M.C. Beaton

Born: 1936

Marion Chesney (pen name M.C. Beaton, 1936-2019) was a Scottish writer born in Glasgow. She began her career as a journalist at the Scottish Daily Express before becoming a fiction buyer at John Smith & Son bookshop. After moving to London, she continued at the Daily Express as a theatre critic and reporter. Her writing career began with historical romance novels under her maiden name before creating the beloved Hamish Macbeth mystery series in 1985 and the Agatha Raisin series in 1992. The inspiration for Hamish Macbeth came during a family fishing holiday to Lochinver in Scotland. She published over 60 detective novels, selling over 21 million copies worldwide in 17 languages. She was regularly named the most popular adult author in UK libraries. Both her major series were adapted for television, with Robert Carlyle starring as Hamish Macbeth in the BBC Scotland adaptation.