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.
Rating: 
Summary: Who Killed the Bride?
Review: In the 12th book in the Agatha Raisin series, Agatha is still feeling a bit blue after her husband, James Lacey, leaves her to join a monastery. Saying that his brain tumor is now cured, he tells Agatha that he wants to become a monk and moves to France. Sad and alone, Agatha takes a holiday to a small island, and while she is there, she spots a newlywed couple, only to find out days later that the groom murdered the bride. Returning home, Agatha is determined to forget about James and Sir Charles Fraith, who has also married. When another dead body shows up (again in a wedding dress), Agatha feels that the fates are screaming at her to get involved. Is it suicide or is it murder? A new love interest, next door neighbor John Armitage, might be just the help Agatha needs to solve her latest case. The Agatha Raisin series is one of my favorite cozy mystery series on the market today. Agatha is a tough cookie, but definitely has a warmer side that she keeps hidden from the casual observer. Her antics are legendary, and even though her motives are usually good, she always finds herself in heaps of trouble. I am glad that James has moved on in this book, as his character was annoying and selfish. I am eager to see Agatha with a decent love interest, but feel that all of her love problems may add to her charm. If you like cozy mysteries and have not tried this series, pick up a copy today and join all of the Agatha fans from around the world! The first book in this series is "Agatha Raisin and the Quiche of Death". Enjoy! A Cozy Lover
Rating:
Summary: Who Killed the Bride?
Review: In the 12th book in the Agatha Raisin series, Agatha is still feeling a bit blue after her husband, James Lacey, leaves her to join a monastery. Saying that his brain tumor is now cured, he tells Agatha that he wants to become a monk and moves to France. Sad and alone, Agatha takes a holiday to a small island, and while she is there, she spots a newlywed couple, only to find out days later that the groom murdered the bride. Returning home, Agatha is determined to forget about James and Sir Charles Fraith, who has also married. When another dead body shows up (again in a wedding dress), Agatha feels that the fates are screaming at her to get involved. Is it suicide or is it murder? A new love interest, next door neighbor John Armitage, might be just the help Agatha needs to solve her latest case. The Agatha Raisin series is one of my favorite cozy mystery series on the market today. Agatha is a tough cookie, but definitely has a warmer side that she keeps hidden from the casual observer. Her antics are legendary, and even though her motives are usually good, she always finds herself in heaps of trouble. I am glad that James has moved on in this book, as his character was annoying and selfish. I am eager to see Agatha with a decent love interest, but feel that all of her love problems may add to her charm. If you like cozy mysteries and have not tried this series, pick up a copy today and join all of the Agatha fans from around the world! The first book in this series is "Agatha Raisin and the Quiche of Death". Enjoy! A Cozy Lover
Rating: 
Summary: made for compulsive reading
Review: Like "Agatha Raisin and the Love from Hell," the manner in which this latest Agatha Raisin installment unfolds pretty much mirrors Agatha's frame of mind and feelings. The ending of her short-lived but ill fated marriage to her great love, James Lacey, has left Agatha feeling empty, lonely and utterly diminished in the self confidence department. As such, the novel moves between Agatha's feelings of inadequacy and her determination to get a handle on things and so move forward and onward. This could be slightly off putting if you're not an Agatha Raisin fan, and if you're not prepared to fall in with whatever master plan M. C. Beaton has mapped out for Agatha. I enjoyed the book very much. It was well written, cleverly executed and completely engrossing. Saddened and weary -- first James ends their marriage in order to join a monastery, then Sir Charles Fraith (someone she thought she could count as a friend) gets married to a French society beauty and never bothers inviting her to his wedding -- Agatha decides that what she needs in a holiday far away from everyone she knows. A week at a small isolated South Pacific island seems just the ticket. And to her surprise Agatha finds herself enjoying her vacation. The other vacationers are incredibly friendly and take great pains to include Agatha in their activities. Only the honeymooning couple remains aloof. And although something about the newly wed husband strikes Agatha being slightly 'off,' she manages to keep her opinions to herself, and refrains from interfering. Back again in England, Agatha comes across a young local couple (Zak Jensen & Kylie Stokes) that reminds her of the vacationing honeymooners. Something about Zak Jensen seems slightly 'off' as well. A couple of weeks later, Agatha watches in horror, as the body of Kylie Stokes, dressed in her wedding dress and clutching a bridal bouquet, floats down the river during a storm. And while the police are strangely reticent about classifying Kylie's death (her body was pumped with heroin and frozen before it ended up in the river); Agatha is sure that Kylie was murdered and that Zak had something to do with Kylie's death. And she is determined to prove it. Disguising herself as a researcher for a TV station, Agatha begins making the rounds, interviewing Kylie's friends and coworkers, hoping to discover something that would lead her to Kylie's killer. I like this series immensely -- it is poignant, humourous and completely appealing. And this particular installment, "Agatha Raisin and the Day the Floods Came," proved to be as compulsive a read as the other books in the series. Part romance novel (will Agatha ever over her love for James?), part mystery novel, I've been an enthusiastic fan of this series from the very beginning. And while the tone has changed a little -- the first few mystery novels were a little more quirky and humourous than the later ones which have been more poignant in tone -- this novel still made for enjoyable reading. I thought that the novel unwound in a smooth manner even if the denouncement was a bit rushed. There were quite a few red herring suspects to keep readers guessing, even if the plot was not a terribly complex or complicated one. All in all, great reading.
Rating:
Summary: Agatha Raisin and the Day the Floods Came
Review: M.C. Beaton has done it again with the 12th book in the delightful and captivating Agatha Raisin series. Agatha, ever the amateur detective, is solving still another murder in the Cotwolds, but she is also on a self-improvement program of exercise classes and giving up cigarettes. She also wants to be free of men, though she still misses her ex-husband, James, who joined a monastery in France. A new neighbor, a mystery writer named John Armitage, who bought the cottage her ex-husband used to live in, joins her in trying to solve the murder. Will John be Agatha's next love interest? Stay tuned for book 13!
Rating:
Summary: a floating corpse in bridal wear
Review: Poor, lovelorn Amanda Raisin's husband, James Lacey, has apparently gotten himself to a monastery. So Agatha's on her own again, prickly and hurt, and soon on the trail of another mystery when the body of a young woman in full bridal array turns up in the river.
Amanda's soon hot on the trail of a murderer, racing around her Cotswold village and environs to solve the mystery. A new neighbor enters the picture, unattached, close to Amanda's age, and atttractive. He joins her efforts.
M.C. Beaton does not fail to delight us in this wonderfully light, yet satisfying "cozy" read. Recommended for summer pleasure!
Rating:
Summary: a floating corpse in bridal wear
Review: Poor, lovelorn Amanda Raisin's husband, James Lacey, has apparently gotten himself to a monastery. She's on her own again, prickly and hurt, and soon on the trail of another mystery when the body of a young woman in full bridal array turns up in the river. Amanda's soon hot on the trail of a murderer, racing around her Cotswold village and environs to solve the mystery. A new neighbor enters the picture, unattached, close to Amanda's age, and atttractive. He joins her efforts. M.C. Beaton does not fail to delight us in this wonderfully light, yet satisfying "cozy" read. Recommended for summer pleasure!
Rating:
Summary: Great comeback!
Review: The old Agatha is back with some new changes in this latest installment. Agatha has greatly improved her personality. She's not quite so sour mooded and she's gutsier than ever. Similar plot basis as prevous novels, but that's one of the characteristics of a "cozy". Her new neighbor is a welcome change to James and Sir Charles ( who, thank God, is in only one spot in the book). Overall, a great read and a vast improvement over Agatha Raisin and the Love From Hell.
Rating: 
Summary: They just keep getting worse...
Review: This is more of a review about all of the Agatha Raisin books in general. Although the forumla of the stories is essentially the same, I keep gobbling up the next book in line of this series because I adore Agatha! Despite her insecurities, she is a strong woman who won't take any guff from anybody. I'm glad Agatha - at 52 - keeps attracting handsome men into her boudoir, still has good legs and glossy hair, and is one smart PR person. I can identify with some of her insecurities, and wish she would finally find happiness in the right man for her (but if she did, would she still continue to be as funny and prickly as she has been in all her past books?). This book was one of the more enjoyable ones because she doesn't obssess as much about James anymore (he's a cold one anyway and not worthy of the woman) and concentrates more on the case at hand - like a terrior dog with a chew toy not wanting to let go. And the plot and ending was definitely one of M.C. Beaton's more creative ones. I hope Agatha continues solving mysteries and attracting men for a very long time to come!
Rating:
Summary: Agatha Continues On....Thanks Goodness!
Review: This is more of a review about all of the Agatha Raisin books in general. Although the forumla of the stories is essentially the same, I keep gobbling up the next book in line of this series because I adore Agatha! Despite her insecurities, she is a strong woman who won't take any guff from anybody. I'm glad Agatha - at 52 - keeps attracting handsome men into her boudoir, still has good legs and glossy hair, and is one smart PR person. I can identify with some of her insecurities, and wish she would finally find happiness in the right man for her (but if she did, would she still continue to be as funny and prickly as she has been in all her past books?). This book was one of the more enjoyable ones because she doesn't obssess as much about James anymore (he's a cold one anyway and not worthy of the woman) and concentrates more on the case at hand - like a terrior dog with a chew toy not wanting to let go. And the plot and ending was definitely one of M.C. Beaton's more creative ones. I hope Agatha continues solving mysteries and attracting men for a very long time to come!
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