An Agatha Raisin Mystery (Agatha Raisin Mysteries Book 4)

Although I've read the Hamish Macbeth series by M. C. Beaton, I had not read the Agatha Raisin series, so I decided to give it a try. I'm not quite as thrilled with the character, though I have to admit I plunged into the middle of the collection when I selected something to read.

The main character, Agatha Raisin, is a PR officer in a large London firm in this book. I gathered in passing that she formerly owned her own PR firm but had retired to live in a small village to get away from the push and shove of urban living. This probably set her in a new and untried environment in order to take the series, which appears to have been a long one, along a new path, a la The Cat Who Mysteries (where the Quill character moves to a north woods community in the Central United States, abandoning the high pressure career of journalism in big cities like Chicago and New York, The Cat Who Went Underground.) She is truculent but endearing and reminds me of the Aunt Agatha character in the Inspector Jury series by Martha Grimes, The Anodyne Necklace (Richard Jury Mystery) and The Old Fox Deceiv'd (Richard Jury Mystery), except that she lacks the straight man foil that Melrose Plant provides his own Agatha.

The collateral characters were interesting, but because I didn't start at the beginning, I felt that there was a lot unsaid about them, because I had not met them when they were first introduced. For the same reason, I felt a considerable emotional disconnect when the plot travelled from London to Carsely and then to Dembley, etc. I can only advise the reader new to the series to start at the beginning, as I shall do myself, in order to gain a good sense of who everyone is. While I was aware of A history in each venue, I was not really aware of The history. It made me realize how important it is to take each book in order.

The plot was well arranged, with plenty of carefully crafted red herrings strewn along the way. There was a beginning, middle and end to it that provided a satisfying who-dunnit conclusion; that is, the reader does not feel manipulated or cheated by the denouement. The setting is late twentieth century England with the same concerns as those one expects of a first world country approaching the twenty first.

For those readers who like more of a sense of ambience to their mysteries as I do, the book will be something of a disappointment. This is not like Jacqueline Winspear's series, Maisie Dobbs (Book 1) and The Mapping of Love and Death (Maisie Dobbs, Book 7), where the mood of the words and the rhythm of the prose create a sense of emotional environment and a visual image of the venue. For those who enjoy a playful, fast paced work without a lot of verbiage between the dialogues, you will be pleased. This is much like Lillian Jackson Braun's series, The Cat Who mysteries, The Cat Who Could Read Backwards (Cat Who...) and The Cat Who Dropped A Bombshell (Cat Who...) or Joanne Fluke's Minnesota series, Cream Puff Murder (Hannah Swensen Mysteries) and Apple Turnover Murder (Hannah Swensen Mysteries).

A nice visit that invites another.

In "Agatha Raisin and the Potted Gardener", a unexpected person who had a really trivial rold in the story line was found to be a murderer, while in this book, you might guess who the murderer is.
Like the previous works, besides the murder and whodunit plot, the unusual romance of Agatha chasing James gives much laughters. Finally Agatha had a chance to live with James under the same roof!!! There is no one who can't imagine how Agatha acted to hook James.
It's Fun, but a little bit boring compared to the previous ones, but I expect to read what this energetic Agatha unfolds hilarious adventires in following series.

The Agatha Raisin series does stay fresh and remains great fun to read. In this one Agatha and James set up housekeeping in a neighbouring village in order to catch a murderer. This is enough to get Agatha going over the deep end and she imagines all kinds of scenarios with her and James. It turns out they do catch the killer in the end, and they go back to their own village. The story doesn't end there though, and Ms. Beaton keeps you hanging at the end of the book for the next installment.

Because I could not find this novel until I was well into the Agatha Raisin series, I missed how Sir Charles and Gustav became a part of Agatha' life. It also provided the background for the Murderous Marriage. Basically Agatha and James play husband and wife to investigate the murder charge against Sir Charles.You learn quite a bit about Sir charles' background and his foibles. Finally A victory for our Aggie-maybe

Part of the delight of any of M. C. Beaton's books is the eccentricity of her chracters and how that eccentricity becomes humanly recognizable for the reader. This novel, more that the earlier Agatha Raisin books, has a large cast of characters and deals with sexuality in a more direct way.
James Lacey gets a chance to be more human (despite being frustrated and confused by the complexity of his own feelings) here also.

This entry in the series keeps up the good work and offers a surprise for those who have followed the series so far. (I hope you're reading them in order!) Here Agatha gets to "play house" with James as they go undercover to solve yet another murder in the Cotswolds. Lots of good stuff happens with the ancillary characters, too.

all the agatha raisin books are a delight to read. you just want to take a break with a cup of tea, and see what trouble she gets herself into with each new book in the series. buy them all. and now they are on CD's - of course only get unabrdiged - they are mysteries, you know

This is another winner from M.C. Beaton, but not as good as many of her other works. Unlike nearly all of her other works, this is not subtable for a very young audience as it deels with issues of sex and sexuality. The maturer reader will, I'm sure, find this book as delightful as the rest.

As always, MC Beaton has written a great story. I've read all of her Hamish MacBeth books and loved them. This was my first Agatha Raisin so I'll certainly give her another chance, however I really found her to be slightly annoying. Her obsession with her gentleman friend was a bit over the top, and the fact that she smokes was also a disappointment. However, Beaton's plots are always fun and this was no exception, so I'll certainly try again.

In previous books of the series, I was mostly just bored by the lengthy descriptions. Here I'm getting frustrated by the actual storyline. Why do you have to bring this spreading "gay is the new norm" mentality into a cozy murder mystery?!