Agatha Raisin and the quiche of death (1992)

M. C. Beaton, also known as Marion Chesney, sends Agatha Raisin from London public relations to retirement in Carsely, where a bought-in quiche and a poisoned judge wreck her bid for acceptance. The village becomes interesting through her awkward efforts to belong, not through universal neighbourly kindness. Begin here for the Agatha Raisin series. Her vanity and abrasiveness are part of the humour, so choose it if a comforting setting can contain an exasperating heroine.