Mary Fortune

* Television series
* Book series

**Mary Fortune** was a recurring character in the first season of the *Agatha Raisin* television adaptation, originating in the novel *Agatha Raisin and the Potted Gardener*.

She was James Lacey's green-fingered new girlfriend who had recently moved to Carsely.

She was portrayed by Daisy Beaumont, and voiced by Sally Grace in the radio adaptation.

## Biography

### Television series

Mary and her husband divorced before she relocated to Carsely and met James Lacey. (TV: *The Walkers of Dembley*)

#### Season 1

Mary joined her new boyfriend James, along with Agatha, Sarah, Gemma and Kyra, rambling through the village on the afternoon before the charity film night hosted by Charles.

While shopping at a garden centre in Dembley she came across James and Agatha, unaware that they were undercover as a couple on an investigation. Subsequently, she made dinner plans with James at the local pub. In order to keep up her alias, Agatha gatecrashed Mary and James' dinner, causing a scene as she accused James of cheating on her - much to Mary's confusion. Annoyed and insulted, Mary stormed out. James later explained the situation and sent flowers to Mary as an apology, which she happily accepted. (TV: *The Walkers of Dembley*)

As with many of the Carsely locals, Mary was not impressed with the village's new bell ringing group. Mary, along with James, later joined the group following the death of Amanda Ballard. (TV: *Hell's Bells*)

After the news of Parish Council chairman Robert Struthers' death, Mary and James teamed up to investigate the potential murder due to James' past connection with the deceased. Mary's competitive nature quickly came out as she raced to solve the case, often behaving brash and blunt when she questioned suspects. This made her rather unpopular among the Ancombe locals. (TV: *The Wellspring of Death*)

A keen gardener, Mary was looking forward to Carsely's Open Garden competition. As with many of the other participants, however, Mary found her garden had been vandalised shortly before the competition.

She was later strangled with a guitar string by Bernie Spott due to her constant belittling and criticism of aspiring musician Bernice Chilton, whom Bernie was mentoring, and potted head first in a flower pot. (TV: *The Potted Gardener*)

### Book series

Mary had spent time in California before she arrived in Carsely, where she moved into Mrs. Josephs's house. A keen gardener, she transformed the garden and added a conservatory to the house which she used a nursery for her seedlings. (BOOK: *Agatha Raisin and the Potted Gardener*)

## Personality

### Television series

Mary was known to be an extremely competitive person, for example when competing with James to solve the murder case in Ancombe or taking part in Carsely's garden show. (TV: *The Wellspring of Death*, *The Potted Gardener*)

## Appearances

* 1.01 - The Walkers of Dembley
* 1.02 - Hell's Bells
* 1.03 - The Wellspring of Death
* 1.04 - The Potted Gardener
* 3 - Agatha Raisin and the Potted Gardener

Radio appearances
* 1.03 - The Potted Gardener

## Trivia

* In the *Agatha Raisin* television series, Mary was notably introduced before the show's adaptation of *Agatha Raisin and the Potted Gardener*. This allowed for Mary's character to be explored slightly further than in the books and made her murder halfway through the first season all the more shocking to viewers.
	+ Her first appearance, in *The Walkers of Dembley*, featured her at the Dembley garden centre inspecting a large terracotta plant pot by leaning into it head-first, subtly foreshadowing how her body would later be staged after her murder a few episodes later. In both cases, she was discovered by James Lacey.