Binding: Mass Market Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 823.914
EAN: 9780312368777
ISBN: 0312368771
Label: St. Martin's Minotaur
Manufacturer: St. Martin's Minotaur
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 256
Publication Date: 2007-08-28
Publisher: St. Martin's Minotaur
Release Date: 2007-08-28
Studio: St. Martin's Minotaur

Customer Rating:
Summary: By the Brighton shore
Comment: Agatha Raisin is nothing if not determined. Determination took her out of the Birmingham slum where she spent her childhood, determination took her to London where she fought her way to the top of the PR business and led her to the Cotswold cottage that had been her childhood dream. Unfortunately no amount of determination seemed to help with her love life.

When Agatha's ex-husband and next-door neighbor, James Lacey, invited her to go on vacation with him Agatha had visions of sunny Mediterrean beaches and rekindled romance but what she got was a cold, wet rundown English resort with the unfortunately apt name of Snoth-on-Sea. Instead of pursuing lost romance, Agatha quickly found herself involved in a murder investigation, as the chief suspect no less!

This is the 17th in the popular AGATHA RAISIN series of cozy mysteries. As is common with this series the real attraction here is Agatha's life, the mysteries are only secondary to whether or not Agatha will live happily ever after, with James or Charles or anyone else. The overall story arc is so pronounced in this series that for maximum enjoyment the reader should begin at the beginning (AGATHA RAISIN AND THE QUICHE OF DEATH) and proceed in order.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Agatha rises again
Comment: Writing the traditional British cozy is a little like hand weaving. The old craft is still carried on by a few dedicated practitioners but those who buy the product expect a few modern gimmicks. In some cases the gimmick is to produce a pastiche of the genre, mocking its conventions. M C Beaton sticks to some of the old rules. Her sleuth lives in a picturesque Cotswold village and is helped by the vicar's wife. In a pious gesture to the queen of this kind of crime she is named Agatha. This was my first Beaton, so I don't know how it compares with the preceding 16 in the Agatha Raisin series. Agatha runs a detective agency. Her ex-husband takes her on a surprise vacation (sorry, holiday) to a decaying old-fashioned hotel in the decaying old-fashioned shore (sorry, seaside) resort of Soth-on-Sea run by a depressed alcoholic. The weather is terrible. The requisite murder takes place the night after they get there, with a houseful of suspects, and all plausibility is cast aside as the action rolls along at a rollicking pace. Frantic antic follows frantic antic with Agatha getting herself arrested time and time again by the local cops (sorry, constabulary).
This is not the one great book with stunning insights and deathless prose that will change your life, but you might enjoy it.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Fiesty and funny
Comment: Agatha is the spunkiest gal around. Her pursuit of James is a side issue to me. Agatha is always after one guy or another. What makes the series and this book enjoyable is the dry humor and the total shallowness of Agatha. Sure she shows brief times of having some real feelings but they are short lived and quickly scotched. This series is fast paced and funny.
I buy all of M. C. Beaton's books on audio and each listen I hear some funny quips I missed before. The real pleasure with Agatha is, she is out spoken, takes no *#% from anyone and says whats on her mind. She's shallow, self centered and goodness just like so many people I know. Except most people lack the guts to really say whats on their minds. I love the way she tells people to get buggered. lol

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Agatha Tries Again with James Lacey and Falls in with Villains
Comment: As with The Deadly Dance and The Perfect Paragon, this book can be read as a standalone if you haven't read the earlier books in the series. I do think, however, that your enjoyment will be increased if you read at least The Deadly Dance and The Perfect Paragon first . . . and seriously consider reading the excellent beginning of the series, Agatha Raisin and the Quiche of Death.

If you are a long-time fan of the series, you may be ambivalent about the reappearance of James Lacey in Agatha's life. But in Love, Lies and Liquor (the 17th book in the Agatha Raisin series) there's a shift in the relationship that makes his character somewhat less tiresome than before.

James is living next door to Agatha again and invites her to take a holiday with him to a "surprise" locale. She packs for the Mediterranean and he takes her to the rundown seaside resort of Snoth-on-Sea where the weather is lousy. While James has fond memories of boyhood trips there, today's Snoth-on-Sea has nothing to recommend it. The hotel is rundown, and the guests seem like louts. In fact, there's a shouting match in the hotel dining room that leads to James punching out one of the other guests.

When a woman that Agatha threatened, Geraldine Jankers, is found strangled with Agatha's scarf, the "lucky" pair from Carsely are stranded as they seek to clear Agatha. Clearing Agatha isn't too difficult, but James wants to flee and Agatha feels that she must investigate to find the murderer. Agatha draws on her Mircester detective agency's resources to scout out the suspects.

Before long, Agatha draws the ire of some dangerous characters and finds her very life at stake.

Several things make this book different from others in the Agatha Raisin series that improved its appeal for me: Agatha and her colleagues make some amazing mistakes that would be hilarious if they didn't have serious consequences; the danger level is high throughout much of the book; there are more mysteries to be solved that are related to the murder than one might expect; the to and fro with James Lacey has unexpected twists; and Agatha's signature vulnerability for handsome men she just meets isn't central to the story for a change. Her detectives are proving to be more able than in the past which provides for some better procedural aspects to the story. The change of scene is also good for the series by providing lots of new characters as well as the opportunity to reprise old characters in new ways.

The pacing of the story is very good. Major shoes drop at regular intervals without much warning that take the mystery and its implications in new directions. My interest was sustained at a high level for almost the entire story. The humor is well developed in the story as many characters take the equivalent of pratfalls . . . but in each case there are serious consequences which gives the mood of the book an interesting feel than a more unrestrained comic mystery would provide.

I look forward to the next entry in the series. I hope it will continue to the trend towards better stories and more rewarding mysteries with more subtlety among the characters.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: entertaining!
Comment: My first encounter with Agatha Raisin was well worth it. Ok so it's not Tolkien but still a very worthy diversion when the mind needs a mental holiday for several hours. It might have been just a tad over long, but it certainly kept me interested and entertained all the way to the end. Just like meeting a new friend.

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