Rating: 
Summary: the best Agatha Raisin yet!!!
Review: After having read several of these Agatha Raisin books, this one is THE best! Agatha goes on holiday to rid her troubling mind of James Lacey, who has recently divorced her and joined the monastery. Agatha returns home and gets herself involved in another murder investigation. Ther is a new tenant in James Lacey's house and the plot thickens. Try it ~ you'll certainly find it entertaining.
Rating:
Summary: This is one of Beaton's better mysteries
Review: Agatha is as loveable as ever -- funny and flawed -- but still mooning over James, the jerk of an ex-husband who abandoned her. A new bachelor has moved into the house next door, a mystery writer who has all the single women in the village (and some that aren't single) running after him. Agatha plans to ignore him, but ends up teaming up with him to solve a mystery -- a young girl floating in a flooded river, dressed in a wedding gown and holding her bouquet in her hands. Despite repeated warnings from the police to let them handle it and to quit going around in a wig asking questions, Agatha won't (can't?) leave it alone. It quickly becomes clear that getting arrested is not the worst danger she's in by pursuing this, but like smoking, she just can't quite quit.There are lots of laughs and a really good plot as the character of the murdered woman is gradually revealed. I can hardly wait to see what will happen next with Agatha. Will James return? Will Charles or the mystery writer take his place? Or will Agatha finally find a man suited to her? If you haven't read any of the series, you should probably start with the first (Agatha Raisin and the Quiche of Death). But no great harm would come from starting with this one and then working your way back.
Rating:
Summary: This is one of Beaton's better mysteries
Review: Agatha is as loveable as ever -- funny and flawed -- but still mooning over James, the jerk of an ex-husband who abandoned her. A new bachelor has moved into the house next door, a mystery writer who has all the single women in the village (and some that aren't single) running after him. Agatha plans to ignore him, but ends up teaming up with him to solve a mystery -- a young girl floating in a flooded river, dressed in a wedding gown and holding her bouquet in her hands. Despite repeated warnings from the police to let them handle it and to quit going around in a wig asking questions, Agatha won't (can't?) leave it alone. It quickly becomes clear that getting arrested is not the worst danger she's in by pursuing this, but like smoking, she just can't quite quit. There are lots of laughs and a really good plot as the character of the murdered woman is gradually revealed. I can hardly wait to see what will happen next with Agatha. Will James return? Will Charles or the mystery writer take his place? Or will Agatha finally find a man suited to her? If you haven't read any of the series, you should probably start with the first (Agatha Raisin and the Quiche of Death). But no great harm would come from starting with this one and then working your way back.
Rating: 
Summary: Funny Agatha Triumphs Again!
Review: Agatha is back in her funny and enjoyable way with this outing. She is on her own finally. James has joined a monastery and Sir Charles has married a French woman. The book starts with her on a holiday on an island off Chile's coastline where she meets a wonderful Spanish family, and she finds that they become good friends. But then she must go home, and sure enough there is another murder in nearby Evesham. They have a huge spring flood and Agatha is standing on a bridge watching the rushing water and she sees the body of a young girl floating face up in the water. She's wearing a bridal gown and holding a bouquet. Agatha is sure she's been murdered so she sets out on her own to discover the killer. In the meantime she teams up with her new neighbour, John, a writer who bought James' cottage. He's an attractive divorcee, but Agatha is determined not to get involved romantically with him. She again finds herself in danger as she tries to unearth the killer. This is a really funny little story, and I enjoyed it.
Rating:
Summary: Funny Agatha Triumphs Again!
Review: Agatha is back in her funny and enjoyable way with this outing. She is on her own finally. James has joined a monastery and Sir Charles has married a French woman. The book starts with her on a holiday on an island off Chile's coastline where she meets a wonderful Spanish family, and she finds that they become good friends. But then she must go home, and sure enough there is another murder in nearby Evesham. They have a huge spring flood and Agatha is standing on a bridge watching the rushing water and she sees the body of a young girl floating face up in the water. She's wearing a bridal gown and holding a bouquet. Agatha is sure she's been murdered so she sets out on her own to discover the killer. In the meantime she teams up with her new neighbour, John, a writer who bought James' cottage. He's an attractive divorcee, but Agatha is determined not to get involved romantically with him. She again finds herself in danger as she tries to unearth the killer. This is a really funny little story, and I enjoyed it.
Rating:
Summary: The next very good installment of Agatha Raisin
Review: Agatha Raisin has had it, she is divorced from James, and now Sir Charles has suddenly married a Frenchwoman and didn't even invite her to the wedding. She escapes to Robinson Crusoe Island and has a wonderful time with new friends. She resolves to start her life anew, exercises, stops smoking, etc. But a couple on the island haunt her. A new bride and watchful husband. She later finds out that the husband drowned the wife. She meets a similar couple at the beauty shop, and sure enough she finds the bride drowned in her wedding dress in the flood swollen river. With the assistance of her new neighbor, a gorgeous mystery writer, she solves the mystery. Agatha seems to have recovered from her romantic difficulties to some extent, and it is refreshing not to see her chasing someone around throughout the novel. The mystery is even better than usual and a really quick read.
Rating:
Summary: funny, breezy and very enjoyable
Review: Agatha Raisin is in a deep funk. The man she loved, cherished after and finally married is divorcing her to become a monk in a French monastery. Her good friend Sir Charles is no longer available to keep her company because he married a French woman who is pregnant with twins. Her spirits are lifted when she finds the body of a bride in a wedding gown floating down the river. She decides that since the police ruled the case a homicide she would solve it before the authorities do. Helping her is her new neighbor, crime writer John Armitage. While interviewing individuals connected to the victim, Agatha discovers the dead woman was a cunning, cold and manipulative person who was black mailing some people. While trying to figure out who that someone is, two attempts are made on her life before she finally figures it out and by then it is almost too late. Agatha Raisin, a cranky, crude and raunchy woman somehow (and this reviewer doesn't have a clue) manages to warm her way into the reader's heart and elicit their sympathy. The latest installment in this long running series is funny, breezy and very enjoyable. Though the heroine has not changed an iota from the first tale, M.C. Beaton has written another winner. Harriet Klausner
Rating:
Summary: A First-Rate Mystery
Review: Another very enjoyable entry in the Agatha Raisin series by M.C. Beaton. Since James Lacey has deserted Agatha for a monastic life in France and Sir Charles Fraith has gotten married,Agatha is free to get on with her life and become as independent as she was before. I was growing a bit weary of Agatha constantly mooning over James and am glad he's out of the picture.The introduction of new neighbor (and possible love interest) John Armitage is possibly a good development if Beaton can avoid making him into the second coming of James Lacey. The book hints at Agatha becoming a professional detective in coming installments and it will be interesting to see how this turns out. If you like Agatha, you will love this book.
Rating: 
Summary: Nothing new here.
Review: I really anticipated reading this new title because I liked the others in the Agatha Raisin series so much, but I soon became bored with the story. The same old format: learn about a murder-decide to solve it-interview everyone-interview them again-interview them again-eat lunch at the pub-interview them all one more time-solve murder case just didn't grab me this time. There were a few funny and cute moments as there usually are in this series, but not enough to hold my interest. Agatha herself was in fine form, but the story was not, IMHO.
Rating: 
Summary: My first and maybe last M.C. Beaton book
Review: I went to my library looking for some escapist literature. This book was on the table with other recent mysteries. Had just heard of this author, but had never read any of her books. Was disappointed. I don't care about Agatha Raisin and only finished the book to find out whodunit. I don't know if I'll read any of her other books in this series.
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