The Hour

Marion Chesney also known as crime author M.C Beaton was born in Glasgow, however had not returned to her hometown for 33 years, Beaton joked: “I belong to the older generation of Scots; we were the biggest exports next to whiskey.”

Noticing the change in the city, Beaton added: “It’s so clean compared to how I remembered trams and fog and black buildings, it’s a lot brighter.”

Best known for the Highland detective series Hamish Macbeth and the Agatha Raisin murder mystery series, MC Beaton says “real life crime is brutal, nasty and short” and nothing like what happens in her books.

The mid 90's TV adaptation of detective Hamish Macbeth still doesn’t impress some people most importantly his creator.

“It wasn’t like the books, I wrote about a six-foot laid back highlander and I got a 5ft 8” Glaswegian with a chip on his shoulder,” Beaton says. “It was an unfortunate experience.”

Despite numerous offers to create a TV series of Agatha Raisin, Beaton is put off after Hamish Macbeth’s demise.

“It’s on its third TV option now, they keep trying and trying, it does put you off a bit.”

It seems as though Beaton is often left out of plans from her own creations, as she explains. “They wanted to do a making of Hamish Macbeth without even mentioning me at all,” Beaton joked. “However, it does lead to ideas to killing people.”

MC Beaton’s brand new books “Death of a Valentine” and “Agatha Raisin: There Goes the Bride” are both out now.