As a private detective, Agatha Raisin earns her bread and butter by prying into the personal lives of others. However, she doesn't look kindly upon anyone delving too deeply into her own past. Not surprisingly, when she finds that a local therapist, Jill Davent, has hired an investigator to dish the dirt on her, she flies into a blind rage and threatens to murder Jill for the invasion of privacy that revealed Agatha's humble beginnings in a life of poverty with alcoholic parents.

Even before this latest development, Agatha abhorred the wily therapist simply because she was dating Agatha's ex-husband and neighbor, James Lacey. Although Agatha and James couldn't make a go of their relationship, Agatha is not at all sure she's ready for the handsome travel writer to replace her with another woman, especially not one who “looked like a constipated otter.”

"DISHING THE DIRT is a delightful cozy murder mystery that will amuse and confound fans of Agatha, both old and new."

Before Agatha can decide what to do about the woman who's making her life miserable, Jill is murdered and Agatha finds herself in the hot seat as the number one suspect. As always when murder is afoot, the fifty-something detective with good legs and shiny hair begins poking into the investigation with her usual determination, offending the local police force and quite a few villagers in the process.

It doesn't take Agatha long to discover that Jill was blackmailing her clients with the information they divulged during their private sessions with her. She’d demanded money from them to ensure she'd keep the juicy details of their lives secret. Could one of these clients have decided to put an end to the extortion by wrapping a scarf tightly around Jill's neck and squeezing the life out of her in an expedient way of silencing her forever?

As always, Agatha has plenty of help at hand when she launches her investigation. Her circle of friends and close-knit band of employees from the detective agency she owns are all too ready to pitch in and help her clear her name. Agatha might be many things, but a murderer she is not.

As Agatha and the gang develop leads and find clues, more people in the tiny Cotswold village of Carsely and others farther afield are murdered, making the body count rise at an alarming rate. Agatha knows she's getting close to the truth when she, too, becomes the target of a diabolical madman. Will she be able to cheat death one more time, or has she finally met her match in a murderer who always manages to stay one step ahead?

DISHING THE DIRT is a delightful cozy murder mystery that will amuse and confound fans of Agatha, both old and new. In spite of the murder and mayhem taking place, cozy dinners in English pubs, conversations held around mugs of steaming hot tea and leisurely drives through the picturesque English countryside are all part of what makes an Agatha Raisin mystery so very enjoyable.