton (England), Dorset (England), Evesham, Evesham (England), Exeter (England), Grande-Bretagne, London England, Mayfair (London, England)

People

Agatha Raisin (Fictitious character), Hamish Macbeth (Fictitious character), Amy Tribble, Amy Tribble (Fictitious character), Armitage Sisters, Effy Tribble, Effy Tribble (Fictitious character), Hannah Pym, Beverley family, Abigail Beverley, Beverley Sisters, Duke of Pelham, Duke of Rowcester, Kitty Harrison, Lord Chesworth, Marquess of Fleetwater, Miss Harriet James, Mrs. Jackson, Rachel Beverley, Amanda Colby, Andrew Viscount Harvey, Annabelle Armitage, Annabelle Carruthers, Annabelle Quennell, Armitage Family

Time

Regency Era, Edwardian Era, Regency England, Regency, 1811-1820, Edward VII, 1901-1910, 1800-1937, 19th century, 1800-1837, 1800-1950, Regency, Edwardian, Edwardian era, George III, 1760-1820, modern day

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Alternative names

  • M. C. Beaton
  • Marion Chesney Gibbons
  • Ann Fairfax
  • Jennie Tremaine
  • Helen Crampton
  • Charlotte Ward
  • Sarah Chester
  • M C Beaton Writing as Marion Chesney
  • M C Beaton M. C. Beaton
  • M.C. Beaton
  • M C Beaton
  • M. C. BEATON
  • M. C Beaton
  • Beaton, M, C.
  • Beaton M. C
  • M. C. (Marion Chesney) Beaton
  • m-c-beaton
  • M. C. Beaton (aka Marion Chesney)

History

Download catalog record: RDF / JSON
April 24, 2025 Edited by Tom Morris Default name from Wikidata
April 23, 2025 Edited by Tom Morris merge authors
April 23, 2025 Edited by Tom Morris merge authors
December 10, 2022 Edited by David Scotson Edited without comment.
April 1, 2008 Created by an anonymous user initial import