The First Agatha Raisin Mystery (Agatha Raisin Mysteries Book 1)

This author is very good at tongue in cheek. Her plots though not the most complicated still keep one interested to the end. I like the setting in England. The personality of the main character is very funny.
It is a book I would recommend and an author to be read again.

I like a good cozy mystery and especially like the character of Agatha. She isn't afraid to speak her mind and says things that we wish we could. She's bossy & brassy but ultimately insecure like the rest of us. I like the setting in the Cotswolds of England and the descriptions of village life as Agatha learns to navigate a new life after the bustle of London. All in all a great series.

Agatha Raisin Mysteries are one of my favorite series of books. I think most women fifty plus would find that the writer has a great deal of insight into the issues this age group must deal with. Agatha reveals the aging women struggle with alot of physical and psycological changes but can adapt and come out a winner.

I enjoyed this story - the first I'd read by this author. Agatha Raisin is a very unique, interesting person, making her detective endeavors funny, suspenseful & unpredictable. I will be reading more Agatha Raisin stories very soon.

I loved this book. It was suspenseful and, at times, delightfully funny. Agatha goes full force at whatever she does, even when it comes to entering baking competitions. There's always a crime or two just around the corner in the beautiful and cozy Cotswolds and the village of Carsley where Agatha lives.

I did enjoy the personality portrayal of the characters. How Agatha felt justified in "cheating" and still felt free of guilt after she was caught. Even though it was a little silly, I enjoyed the personal feeling of all the characters and can see more stories of the individual people in the future.

This was a pleasant diversion, not particularly deep. Enjoyed it but not enough to seek out other books by this author. Seemed a bit shallow although for a time I was starting to like the direction the main character was going.

I had expected more than I got from this book. I started out really liking the character, but she wore a little thin by the end, as did the plot line. It's not the worse way to spend a Sunday afternoon, but you can do better.

I had expected more than I got from this book. I started out really liking the character, but she wore a little thin by the end, as did the plot line. It's not the worse way to spend a Sunday afternoon, but you can do better.

I had heard so much about the Agatha Raisin series that I was really looking forward to reading this. Overall I liked the story, but had a hard time relating to Agatha. I'll definitely read at least one more in the series.

I have always enjoyed a M.C.Beaton book but this didn't meet my expectations..Might be a good beach book but to my mind there are too many other really good books out there to take up my reading time. Would rather read Louise Penny or one of the book awards books.

I guess I am not into England country site and names. The plot was interesting but I kept being put off by the various visits to English towns. The second story that came with this purchase was a little better and almost made me want to find out what happen to Agatha between to two stories.

I've never read an Agatha Raisin book before, and now I know why. She is not a very likable character and the book is boring. I'm halfway through and nothing has happened. I can't bring myself to finish it.

I was given an Agatha Raisin book to read a few years ago. When I was ready for a new series to start, I found a list of the books in order and started with this one, the first. So fun and now I'm hooked!

I had to make myself finish the book. I did not like the character of Agatha at all. The only reason I made myself finish is because I had purchased a Posy Parker mystery and absolutely couldn't finish it. Didn't want to have purchased two books I didn't read - both were a waste of money.

This is great , light escapism . After reading the Hunger Games Trilogy I needed some just pure fun escapism. Quiche of Death fills the bill if you are a mystery addict. If you enter cooking contests, this is a must. ( :

The Quiche of Death is on the style of Agatha Christie. The main character is Agatha, a single retired career woman who moves to the hills outside London. Her relationships with the townspeople are novel and hold the reader's interest. She solves a local murder by using her intuition. It was easy reading and a good diversion.

This was the first Agatha Raisin mystery I've read. It was entertaining but dragged on with not much of a plot. I enjoyed the English humor and may try another book in the series to see if it's better.

While this is my first Agatha Raisin Mystery, I was expcecting more development of the story. It has been a very slow start even with a murder thrown in. It reads a bit scattered. I will try another of her books and not be thrown off by my first read. I do enjoy a well written mystery; however, I enjoy it when it encourages me to turn quickly to the next page to find out a new bit of information so I might believe I have solved the puzzle before the end of the book.

I truly do not understand the raves for this book. The writing is pedestrian and repetitive. The characters are caricatures. The plot unfolds quite predictably, but not in a credible way (the super-rich wife kills the penurious philandering -- and not smart and not handsome -- husband instead of simply and legally divorcing him??? Puh-lease!). Agatha Raisin herself is a mess of incongruities too forced to believe, by turns insecure and belligerent. The fight scene with Barbara James exasperates one's willingness to suspend disbelief. The deus ex machina of Maria Borrow is incredibly far-fetched. Bill Wong comes across as a nice guy, but not forceful enough in his role. Agatha jumps -- against all evidence -- to the conclusion that a murder has been committed, simply because solving it would make people in the village like her. I bought this book used and I'm glad I didn't pay a new-book price for it. It was a disappointment and a trudge to get through. I will look at the second book in the series, but it better be an improvement fast, or I won't bother to finish it.

Bought this book and had to return twice- there was a printing distortion down the middle of every other even numbered page. I enjoy reading and usually get engrossed in the book but the printing mishap was distracting.

Advertising mogul Agatha Raisin always wanted to retire in the classic English village and turn domestic. When she gets her chance she also wants to be popular with the locals. To this end she enters a spinach quiche (store bought) in the local contest. She even butters up the judge by taking him and his wife out to eat.

Needles to say her quiche is snubbed and the standard winner gets the prize. To compound matters the judge eats more that night and expires. Now everyone will know she cheated. The local police chalk the death up to an accident as cowbane a weedy poison somehow got mixed up in the spinach. They invite Agatha to keep out of it. Of course Agatha will not let sleeping dos lie and whit the help of her city friends puts her nose and foot into it.

This is a good little mystery that takes place in contemporary times not some old 30's or 40's setting. The mystery is formula with the standard suspects, sub plots, a few read herrings, and funny now and then.

I discovered this series when my wife was trying to find a book on tape for me to listen to when I was too sick and had too bad of a headache to read. She read me the description and I thought it sounded interesting; unfortunately, it was for the 10th book in the series or something. So I found the first book in the series and got on the electronic waiting list for it.

I really enjoyed this book. It is a typical “cozy mystery” in most ways, most of the cozy mysteries I read take place in the US but this takes place in the UK. It is full of colorful characters that I just want to get to know better and better. It is a pretty quick read being something around 300 pages. I generally like novels to be a bit longer but I still found the story fulfilling, despite the short length.

In short this book is everything I am looking for when I want a fun casual book. I look forward to reading the next novel in the series.

Years ago, I was told to choose my books as I chose my friends, because I'd be spending a lot of time with them. I've followed that advice and discovered that it's true - whether a book, a movie or even a TV show. I want to like & root for my protagonist, or at the very least, not DISLIKE her. I dislike Agatha Raisin. She's crass, arrogant, lazy, self-centered and rude. I don't want to be around people like that in real life, so why on earth would I spend hours reading about them for entertainment? BTW, I didn't care for the other characters, either - what I was allowed to learn about them, that is.

I realize I'm in the minority, though. There are so many popular TV shows on right now without any redeeming characters, and people love them. It's just a matter of preference, and I don't care to spend time with nasty people, even if the story line is interesting or the writing is amazing.

And again it's a matter of preference, but I didn't find either the story or the writing to my liking. The story didn't grab me, and it was written almost exposition-style, opposite the "show don't tell" rule from Fiction 101. In fairness, I believe that's more MC Beaton's voice, a sort of chatty, newsy this-is-what-happened narration. But I found the overall effect - including Agatha Raisin - a little too unpleasant.

I picked this up because I wanted to read it before watching the television series. As an intro into a cozy mystery series I must admit this one leaves a lot of room for the main character to improve & grow on a reader. I didn't find Agatha and her brusque personality charming or endearing. What propelled me to the end of this book was the search to find something admirable in her at all. She had a pitbull's tenacity, so that's something. Honestly, if Roy had a series spinoff of books, I'd rather follow him as I liked him more. Also, and this is a big one, why is the murder victim given away before we've even got in here? I read another cozy that does that but it's revealed in such a way that the mystery of who/why is better obscured so the reader enjoys solving they mystery (is there any other reason to read these things?). Anyway, I think I'd read another in this series but as it's a very long one running (20 something installments so far, I believe), I can assure that I won't be reading them all and I won't be grabbing another in the immediate future. And one more thing reader, this didn't put me off the television series and I'm here to tell you, it's better than the book. So. That happened.

Not really recommended unless you, like me, are in it to pre-game the television series. And even then, if you don't read it, you'll be fine. Probably better off.

I enjoyed this one tremendously as an audiobook. the store Prime now gives its members a nice amount of audio books for free as part of one's Prime Membership at Audible. I thus heard it as part of my Prime membership. It reminds me somewhat of Mapp & Lucia by Benson. It is not quite the classic that those books are but it is a good runner up. It is about a 53 year old woman who retires from PR and takes up private detecting in a village in the Cotswalds. She becomes part of the life there. It also thus reminds me of "Midsomer Murders," a favorite tv show of mine. Penelope Keith does a very good job narrating these. UK mysteries are very different from American ones. This is very much in the UK style. So if you only like American pulp noir mysteries, this is not for you.

Things are kicked off in this first volume with Agatha Raisin cheating in a village quiche contest by entering a store bought one in a village contest. This proves to be her defense when she is caught out though since someone is poisoned to death after eating it.

The only thing I am a bit uncertain about is now that I am many more volumes into this, Agatha gets very involved in romances. Some of these are more successful than others. I like her interactions with Charles the Baronet and Roy the advertising guy just fine. (This second one is platonic.) But her interaction with James, her neighbor, bothers me. Perhaps it is meant to bother me though. It certainly bothers her friends.

At this early stage though, this is not a factor.

We’ve read all 31 of M.C. Beaton’s “Death of” series featuring Scottish Highlands village bobby Hamish Macbeth, a charming character who routinely foils his police superiors with his wily ways. We were hoping for something similar as we sampled the author’s also long-running Agatha Raisin set, “Quiche” the initial offering in what now stands at nearly 30 books as well. Agatha has retired early from running her own PR firm in London, to the little town of Carsely in the Cotswalds countryside, perhaps an odd decision in itself. She has a hard time blending in, but after the apparent accidental death of a cooking judge (from a bad quiche), she decides it might be a murder and goes about an amateurish hunt for the villain.

It would be bad enough if the plot were no more exciting than that – but our protagonist is surly, unfriendly, and a nosy pain in the neck, who wonders if she should go back to London. Unfortunately we tend to dislike novels about a main character we dislike, but as a tribute to Ms. Beaton, decided to read her second Raisin entry to see if things improve. Except for a few humorous scenes, this one was certainly not our cup of tea; our three stars probably generous.

Review Originally Posted At: www.FictionForesight.com

Agatha Raisin attempts to fulfill a childhood dream by retiring from her reputable PR firm and moving to a picturesque small town. She soon discovers that moving up the social ladder is just as hard, if not harder, than the corporate ladder, and decides buying and faking her way into a quiche competition will help her cause; that is, until the judge of the contest ends up dead after eating a slice of her store-bought quiche. Will she be able to prove she didn’t poison him and save her reputation?

I’ve always felt this strange bond with characters that have a hard personality. Maybe it’s how brutally honest Agatha is, maybe it’s the fact that she just doesn’t want to take the time to fit into the cookie cutter mold, but something about her personality makes this a very fun read.

The situation is a tale told many times; Agatha moves into a vacation town that she visited as a child after selling her business in the city, with the idea of retiring in a quiet community. This seemed to be going well, until she realized that not only does she not have friends outside of work, but she doesn’t really know how to make new ones. She is a gritty character, and many people have disliked the fact that she is easy to hate and seems disconnected; but I like the fact that she is hardened after working in the marketing business for so many years and dedicating her life to her career, and not knowing how to cope after it is gone.

The murder plot is interesting in that we get a few different viewpoints throughout the story, so we know a little bit more than Agatha, but still not enough to ruin the ending before it is the time to announce the killer. It’s a well-balanced mystery, with a lot of attention on Agatha’s failed attempts to include herself into the new social pool.

My main issues were just with inconsistencies in her behavior. She doesn’t cook very much, but she will get into a frenzy to learn how to cook, have one mishap of forgetting to cook a vegetable, and then moan about not being able to cook and going back to a microwave. She could have definitely improved on that if she had tried harder to better herself. It’s other small tidbits like that, added up, that become annoying; which reflects negatively on characterization.

It is definitely a good read if you want to see someone trying to adapt to a new situation, while also solving a mystery. It was a quick read, and I will be looking for a deal on the next book in the series.

(www.FictionForesight.com)

I first came across Agatha Raisin when I caught a snippet of the radio dramatisation featuring Penelope Keith and was attracted by the Cotswold setting (I live in the Cotswolds myself), the gentle, self-deprecating humour and the element of cosy mystery. When I heard the title in the credits at the end, I bought the book straight away, because surely anyone who could come up with such a great title (which still makes me smile now) would have to be an entertaining writer.

So began a long habit, and Agatha Raisin has become my comfort zone reading of choice. I've since worked my way through all the books, enjoying the interesting plot lines, rural settings and appealing cast of classic English characters. Most of them are easily recognisable to anyone who has ever lived in an English village, but they're always well developed and never just caricatures, and Agatha too is a complex, endearing, egotistical but deeply vulnerable who you can't help but love, even when (or maybe because) she is so often politically incorrect.

I've become positively evangelical about this series of books - and also hooked on MC Beaton's Scottish detective series about the wonderfully named Hamish Macbeth - and can't recommend them highly enough for anyone who wants an intelligent but easy read to unwind with for a gentle bit of escapism into the parallel universe of Agatha Raisin's Cotswolds. I'm also very grateful that M C Beaton is so hugely prolific. What a find.

I will just say WOW! Agatha Raisin is one bad a** amateur sleuth. I have read hundreds of mysteries and have never enjoyed a sleuth more. Agatha speaks her mind and gets the mystery solved pissing off only a few.
In this story Agatha moves to the village of Carseley after retiring early from a very successful PR firm she started. In an attempt to make friends and make herself known she enters a Quiche making competition in the town. Not being a cook she runs into London and buys a Quiche from a local merchant . But Murder strikes when the Judge, a Mr. Cummings-Browne, dies after being poisoned by her store bought Quiche. With plenty of twists and turns I was captivated from beginning to end. There is some inappropriate language but that just made everything better!!!!!

Anglophiles will rejoice in this lively mystery. When London PR executive decides to move to the Cotswolds, she finds it less bucolic than she imagined. Agatha Raisin finds herself embroiled in murder. Agatha's brusque and rude manner isn't favored in this small village - they even think she may have murdered a local!

How Agatha extricates herself and helps Bill Wong, the policeman, solve the crime and find the murderer is the fun of the story along with all of the details Anglophiles will enjoy: markets, vicars, thatched cottages etc.

Our library mystery group is reading this mystery novel this month. This is the first in the series. You may wish to check out the film series based upon Agatha Raisin. It's quite fun.

This is a British mystery-comedy about Murder by Quiche in a quaint English village. Someone has poisoned one of the quiches in the village baking contest resulting in the death of one of the judges, but who is responsible and why? Agatha Raisin is determined to find the killer since it was her quiche. Written in the same vein as the Agatha Christie novels, it has a cast of quirky characters and British terms I've never heard before. Love that.

I got the audible version, which was free to the store Prime members. The British actress who reads it is fantastic, she changes up voices for dialogue and really brings the book to life. I recommend getting the audible over the regular book.

I just stumbled across this delightful cozy mystery in Audible's channels,  under Get Hooked: Series Starters... I seriously forget how much I love a good cozy mystery. That is until I find myself snuggled up with another good one!
When Agatha Raisin takes an early retirement and moves into the country, things do not go as planned... Penelope Keith does a wonderful job narrating this story, and as Audible's channels suggests, I'm hooked!

If compressed to... say half the length, it would be a great book. I started reading the Agatha Raisin series with high hopes. With so many books published in the series, people can't be wrong. Or so I thought. The story could be okay, but the lengthy descriptions made it a very boring read for me. I'm not interested in how many wrinkles the dress of the characters have. I'm not interested in how they apply their makeup. Roughly half the story is irrelevant rambling about what people are wearing. I only give it 4 stars because I hoped that after some initial feedback, the rest of the series would get better in this sense. (Spoiler: it didn't.)

Reading about Agatha Raisin is quite a change after getting familiar with Hamish Macbeth.
Although both series are about human condition and flaws of human nature, Agatha Raisin doesn’t have the likeable quality Hamish Macbeth has. Being the child of alcoholic parents, Agatha, is not able to have intimate relationships, keeping others at a distance; therefore the story line doesn’t have the same possibilities or the warmth Hamish Macbeth books have. I enjoyed the writing style and the book but didn’t find the main character likeable. I plan on reading more Agatha Raisin books, which don’t seem to have addictive qualities Hamish Macbeth books have, in the future, hoping she gets more relatable with each book.

I enjoy MC Beaton's regency romance novels, so didn't hesitate to purchase this audiobook when audible.com offered this as a Daily Deal. It makes tongue in cheek reference to Miss Marple and Agatha Raisin enjoys reading Agatha Christie novels. It's all in good fun! And Agatha Raisin is a hoot. She's pushy and crass and sees herself as tough as nails. But her softer side peeks out often enough to make her palatable, and the softening of her edges as she becomes part of her new village community is sweet. She's definitely never boring! And her crass speech was so unexpected that it catches the reader by surprise and made me laugh.

I'll be reading more Agatha Raisin books in the future, for a fun, light diversion.

I got started with the author's Agatha Raisin series with one of the later books and found myself entirely out of sympathy with the central character. The only reason I continued to read the novels was because I thoroughly enjoyed some of the other characters. Once I got started with this volume, I began to understand the character better and enjoyed the book immensely. I was outright laughing in several spots with tears running down my face over some of the repartee between Agatha and her former employee Roy.

While the author still does not indulge much in descriptive prose, she is much better in this book than in the others I've read. I had a definite feeling of ambiance throughout, which I haven't had in the other books. I can certainly understand that many of the more blunt references to the environs are intended to evoke feelings already developed in readers who have had prior experience with the series without seeming repetitious.

The use of food and dining imagery also seems much more appropriate in this book, since it is obvious that Agatha's inexperience in the kitchen is actually at the heart of the story. There is no sense that the author is using it as a means to escape the descriptive narrative that is necessary when the characters interact in different venues. In fact in the narrative that exists there is a very thorough and evocative feeling of ambiance as well as a wide variety of locations where action takes place.

As a mystery it is very well constructed. There are enough subjects of speculation for the reader to assess, sufficient probable cause among them to confuse, and ample carefully placed clues to solve the mystery. The dénouement is not contrived, either, so the reader does not feel the author cheated by manipulating the plot to make the thing come out with A rather than THE solution.

The characters in this, the first of the series, are all delightful and fully presented. I was especially fond of Roy Silver and of Bill Wong, both of whom appear in the later works. Here the Roy character, like Melrose Plant for Aunt Agatha in the Inspector Jury novels, The Man with a Load of Mischief, operates as a perfect foil for Agatha creating some truely comedic moments throughout the book. Bill opperates as her conscience, reflecting Agatha back to herself, so she realizes and reflects on some of her behavior. I also really enjoyed the Boggles, the ultimate elderly couple; I've worked with elderly people in their 80s and 90s, and while all elderly people are not the same, I still recognize all the controlling behaviors, all the manipulative machinations to go one step beyond what another person is willing to do, and how truely frustrating it can be. Machiavelli, The Art of War & the Prince, could learn a thing or two!

Enjoyable and well crafted.

I'm so happy to have found this series earlier this year. The Quiche of Death, the first offering of the series, reeled me in and I've been reading about Agatha Raisin's life in Carsely ever since. I love English village cozies like no other. Agatha is not someone with whom I have a lot in common, but I can see her being a casual friend. James is interesting at this point. Mrs. Bloxby, Bill Wong, the cleaning lady, and the ladies of the women's society are all delightful, and the setting is ideal. I enjoyed Agatha's silliness in trying to win the quiche contest and her attempts to be accepted into the village very much. This book has been reviewed so many times that there is nothing I can add except to give my encouragement to anyone who is determining whether or not to give it a try. Do!

As a devoted fan of M. C. Beaton's Hamish Macbeth series, I was intrigued to keep reading reviews of Hamish Macbeth books by people who claimed they liked the Agatha Raisin series better. But every time I contemplated the title, Agatha Raisin and the Quiche of Death, it just seemed too tongue in cheek to be possibly any good. Well, I was wrong. Although the book couldn't be any more satirical and much punnier than it is, the book works very well both as a straight story and as a satire. It's like getting two books for the price of one.

Since the Hamish Macbeth series started first, let me address Hamish Macbeth fans first: Think of Agatha Raisin as being one of the optimistic incomers to Lochdubh who hope for peace and tranquility without realizing what village life in Sutherland is really like. But Agatha has mostly good intentions (except towards the women in the area who drive her batty) instead of being an incipient homicidal maniac like the incomers in Sutherland. Agatha is also her own woman, and not about to take any prisoners she doesn't have to. Like Hamish, she has a crime-solving partner, Bill Wong (of the local detectives), who helps her in ways she doesn't always appreciate (like Priscilla Halburton-Smythe does for Hamish). Agatha is based, however, in the gentle Cotswolds so there won't be too many stories about brutal winter blizzards in this series. You won't miss hearing about Strathbane.

In this inaugural book, Agatha has just sold her PR firm in London (where she succeeded by being a blunt instrument in plying journalists with meals and drink and then shaking them down for stories) and decided to retire to a cottage in the Cotswolds, an area she had once visited as a child. Naturally, she has a romanticized view of what life there will be like. Having been a busy businesswoman, she now finds herself not quite sure how to fill her time. Although she had made no friends in London, she expects to make many in rural Carsely. People nod and are friendly, but it goes no further. Agatha soon makes an enemy of her next door neighbor by stealing her housekeeper. While catching up on her reading of Agatha Christie mysteries, Agatha decides she needs to get everyone's attention. Why not win a prize for baking?

Plotting her strategy, Agatha invites the quiche competition judge, Reginald Cummings-Browne, and his wife, Vera, to an expensive dinner (expecting to curry favor as it were in the quiche wars). Agatha instead ends up with a very large bill and a not very high opinion of the Cummings-Brownes. Agatha makes a quick foray to London to buy a wonderful spinach quiche that she enters as her own.

But her plot is soon foiled when the woman who always wins the quiche competition once again triumphs. Agatha leaves her quiche behind in disgust, and Vera Cummings-Browne takes it home as a snack for her husband. That night, he eats the quiche and dies of poison! Naturally, there's a police investigation and Agatha has to confess that she cheated.

Feeling like she will never make it in Carsely after such a large faux pas, Agatha begins to think she should move out and go back to London. Soon, she's between two islands of discord and not sure what to do.

The police decide that the poisoning was an accidental death, but Agatha's not so sure. Before long, she starts acting on her urge to detect . . . with consequences that definitely heat up the story.

Where most detective stories are mostly about a crime and the process of uncovering the criminal, that element retreats into the background in this book. Instead, Agatha's search for happiness is the main focus of the story. The crime and its solution are merely incidents along the way. I liked that element. In fact, this would have been a very entertaining story even if it hadn't contained a mystery.

Any time your attention threatens to flag, you can just sit there and chuckle over the outrageous satirical elements. Although you know they are overdone, you can't help but laugh . . . as you might at good burlesque sketches with imaginative pie throwing.

Although I haven't read past this book in the Agatha Raisin series, I would have to say that Agatha could displace Hamish as number one in my affections for M. C. Beaton characters.

Enjoy!

Agatha Raisin, a sharp-tongued middle aged woman, debuts in this cozy set in the Cotswolds of England. Agatha, tired of London and the publicity business, sells out and buys a cottage in the village of Carsely. Wanting desperately to fit in, she enters a baking contest in the village, but resorts to cheating when she enters a store bought quiche instead of her own. When the judge of the contest dies from eating the quiche, all fingers point to Agatha and she must admit to all that she cheated.

All the while, Agatha becomes more and more curious about the poison found in the murder victim, and wanting to clear her name, Agatha sets out to find the real killer. Helping her (when everyone else shuns her) are Mrs. Bloxsby, the vicar's wife, and Detective Bill Wong. Future love-interest, James Lacey, is also introduced in this hilarious romp of a mystery.

M.C. Beaton is also the author of the much-loved Hamish McBeth mystery series, and shows her sense of humor in this series. Agatha's antics are legendary, and at times, I laughed out loud at some of the silly things that she does. Agatha's low self-esteem (hidden under a rough, blustery exterior) makes you root for her even when she pushes everyone away. I especially like the scenes in which Agatha tries to make herself appear younger (wearing tons of make-up that runs, high-heeled shoes for a walk, etc.) because she becomes much more human and lovable to the reader. If you have not read this series and you like cozy mysteries, ask yourself what you are waiting for, and get all of the books in the series! Then curl up with a cup of tea and enjoy!

As a child Agatha Raisin was taken to the Cotswolds on vacation and fell in love with the area. Ever since that one visit she has made her plans to go back to the Cotswolds to live, and as this book opens she is about to do just that for Agatha was retiring. She had built her public-relations firm into a very successful enterprise and has now sold it and bought a cottage in Carsely where she plans to spend the rest of her days although she begins to wonder if she has made the right decision even before her retirement party begins.

As a hard-nosed executive in London, Agatha had made few if any friends but was so busy with her career that she never noticed. Once she settles into her cottage in Carsely she becomes keenly aware that she is lonely and isolated. The people are friendly enough but she can tell there is a distance in their friendliness so she sets out to be fully accepted. Winning the local baking contest she decides will put her well on the road toward acceptance so she enters the quiche category. Unfortunately she has never learned to cook so she makes a trip to London and buys a spinach quiche, disguises it as her own and enters it in the contest. The judge of the contest however has a tendency to award the prize to his favorites and Agatha's entry does not win. Not yet knowing that the judge is a philanderer who always picks the entries of his companions, Agatha storms out leaving her quiche on the table. The next thing that she knows, the judge has eaten some of her quiche at home and has dropped dead. Poisoned quiche is the cause of death.

Agatha is a suspect for only a short while because Detective Constable Bill Wong asks her to show him how she made her quiche and is soon quite certain that the irascible Mrs. Raisin couldn't produce an edible quiche if her life depended on it. The death is in fact ruled an accident because the police believe that the cowbane, which killed the judge, got tragically mixed in with the spinach that went into the dish. That answer is just a little too neat for Agatha however and she begins to snoop around. Along the way she is physically attacked by one of the late judge's harem and has a hex put on her by another of the dear departed's lady friends. She also uncovers a lot of dirt that has no relation to the judge's death what so ever, but she finally hits on what really happened and is almost killed for her efforts. She does however begin to find herself accepted by the people of her new hometown and she has a bunch of new friends almost before she knows what's happening.

This is the first entry in the Agatha Raisin mystery series and the reader is introduced to a cast of characters that I assume will continue to play major roles in future stories. The reader is also introduced to Agatha who is pushy, loud, opinionated, and rude and sometimes foul-mouthed but she also exhibits a vulnerable side that makes her character very interesting. By the end of the book, the fierce London executive who doesn't seem to have a romantic bone in her body, has a crush on her neighbor and is the proud owner of a new kitten that she lies in the floor and plays with.

The depth of the characters along with a quality mystery combine to make this a very enjoyable and interesting warm fuzzy mystery. Be warned however that all is not always warm and fuzzy when Agatha gets her dander up and heaven help anyone who gets in her way. I'm just glad that I don't like spinach quiche!

Although mysteries aren't my favorite genre this book managed to capture my attention right away. The main protagonist, Agatha Raisin, is a middle-aged business woman who has made enough cash to retire. She decides to buy a home in a little town and has some difficulty adjusting to small town life and comes to the realization that she is seriously lacking in people skills. Being a sales person she's spent years bulling and talking people into things but when it comes to small talk and making friends she hasn't a clue as to how to go about it. Needing to make herself known, she decides to enter a baking contest but because she can't cook she buys a quiche and enters it under her name. Unfortunately, the quiche is taken home by a local couple and the husband croaks after eating it. Someone, it seems, poisoned said quiche and may have it out for Agatha who then decides to become an amateur sleuth which doesn't much endear her to the locals.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and will be sure to pick up the sequels. I was surprised to have loved the abrasive bordering on mean Agatha so much, probably because she just couldn't seem to help herself. She truly has zero people skills when the book begins. I'm actually interested in seeing where she goes with the characters set up in this book.

For months now some of my reading friends have been praising Agatha Raisin, the female detective who has got her life through the pen of M.C.Beaton. It took me some time to finally buy some of the books, but one day a packet came from the store with the three first ones. In the middle of buying and selling houses, full time work and a busy family it was not easy to sit down with the book. But you always need some resting time, and what is better then to crab a cup of ice tea, and sit out on the patio with a book. Agatha Raisin then came into my life, and here she will stay on, no doubth of that. I loved the book from the very first pages. First I was curious, this Agatha, who is she? Then amazed of this woman selling her promotion company in London to move out into the storybook English village, then I had to laugh, laugh alot ....She is for sure no Miss Marple, and no Penelope from Rosamunde Pilcher. She is truly something unique, a woman you have to love because she is so human, with her faults and everything. In her attempt to become one of the villagers, Agatha decides to take part in the country fair. No cook though she buys a quich from a London deli, quite sure that this one has to be a winner. Of course it is not, it is even a very bad quich, and when the judge eats from it he dies of poisoning. Well, from here the story goes on, with Agatha trying to find the murderer when eveybody else tend to believe it was just an accident. With this book I can promise you hours of fun, and if you are about to sell a house you might need to do as Agatha does, tell people the house is already sold when the come to look at it. I am glad I already have the second book to dive into, but what about my house selling???

This is the first of the Agatha Raisin series. I had never read any in this series before. I have read one of her Hamish Macbeth mysteries. I truly enjoyed this book. I will be reading many more Agatha Raisin books. She is a grumpy character in the beginning of the book but as time goes on, she mellows (not lots). I like the characters she interacts with. I usually don't enjoy British cozies as I tend to prefer books set in America. But I read this for an e-mail mystery discussion I am in and really enjoyed it.
Agatha Raisin retires from her PR firm she has sold. She moves to the Cotswolds -- the dream of her life. Quickly she finds herself bored and tries to get the village to notice her. There is a death and then when she starts asking questions, she ends up getting into a lot of trouble. I also enjoyed Detective Bill Wong and her friend and ex-employee Roy. They liven up the story. James Lacey that comes into the story near the end appears to liven things up as well.
I believe there are 9-10 others in this series. Can't wait to read another!

This is the book that started it all for me. Once you start the Agatha Raisin series you will never want to read another author again! Beaton is absolutely THE BEST there is! I enjoy the audible versions as Penelope Keith portrays the voice of Agatha so well! Beaton is a mastermind at these mysteries and creates a vivid world with true to life characters! Beaton is blessed with remarkable talent!!

Crawl into the cozy of the Cotswalds with Agatha Raisin, who makes her debut as unorthodox heroine to the menopausal set. Taking a well earned early retirement to the village of Carsley, Agatha tries to adapt her presumptuous and pushy personality to the cozy and contentious community life. Aggressive Agatha is clueless in the deportment department, but determined to fit into her imagined idyllic retirement at any cost. And never imagines that the store bought quiche she enters into the village cooking contest will kill someone. Agatha's allure lies in her complete lack of tact and charm, her assertive aplomb, shrewd intellect, rude responses, and the little glimpses the reader is permitted of the human Agatha. The scenery is splendidly sketched, the cast of characters outrageous but somehow believable, and this middle aged mama's only complaint is that this book ends all too quickly - but hold on - this is a series, and more Agatha awaits.

This book is the first in the series and the first one I have read. I really enjoyed it. I had read several of the Hamish Macbeth series, like them and thought I would try this. I am so glad I did. Agatha Raisin sells her business and moves to a small village. She is determined to become a part of the town so she enters the quiche contest, but she can't cook so she buys a quiche and enters it. She does not win but supposedly her quiche ends up at the home of Mr. Cummings-Brown. He dies from being poisoned and all fingers point to Agatha's quiche. Thery was a plant it it that caused his death. The police say it was a accident, after their investigation but Agatha thinks it was murder. She sets out ot prove it. Along the way are many, many interesting characters. Her good friend Roy, the people at the Red Lion Inn, so many good examples of everyday people. I could just see them and the houses they lived in and the country side. An excellent book. I could just feel like I was there and I think it would be great to live in a place like this.

M.C. Beaton's cozy mysteries have been on my "To Be Read" list for a long time, and I was thrilled for the opportunity to review the first audiobook in Beaton's Agatha Raisin series, Agatha Raisin and the Quiche of Death.

Agatha Raisin, a former Public Relations exec, takes early retirement to fulfill a lifelong dream to buy a cottage in the Cotswolds. Her parents took her there on a family vacation when she was a child, and she never forgot the village's beauty and charm and vowed to retire there one day. The neighbours and village residents are friendly enough, always calling out a congenial greeting, but Agatha is lonely. She longs for the hustle and bustle of London and wonders whether she has made a horrid mistake in selling her PR firm and moving to the countryside. Agatha's work was her life, and she had little time for or interest in maintaining friendships. This is made all the more apparent when no one comes to call on her.

Desperate to win over the residents of the village, Agatha enters a local baking competition. The only problem is that she has never baked or cooked in her life, but that doesn't stop Agatha! Ever the shrewd one, she travels to a London bakery renowned for its quiches and buys one to pass off as her own in the competition. She is shocked to lose to the local favourite, who wins every year. Disgusted by the obvious favouritism displayed by the judge, she tells them to discard her quiche in the trash.

The judge's wife decides not to waste Agatha's quiche, and she takes it home to her husband. When he winds up dead, Agatha's poisoned quiche is to blame.

I cannot recall when I have met a more entertaining protagonist! Agatha Raisin is a woman who is used to getting what she wants, and I enjoyed seeing her thrown off her game by the village locals. She is a determined woman, and she does not give up so easily. Her assistant, Roy, is the closest thing to a friend that she has, and his quirkiness is a great complement to her stuffiness. I also really enjoyed Agatha's unlikely friendship with policeman, Bill Wong, which came across as very warm and genuine.

Beaton writes a clever mystery! Add to that a memorable heroine, such as Agatha Raisin, and lots of humour and you have a winning combination! Beaton's prose conjures up such vivid imagery in my mind, and I found myself whisked away to the Cotswolds with Agatha Raisin as though I was really there!

There could not be a more perfect narrator than Penelope Keith, who made me feel like I was sitting down with her over a cup of tea as she regaled me with Agatha's exploits. I love Keith's accent, and it made me feel even more immersed in England's countryside.

I am hooked on Agatha Raisin! I cannot wait to read more of this fun series, which is the crème de la crème of cozy mysteries!

I received this audiobook from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. I did not receive any compensation for my review, and the views expressed herein are my own.

It's a comparatively long time for me to get a great affection for another mystery series. Agatha, though reminding me and many readers of Agatha Christie and making us assume Agatha must be like Miss. Marple, has a really interesting character. Considering getting a taxi pushing a guy, she's tough, but from her past history, she is pathetic. Aside from her strong character and career, she needs an affection and concerns from the others. I laughed when her attitude reversed when getting a hope on James Lacey after hearing Bill Wong's tip on his sister. Anyway..the thing I like to comment is that the crown jewel of this series is Agatha Raisin. I ordered the sequal series already, and I am looking forward to getting a free time to absorb myself in Agatha's adventures.
I read the other series of Hamish, and it seems to be really interesting. M.C. Beaton's writing is really smooth and easy to read. Reading this, I thought I watched another TV series of Jessica Fletcher hearing some rhythmical and bright music.

I LOVE this series. Agatha is quirky, cranky, vulnerable and loveable. She is not your typical cozy mystery character. She gets herself into the most humorous situations. In this book Agatha turns to deception in order to win the hearts of the residents in the village of Carsely. I found myself smiling as I read Agatha's thoughts. She is unpleasant and abrasive at times but I found myself loving it.

Agatha has a strong personality but the author doesn't let that stand in the way of a good old fashioned whodunit.

The plot was clever and I was guessing until the end. I have read the first 6 books in this series and I plan to read the entire series.

For a casual home sleuth ( one of the best kinds really) Agatha Raisin is someone who gets to the point which is exactly why I would want to read a mystery with her in it. This character doesn't beat around the bush and does it with her own flair and style, I think anyone can read this and reap some sort of pleasure from it, one doesn't have to belong to some secret Cozy Cub to get "it". I have thoroughly enjoyed Agatha's intelligence and wit, and towards the end there was some insanely hilarious bits, I was laughing like a mad women reading this, I must have startled my pets because they gave me weird looks. This is the first in what looks like a super duper fun small English village series, the world of precious cottages isn't too far from London, so there is tons of opportunities for urban action that make this more current than it would seem. Raisin decides to retire while in her early fifties to a charming town full of cottages, to her luck a murder happens right after her arrival, well it has something to do with her considering that her effort to blend in and enter a baking competition ends up in a poisoned judge. The story is thicker than frosting and Raisin has her feet deep into a dynamic of a town she's new to through a sharp scandal. From the get go I could tell that it's a town she will forever leave a mark on because being accused of baking the Quiche that killed a male judge isn't a great way to start. When a poisoned plant is called as a culprit Raisin does her best to get to the bottom of this weird accident, especially since she didn't even bake the cake herself.. I don't want to say more other than it was full of whacky characters, which stood out, for once I could actually tell who was who, how refreshing.

This was really wonderful; a perfect Sunday read that spilled into Tuesday as I needed time to read in peace. I laughed and thought hard, being wrong in the end was strangely very satisfying when the whole story lined up in front of my eyes, I had such fun that I simply couldn't let it go, I wanted to take another bus ride with Agatha with the rain on the window, her drinks in the Red Lion, or simply to see what new microwave meal she found while learning how to cook for herself. Those fun bits made it cozy, I supposed the proof is in the pudding so go ahead reader, read it.

- Kasia S.

I love cozy mysteries, but in the past I've felt very much that audios of cozy mysteries are hit and miss. It takes a very special narrator to narrate the subtle art of cozy mysteries, with their delicate and colourful characters in small villages, where murder lies. Having said that I think I have finally found a narrator that does this genre justice. That narrator is Penelope Keith, actress to many BBC comedies. However, before I wax on the wonder of Penelope Keith, let's talk about Agatha Raisin.

I have a love for eccentric older, british sleuths. Miss Marple is my all time favorite sleuths. Sadly there are no more Miss Marple mysteries for me to discover, and I'm constantly looking for another similar sleuth. I have found this in spunky, always-speaks-her-mind Agatha Raisin. Agatha has decided to follow her dream and retiring early to a village in the Cotswold. She's sold her PR business and moves to the village of Carsley. However Agatha is surprised when she isn't welcomed with open arms. The vicar doesn't visit and she gets dubbed an "incomer". Determined to make herself popular Agatha enters a quiche baking contest. Having never learnt to bake, Agatha decides to buy a quiche and pass it off as her own. However, when the judge turns up dead, poisoned by her quiche, it is going to take all of Agatha's talents to find the killer in this quiet village.

Alike to Agatha I have dreams one day of retiring in a little village. All the most interesting people seem to live in villages, and Agatha certainly meets her fair share of them in Carsley. Of course Agatha has the knack of taking any situation from ordinary to extraordinary with her spunk and frank way of dealing with things. I loved the way how Agatha tried to take her London ways and use them to fit in with the residents of Carsley. Everything from stealing her neighbour's cleaning lady to using her PR skills to run a country charity auction.

This was my first Agatha Raisin book and it certainly won't be my last. I intend to make my way through this series, continuing with Agatha Raisin and the Vicious Vet very shortly.

Penelope Keith is the narrator for this first Agatha Raisin book, and I'm not sure I will ever be able to imagine anyone else as the narrator. She gives voice to not just Agatha perfectly, but also to all the characters of the Cotswold villagers. However, perhaps the best example of her range of voices belongs to Roy, the always outrageous Londoner, who used to work with Agatha, and makes many visits out to Carsley and tries to help Agatha fit in and investigate the murder. Penelope Keith is absolute pitch perfect as the narrator, and I can't recommend her high enough. She gives a great voice to this first book of the series and together with M.C. Beaton will have me coming back for more.

If you haven't read M.C. Beaton, and especially this book, you're missing a treat. This first book in the Agatha Raisin series is at times hilarious, sad, frustrating, and just plain fun. I have to say I had to read several in the series before I forgave this curmudgeonly character her obvious flaws, but now I wonder how I ever lived without her. She's just so very...human. I especially liked the plot of this mystery as well as its resolution. Highly, highly recommended to give yourselves hours of pleasure in London and the Cotswolds and enjoy a good mystery to boot. It's a not-so-cozy cozy and I love it.

I gotta confess that I was turned onto this book series only after I was looking for something of the sort after devouring all through the Goldy Bear series of Diane Mott Davidson. However, this quiche was all it took for me to become absolutely hooked. I've long since found all the rest of the books in the series and read them. I love them! Agatha Raisin is a very well developed character. She's laugh-out-loud funny, sarcastic, and in her very own grouchy way, quite endearing. The book's storyline develops along seamlessly and in a very interesting manner. I'd read that the British cozy movement had a great friend in M.C. Beaton. I definitely agree and recommend this book wholeheartedly to every mystery junkie and just about anyone with the itch to get their hands on a good book...or a good way not to mess up a quiche contest.

...And great fun to read! Agatha first comes across as hard to take, but pretty soon we begin to appreciate her vulnerability. Set in the Cotswold villages of Britain, Agatha's adventures are closely tied in with her inability to safely navigate normal social life amongst the village. The supporting cast is wonderfully diverse, and the humor that is liberally sprinkled throughout Agatha's observations and experiences kept me thoroughly entertained chapter to chapter. I don't much care for series, but look forward to reading more in this one. I appreciated that it was PG rated, and that the main emphasis was on characterization and solving the mystery. No blood and guts.

I am a very late-comer to this series, this first book having first been published in 1992. It was recommended to me by a fellow mystery lover. I truly enjoyed this book. I was less fascinated by the mystery of whodunnit than by the personality of Agatha Raisin. I found it quite refreshing that an author has written a main character that is not so very likeable, at least throughout most of the book. It was fun to see her push her way through situations and to be so brutally honest with her opinions; too often, the main character is too nice and sweet. The crime is fairly easy to solve, but that did not matter so much to me as I enjoyed the writer's style and, as stated already, Agatha Raisin. I will definitely be buying the rest of the series.

I came to this after reading lots of M. C. Beaton's Hamish MacBeth mysteries. This one has the same local color--in this case mellower on the surface because the Cotswolds don't have quite the same dourly forbidding quality at the Scottish highlands--and the same wonderfully eccentric supporting characters. Agatha Raisin is a complex character, not easy to like, but probably ultimately hard not to love, as she starts to blend in with the people of Carsley. (The Agatha who lies on her kitchen floor throwing balls of tin foil to her kitten would be unrecognizable to the tough-cookie Agatha of London public relations fame!)
As with most of the Hamish books, the fun here isn't in who did the murder but in how Agatha figures it out.

I always enjoy reading any of the Agatha Raisin books. They are fun and Agatha is never afraid of stating her opinions. The mystery is not that suspenseful or difficult to figure out who is the murderer. I read this series because I enjoy Agatha. That said, if you want a light but enjoyable read, pick this series up. You won't be sorry.

It's not often that I get really excited about a new series and a new author. Although I'd read one or two Hamish McBeth books, I had never cracked an Agatha Rasin before. I wonder what I was waiting for. This was a great book, and a wonderful heroine. Really nobody can write an English cozy like M.C. Beaton! Agatha is wonderful. A tough, but vulnerable heroine, trying to make a place for herself in a clicky English village. The characters in the book are as quirky as you can get, but very endearing. Agatha is suitably eccentric, and a real treasure! I can hardly wait to read more in this series.

Agatha Raisin decides to retire and move to the country. She picks the small town of Carsely based on the memory of a vacation she took as a child.

As a way to try to gain acceptance in her new home town, she enters a quiche baking contest. She has never baked a thing in her life, so she makes a trip up to London and buys a quiche from a bakery.

When she doesn't win the contest she angrily tells her new neighbors to throw it away. Instead of throwing it away, the neighbor takes it home to eat for supper. The neighbor's husband ends up dead after eating the quiche.

Was it an accident? Was it murder?

We follow Agatha through her investigation of how the poison could have possibly gotten into the quiche.

It was an enjoyable story. As others have mentioned, I noticed many typos and name switches. Those were distracting.

I think one can tell from the title that this novel is intended as a cosy mystery and it does exactly what it says on the tin. I won't spend much time on the plot, except to say our eponymous heroine takes early retirement to the countryside where, due to her unfailingly competitive streak, she finds herself in the frame for murder. The story centres around her search for the actual culprit.
Agatha isn't the most instantly likeable fictional character, but I found myself warming to her because of the intelligent and tenacious way she sticks with her investigations, long after she needs to.
This, the first of the series, is the first Agatha Raisin I've read, and I'm looking forward to discovering more about her as she solves the murders which I know are just going to keep crossing her path.
An enjoyable, uncomplicated read.
[[...]

I read this Agatha Raisin book a few years ago and was thrilled to reread it on my Kindle. How fun to enjoy Agatha's changing life and meet her new friends (and not so friendly neighbors) when she retires and moves to the country. That she becomes involved in a murder mystery adds to the fun. I love Agatha Raisin. She's not a great beauty. She's fiesty and imperfect. She makes mistakes. She makes me laugh. What a great heroine.

I am a very late-comer to this series, this first book having first been published in 1992. It was recommended to me by a fellow mystery lover. I truly enjoyed this book. I was less fascinated by the mystery of whodunnit than by the personality of Agatha Raisin. I found it quite refreshing that an author has written a main character that is not so very likeable, at least throughout most of the book. It was fun to see her push her way through situations and to be so brutally honest with her opinions; too often, the main character is too nice and sweet. The crime is fairly easy to solve, but that did not matter so much to me as I enjoyed the writer's style and, as stated already, Agatha Raisin. I will definitely be buying the rest of the series.

I came to this after reading lots of M. C. Beaton's Hamish MacBeth mysteries. This one has the same local color--in this case mellower on the surface because the Cotswolds don't have quite the same dourly forbidding quality at the Scottish highlands--and the same wonderfully eccentric supporting characters. Agatha Raisin is a complex character, not easy to like, but probably ultimately hard not to love, as she starts to blend in with the people of Carsley. (The Agatha who lies on her kitchen floor throwing balls of tin foil to her kitten would be unrecognizable to the tough-cookie Agatha of London public relations fame!)
As with most of the Hamish books, the fun here isn't in who did the murder but in how Agatha figures it out.

I always enjoy reading any of the Agatha Raisin books. They are fun and Agatha is never afraid of stating her opinions. The mystery is not that suspenseful or difficult to figure out who is the murderer. I read this series because I enjoy Agatha. That said, if you want a light but enjoyable read, pick this series up. You won't be sorry.

It's not often that I get really excited about a new series and a new author. Although I'd read one or two Hamish McBeth books, I had never cracked an Agatha Rasin before. I wonder what I was waiting for. This was a great book, and a wonderful heroine. Really nobody can write an English cozy like M.C. Beaton! Agatha is wonderful. A tough, but vulnerable heroine, trying to make a place for herself in a clicky English village. The characters in the book are as quirky as you can get, but very endearing. Agatha is suitably eccentric, and a real treasure! I can hardly wait to read more in this series.

Agatha Raisin decides to retire and move to the country. She picks the small town of Carsely based on the memory of a vacation she took as a child.

As a way to try to gain acceptance in her new home town, she enters a quiche baking contest. She has never baked a thing in her life, so she makes a trip up to London and buys a quiche from a bakery.

When she doesn't win the contest she angrily tells her new neighbors to throw it away. Instead of throwing it away, the neighbor takes it home to eat for supper. The neighbor's husband ends up dead after eating the quiche.

Was it an accident? Was it murder?

We follow Agatha through her investigation of how the poison could have possibly gotten into the quiche.

It was an enjoyable story. As others have mentioned, I noticed many typos and name switches. Those were distracting.

I think one can tell from the title that this novel is intended as a cosy mystery and it does exactly what it says on the tin. I won't spend much time on the plot, except to say our eponymous heroine takes early retirement to the countryside where, due to her unfailingly competitive streak, she finds herself in the frame for murder. The story centres around her search for the actual culprit.
Agatha isn't the most instantly likeable fictional character, but I found myself warming to her because of the intelligent and tenacious way she sticks with her investigations, long after she needs to.
This, the first of the series, is the first Agatha Raisin I've read, and I'm looking forward to discovering more about her as she solves the murders which I know are just going to keep crossing her path.
An enjoyable, uncomplicated read.
[[...]

I read this Agatha Raisin book a few years ago and was thrilled to reread it on my Kindle. How fun to enjoy Agatha's changing life and meet her new friends (and not so friendly neighbors) when she retires and moves to the country. That she becomes involved in a murder mystery adds to the fun. I love Agatha Raisin. She's not a great beauty. She's fiesty and imperfect. She makes mistakes. She makes me laugh. What a great heroine.

I was so excited to discover M.C. Beaton's work this summer in her Agatha Raisin book entitled "The Quiche of Death". The book surprised me in its ability to keep me laughing and guessing at the identity of the murderer simultaneously. So many books in the mystery genre today are predictable and Beaton's book was refreshing in that it kept me guessing until the end.
I am going to continue reading the rest of the series, as well as Beaton's newest series, to be introduced later this summer.

This is an outstanding mystery, full of everything required to make it thoroughly enjoyable. This is the first of the Agatha Raisin books -- and DO read it first! How I wish I'd read it before the others in the series. It explains so much. It sets up Agatha's character as a complete persona and sets up the entire village, its life, geographic structure, characters and their livelihoods. If you are a fan of lighter mysteries -- especially with female detectives, be sure to check this out. Wow!!

Blush - I've been a reader of Michael Connelly, Robert B. Parker, Joseph Heywood, and Robert Crais. In short, he-man stuff. The kind of book that you can depend will end with a shoot-out. I'm extremely grateful for having discovered the Agatha Raisin books. Obviously not because they end with a hail of lead, but because she is just an outstanding writer, and Agatha is a wonderful character. I only wish P.G. Wodehouse were alive to enjoy the series - he'd have loved it.

I still remember my first time reading this book! I have never laughed out loud reading a book before, but this changed it all! The book is well written for a nice light read that you can read in a day or two. I still go back and read it when I have a little down time and I still laugh and just can't put it down. This is the first in the Agatha Raisin series and the others are just as delightful. If you have a day or two and need to escape or need something to read on a relaxing vacation this is it!

I heard the first chapter of Agatha Raisin and the Quiche of Death as a filler advertisement on another audiobook. It was witty and fresh and unexpectedly delightful; it tickled my mind so that I could scarcely wait to hear the whole thing. The novel held its early promise through to the very last chapter. It is simultaneously a cozy and a parody of cozies. Highly recommended!

Only agatha raisin could get into such an embarassing predicament. Not only by accident,but by attempted deception also,does our dear,insecure agatha stumble into another mystery.I enjoyed seeing how agatha handled her self inflicted embarassment,as well as the actual mystery itself.agatha is charmingly cranky,very funny,and,speaking from a middle-aged point of view,very easy to relate to.what a great character!Agatha is witty, yet petty,clever and very entertaining! i recommend enjoying the entire Agatha Raisin series by M.C Beaton.

This first book in the Agatha Raisin series just proves once again that MC Beaton can write. I love the character of Agatha Raisin and can see my middle=aged friends in her. I'm beginning on the rest of the series and finding them enjoyable as well. Don't expect a female Hamish MacBeth, Agatha stands alone.

I won't summarize the plot since many other reviewers have adequately done so. Like another reviewer I read MC Beaton's historical romances and loved them. So even though I like mysteries set in historical time periods, I opted to try this one since I really liked MC Beaton's style. Unfortunately, her style wasn't enough for me. I didn't find the plot nor the character interesting. The story seemed to drag in places, and neither the mystery or its discovery held my attention. I won't be reading any more Agatha Raisin. I'll stick to the historical romances and mysteries.

OK, so she's never going to win the Orange Prize, but MC Beaton succeeds in creating an intriguing, clever and barbed protagonist who I look forward to meeting again in following novels. Yes, this is a crowded and sometimes cutsey genre, but I enjoyed Agatha Raisin more than some other attempts. The "mystery" was hardly a difficult one to figure out, but it was fun to see how the characters developed as the details came together. I will skip through this series, probably an hour or so per book. Great for lazy afternoons or an indulgent hour before bed.

"Get added spice from Agatha's involvement in the Cotswold village where she's chosen to settle...
A FINE COMPLEMENT TO THE AUTHOR'S OTHER SERIES featuring Hamish Macbeth." -B-O-T Editorial Review Board
[from the back cover of audio cassette case]

If you looking for a light hearted & easy read then Agatha Raisin is your girl.
I love the way she is written and can not wait to continue to read the series.
A cozy kind of mystery. Not to deep. No blood or gore. Just a cozy little mystery read.

Agatha Raisin ROARs.

In an hilarious series of mishaps, London transplant Agatha tries to win friends in a small English village. When the quiche she enters in a village bake contest ends up poisoning the judge, she's in hot water.

Though she's cleared when detectives discover she bought the quiche in a London bakery, she stays on the case. She earns the respect of the villagers when she solves the murder.

This is the first of Agatha's adventures and still the one that I can bring to mind and enjoy a chuckle. I often go back an re-read it. Highly recommended for curling up with in front of a fire on a wintry day.

Five Stars. This book is very well written. It was hard to stop reading. The characters were so three dimensional. You could almost see them walking around in front of you. I know it sounds wierd but I laughed at the song used in the first funeral scene and then cried when it was used in the the last funeral scene. You have to read the book. Do I dare say it? This is even better than her Harry Potter books.The Casual Vacancy

M.C. Beaton's Quiche of Death not only introduced her now beloved heroine Agatha Raisin but it also kicked off my 2009 reading year. It did both with a bang.

For over eighty years readers and TV fans have shown a love for the idea of a spunky mature woman solving murders between baking pies for the church social or county fair. From Agatha Christie's Miss Marple (1927 - 1976) to Angela Lansbury as Jessica Fletcher on CBS's Murder She Wrote (1984-1996) fans eagerly awaited the next book or episode featuring their favorite unofficial detective. Perhaps it is the charm of the ladies, and their ability to outwit the "professionals" who continually underestimated the silver hair sleuths.

Now the female crime solver arena is a little more crowded. Readers enjoy such tough cookies like JD Robb's Eve Dallas to likeable, though perhaps not the best crime fighter, Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum.

The series was launched in 1992 with Agatha Raisin and the Quiche of Death by M. C. Beaton. The books are a part of the "cozy mystery" genre. Cozy mysteries are described as:

"The cozy mystery usually takes place in a small town or village. The small size of the setting makes it believable that all the suspects know each other. The amateur sleuth is usually a very likeable person who is able to get the community members to talk freely (i.e. gossip) about each other. There is usually at least one very knowledgeable and nosy (and of course, very reliable!) character in the book who is able to fill in all of the blanks, thus enabling the amateur sleuth to solve the case."
[...]

Agatha has finished a career in advertising and plans to retire to Carsley, a picture perfect village. Everything is carefully planned, boxed and shipped but after spending a lifetime pushing press and the clients around Agatha has no idea how to unwind and enjoy retirement. She immediately hatches a plan to win friends, by cheating in the local quiche contest. But as Agatha's luck would have it, the judge dies after eating her quiche. Naturally she is humiliated when she must disclose to the police that she lied about baking her own quiche. You can imagine how long that little secret stayed between Agatha and the police in the picturesque village. So, Agatha realizes to regain any dignity she must find the killer.

The mystery aspect of the book is entertaining, once they finally settle down to it. However the first half of the book focuses more on establishing the characters and setting for this series which with the debut of a new title in May 2009 includes nineteen books.

An aspect of the book I really found interesting was Agatha's inner turmoil when she reflects on how little she has to show for a lifetime focused on career, not people. Beaton does a great job of tackling this topic and I was surprised to find myself thinking about such a weighty topic in what I thought was simply a lighthearted book. Agatha is a woman readers can relate to because yes she is smart but she is also rude, vulnerable, overbearing when in control but frightened and lonely at heart.

Eventually Agatha gets her bearings in her new home and finds her killer. I enjoyed this book so much, I immediately read book two in the series: The Vicious Vet.

I highly recommend the Quiche of Death with 3.5 stars I and look forward to reading all nineteen books, probably this year.

Resources:
[...]

First in the series, so lots of time getting to know Agatha Raisin and about her move from London to the Cotswolds--all a delightful reminder of a visit I made there once upon a time. There is nothing like English village life and a cozy mystery for pure escapism. Agatha has all the flaws of humans--she cuts corners on the truth, is scathing critical of others, is easily offended--but she also bounces back from disappointments and keeps trying to squeeze everything good out of life. A likable character who isn't sappy. The mystery is really a minor part of the book but I expect the rest of the series to improve on the balance between character building, scene setting, and suspense. I'm looking forward to following Agatha's story in the next book in the series.

This book was the most fun read I’ve had in awhile. I loved Agatha and how she went about relating to everyone. Having had a streak of disappointing books made this one even better. I’m looking forward to joining Agatha as she makes her way through the series.