Bea Abbot Agency Books in Order: How to read Veronica Heley’s series?
By the author of the Ellie Quicke series.
What is the Abbot Agency series about?
Written by British author Veronica Heley, the Abbot Agency series is, as Heley wrote it a series about an “ordinary women faced with extraordinary situations.”
The protagonist of the series is Bea Abbot, a widow who becomes an unexpected private investigator and opens her own agency in London, England.
As she conducts investigations for her customers, Bea Abbot, a practical and resourceful woman, finds herself engaged in a range of intriguing scenarios. The series incorporates traditional mystery, suspense, and lighthearted humor.
How to read the Bea Abbot Agency Books in Order?
Every book in the Abbot Agency series works as a standalone story, but the lives of the different characters evolve from one novel to the other.
- False Charity (2007)
- False Picture (2008)
- False Step (2009)
- A False Pretence (2010)
- False Money (2010)
- False Report (2011)
- False Alarm (2012)
- False Diamond (2014)
- False Impression (2014)
- False Wall (2015)
- False Fire (2017)
- False Pride (2017)
- False Account (2018)
- False Conclusion (2020)
- False Face (2021)
- False Name (2023)
What is the plot of the Abbot Agency novels?
For more information about the books in the Bea Abbott Agency series by Veronica Heley, you’ll find below the official synopsis for all the books:
False Charity – After the death of her husband, all Bea Abbot wants is a little quiet time to collect herself in her pretty Victorian home in Kensington, London. But Bea isn’t ready to do is to sell the domestic agency she shared with her beloved Hamilton, especially when there’s still business to settle. Bea’s old friend Coral has been stiffed by a client, big time, and now her catering firm is in the red.
False Picture – Bea Abbot doesn’t do murder. The modest agency she runs is better at finding good domestic help and the best caterers. Yet how can she turn away her oldest friend? Velma’s prodigal stepson Philip has vanished. So has a valuable pre-Raphaelite painting from the home of Philip’s eccentric godmother. Seeing that Lucinda’s been stabbed to death, she can’t possibly clear Philip’s name.
False Step – Bea Abbot finds herself in the company of a dead man dressed as a pantomime dame. It looks like suicide, but why don’t his red-spangled shoes fit? Matthew Kent was an entertainer known to be a kindly and modest man in private, so why had he staged this grotesque charade in death?
False Pretences – There’s nothing sinister about Zander’s request for Bea Abbot to accompany him on an errand to a grieving widow, but it’s awkward because it was Zander who’d exposed the scam that his boss Denzil had been running…after which Denzil had, unexpectedly, died. His widow turns out to be a bullying racist who wants to sue the Trust for defamation of character, while the paperwork that could have proved her husband’s guilt has gone missing.
False Money – Bea Abbot runs a domestic agency that does not ‘-do’ murder. But the disappearance of Tomi, the star of an award-winning short film, is a different matter, especially when charming but feckless Chris bribes Bea to investigate with a bouquet of flowers. When Bea discovers that Tomi is not the only one amongst his friends to vanish, however, she wonders if her own life might be in danger too…
False Report – While Bea Abbot worries that she’s lost control of her domestic agency, she’s asked to find some domestic help for an eccentric little musician falsely accused of murder. She doesn’t realize how dangerous this might be until Jeremy, fleeing from attempts on his life, lands up on her doorstep…
False Alarm – Bea Abbot is asked to find the man or woman who laid a booby trap for Sir Lucas Ossett, the powerful head of an international company, in his own block of flats. She finds Sir Lucas’s wife in a state of fear. Soon it’s clear that Sir Lucas’s influence reaches out to touch and perhaps corrupt even those nearest to Bea, while trivial incidents escalate into violence – and death.
False Diamond – The fake diamond in Dilys Holland’s engagement ring implies that all is not well in her marriage, and the Holland family matriarch, Sybil, calls on Bea Abbot for help. Bea soon discovers that Dilys and her little girl live in fear of her abusive husband, a man called Benton with whom Bea has already clashed.
False Impression – Bea Abbot’s friend Leon Holland has asked for her help in establishing an alibi. But why would he need one? First, he tells her, he had a narrow escape from being run down in the road, and then he was lured with a mysterious message to a car park to meet someone who didn’t turn up. Matters escalate when two bodies are found in the car park, slumped over their steering wheels, stabbed to death.
False Wall – When the party wall dividing the gardens of Bea Abbot and her fiancé Leon collapses, amongst the ensuing chaos a human skeleton is unearthed in Leon’s garden. Having only just purchased the property, Leon and Bea set out to discover more about the house’s previous owners.
False Fire – Attending a birthday celebration for two young girls, Bea Abbot tries not to let superstition get the better of her when she realizes they are thirteen at dinner. What she doesn’t anticipate is that the evening will end in sudden, violent death.
False Pride – Looking forward to a peaceful weekend, Bea Abbot’s plans are disrupted by the unexpected arrival of one of her clients, bearing a brown leather briefcase full of expensive jewelry. Magda Summerleys has been working as a housekeeper for wealthy art expert Lucas Rycroft who, she says, entrusted her with the briefcase for safekeeping – and who seems to have disappeared without trace.
False Account – Wealthy Marcia Tredgold and her daughter, Charlotte, want Bea Abbot to find them replacements for staff who have left under a cloud. Bea discovers that all those dismissed were close to Marcia Tredgold, and senses that something is not right. Were they framed, and if so by whom – and why?
False Conclusion – Bea Abbot is looking forward to spending the summer with her fourteen-year-old ward, Bernice, but her plans go awry when one of Bernice’s schoolfriends finds herself in trouble. Evelina Trescott’s uncle has died in a mysterious accident at their country house, and her aunt, Mrs. Trescott, is keen to hide Evelina away from the police.
False Face – Bea Abbot’s husband and talented artist, Piers, is in a state. His morning visit to actress and ‘national treasure’ Karina’s Belgravia home has ended in chaos. An antique necklace and diamond ring have been discovered missing, along with a memory stick storing Karina’s highly anticipated memoirs. Karina’s housekeeper, Mrs. Hennessey, her ghostwriter, Molly, and Piers himself are all accused of a conspiracy to rob the actress. When it transpires that the three were employed through the Abbot Agency, and some of the missing items are found in Piers’ pockets, Bea is dragged into the melee. But as she investigates, events take a chilling turn…
False Name – Bea Abbot overhears three men plotting a murder outside her garage, only to discover the intended victim – a young man who appears to be a rough sleeper – has been left there to die in freezing weather. Somewhat reluctantly, she gives him sanctuary but finds him unwilling to disclose his name or talk about his ordeal. Who is determined to kill the stranger, and why?
What should you read if you like the Abbot Agency novels?
If you like reading Veronica Heley’s Abbot Agency stories, you may be interested in the Aunt Dimity series by Nancy Atherton, the Mrs. Pollifax series by Dorothy Gilman, the Rina Martin series by Jane Adams…
