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Summary: Another great Agatha Raisin book.
Review: Agatha Raisin and the Witch of Wyckhadden is one more piece of evidence that M.C. Beaton is one of the most gifted mystery writers around today. The character of Agatha Raisin is infuriating and endearing at the same time. Great plot, excellent characters and and witty dialogue are all hallmarks of this terrific series. I would recommend that anyone starting to read this series begin with the very first book (The Quiche of Death) and work your way down the list. This is a fun, entertaining and very satisfying mystery . Highly recommended.
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Summary: Agatha Goes To The Seashore
Review: Agatha Raisin is off and running - running away from home and the unrequited, unreturned love of her neighbor. She settles into a comfortable hotel in the seaside village of Fryham, to mend her heart and recover from a hair-raising experience. Here, Agatha confronts the next step after middle age, as well as finding herself in the middle of a murder investigation. Agatha plunges in with her usual abrasive style, winning hearts (the wrong ones, of course), making enemies (without even trying), misunderstood and misunderstanding, and never really knowing where exactly it is that she is headed. A terrifically terrifying prediction, a bottle of hair tonic and a love potion get Agatha in more trouble than she ever imagined. This 5-star cozy is sure to charm.
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Summary: the author should drop the the romance angle
Review: Agatha Raisin was raised in the slums and knows first hand how poverty feels. She worked very hard and established a very successful public relations firm. She eventually sold her company and retired to the village of Cosley where she has been involved in several homicide investigations. The murderer in her last case shampooed Agatha's hair with a depilatory cream that has left her bald. Agatha decides to go on vacation until her hair grows back.Though the only guest under sixty, Agatha books herself in a posh hotel for senior citizens in Wyckhadden. Agatha learns that the local witch has a potion that will grow back her hair. Agatha buys that elixir and a love potion too. Both work as her hair grows back and local police officer Jimmy Jessup falls in love with Agatha. However, someone murders the witch and her daughter. Agatha begins a round of snooping and learns that no one seems to know the motive. As usual with an Agatha Raisin novel, readers will find it difficult to stop before finishing the entire tale. Agatha retains that brash, brazen, and loose morality (in a Maude manner) that makes her a lovable termagant. The who-done-it is well designed with several prime suspects who are fully developed, three-dimensional characters. The relationship between Agatha and James remains stagnant and actually hurts M.C. Beaton's wonderful story line as readers want the couple to do something-anything. Harriet Klausner
Rating: 
Summary: "NO MORE FOR ME"
Review: Don't think there will be any more Agatha Raisin for me. In this one, a witch by the name of Francie Juddle is found murdered. Guess who found her, yes, Agatha. Her business is taken over by her daughter, Janine Juddle, who is also found murdered. Agatha does her usual thing of asking questions and being a busybody. She finds a new male friend in Jimmy Jessop, a policeman, who asks Agatha to marry him. Agatha goes to bed with him but they don't have sex, not Agatha's fault. He later finds her in bed with Charles. Agatha decides she does not love Jimmy, she has never loved Charles, she is still in love with James Lacey. I have read all nine of these books. I really enjoyed the first ones, however, they are beginning to be like a soap opera. Agatha has become such a slut. She will go to bed with anyone to pays any attention to her. Don't care for romance, soap opera type books, so will be through with Agatha Raisin. I know this will make no difference to M C Beaton, but will give me a little personal satisfaction. If you want a good mystery go somewhere else. I really hope Beaton does not mess up the Hamish MacBeth series like she has the Raisin series.
Rating: 
Summary: Enough already!
Review: How much longer is Agatha Raisin going to be in love with James Lacey? The mystery aspect of this series has become secondary to Agatha's repeated lapses in good judgement and her continual humiliation. I've never seen a mystery heroine with such bad luck in love. I'd rather see her alone with some dignity than mooning over some man!
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Summary: What a disappointment...........
Review: I absolutely loved all the other books in this series, but this one was a disappointment. I'm afraid that I might not have read the whole series if I had read this one first. I'm almost tempted to go back and reread the first book to keep my enthusiasm alive. Agatha has mellowed and become almost pathetic. The plot was weak and the usual sexual tension missing in action. The setting offered nothing, except some glimpses of English history that we hadn't seen before. The characters and conversations weren't believable. Or entertaining. Or amusing. I can't believe the author feels this book is of the same calibre as the rest of the series. It is as if someone else wrote it. I hope this isn't a trend...........?
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Summary: Sigh! Poor Agatha
Review: I am always ready to read another Agatha Raisin mystery. This one starts off great and continues in the same vein as the other Agatha mysteries. But what else can Agatha do to make her life miserable and ruin her romance with James! I agree with the other reviewers, drop the romance angle instead of dragging it out any longer. It's getting annoying. The book is an enjoyable read for a weekend of relaxation.
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Summary: More enjoyable than the last installment
Review: I enjoyed this book much more than the Wizard of Evesham. I agree with the previous comments that it is time for the James Lacey nonsense to be finished. I would love to see Ms. Beaton move Agatha forward and give her a little detective agency or ANYTHING to keep her from being a moonstruck middle aged eccentric that she is turning into.
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Summary: Ultimately a dissapointment
Review: I had just finished Ms. Beaton's "Quiche of Death", and so thoroughly enjoyed it that I purchased and set out to read other Agatha Raisin novels. This, the second Agatha Raisin novel I read, was quite a disappointment. Ms. Beaton writes simply in straightforward sentences; there will not be a need to consult a dictionary. This is not meant as a criticism. Her writing style makes this an enjoyable, easy, and quick read. You will, at least I did, care what happens to Agatha Raisin, and that was one of the reasons this was ultimately such a disappointing novel. The personal interaction between Agatha and the male lead was unsatisfying and unrealistic - even for a work of fiction. Agatha appears more a "fool" than a heroine. The end of the novel is important. I like to finish a light read, such as this, feeling good about the accomplishments of and the pleasures found by the heroine (or hero). I can read a newspaper to find unhappy stories. I do not turn to a light novel to find it. I guess I'm just a "sucker" for happy endings. I also like some detection, somewhere, in a detection novel. This novel did not provide either. Unfortunately, Ms. Beaton apparently thinks ending her story with a quick "you did it" without any prior clues, and closing the novel with an unhappy heroine is appropriate. Well it isn't for me - for shame. I hope this is the aberation in the series. I concur with an earlier reviewer, if this had been my first Agatha Raisin novel, I would not have purchased a second. The "Quiche" novel was so good, I will try another. However, if it also ends with the heroine's life in "silly" personal failures and without even a modicum of detection, the remaining novels will go to charity that much sooner.
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Summary: Another enjoyable entry in the series
Review: I have been a fan of M.C. Beaton's from the very first entry in the Hamish MacBeth series. The Agatha Raisin books have recently been far superior, including this most recent effort. Agatha, still pining over the loss of James Lacey, still has the power to charm and repel at the same time. She is a real hoot. The actual mysteries are secondary to the character development and interplay between the old regulars. I just wish that Beaton would dump Sir Charles Fraith. Our Aggie is much too smart to carry on with a boring twit like him. This series keeps getting better and better.
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