Rating: 
Summary: A winner
Review: Agatha Raisin is bit depressed over her lost relationship with her former fiancé. However, finding some gray hairs makes Agatha even more despondent. A hair dye leaves her with a purple haze on top of her head. Agatha turns to the highly regarded Mr. John, owner of a nearby hair salon, to work miracles. John succeeds, but Agatha is a bit concerned that his customers reveal their darkest secrets to the brilliant stylist. Agatha wonders how John uses this information.A few days later, Agatha and her friend Charles finds John extremely ill and he consequently dies from a toxin deliberately placed inside his vitamin capsules. The police notice discrepancies between the stories told by Agatha and Charles (a friend), making the duo prime suspects in the poisoning of John. Agatha begins to investigate and soon learns that John was blackmailing his clients. Now all Agatha has to do is uncover which one of these patrons decided to stop paying. The return of Agatha Raisin, amateur sleuth extraodinaire, is always a treat and M.C. Beaton does not miss a beat with her newest entry. AGATHA RAISIN AND THE WIZARD OF EVESHAM is vintage Raisin as the story line is interesting and filled with several twists, including a fabulous right angle ending. Agatha remains a somewhat vulgar, intelligent, but vulnerable heroine, who cannot resist a mystery. If there is anything to criticize it is the not going anywhere tango with James (her former fiancé), which needs resolution one way or another. Still that remains a very minor intrusion that occurs after the prime tale is finished, leaving this novel as another fabulous English cozy by the great M.C.Beaton. Harriet Klausner
Rating: 
Summary: Long suffering Agatha and Dear Reader
Review: Although this book was a tad more cohesively written than the "wellspring of death", and the reappearance of Charles is less numbing than James, I, too am eager for Agatha to grow into a more self-aware and self-possessed woman. As a successful business-woman, she is entitled to more confidance about her own qualities and abilities, and if feels out-of-character for her to be so insecure about her person and her worth.
Rating: 
Summary: Mystery story I could solve!
Review: Either I am getting better at solving mysteries, this mystery was easier to solve than most, or the clues were cleverly given. In any case, I solved the mystery a couple of chapters before the end of the book. This book was quick to read, did not require a lot of thought, and was entertaining. This is a good book to read on a lazy afternoon.
Rating:
Summary: Enjoyable, Not Terrible
Review: I enjoyed this installment of Agatha. If nothing else, we were spared the odious James this time round. I think Charles is better than him - at least he's true to a type! Agatha gets involved with a handsome hairdresser from a neighbouring village in this story. Then she finds out that he is not as he seems. She pieces together that he has been blackmailing middle-aged women. Agatha tries to prove the blackmail, but in the meantime Mr. John is poisoned. Agatha and Charles set out to find the killer. Agatha is really very appealing in this story. Her vulnerability is charming to me, as she tries to hide it in her usual bluster.
Rating:
Summary: Enjoyable, Not Terrible
Review: I enjoyed this installment of Agatha. If nothing else, we were spared the odious James this time round. I think Charles is better than him - at least he's true to a type! Agatha gets involved with a handsome hairdresser from a neighbouring village in this story. Then she finds out that he is not as he seems. She pieces together that he has been blackmailing middle-aged women. Agatha tries to prove the blackmail, but in the meantime Mr. John is poisoned. Agatha and Charles set out to find the killer. Agatha is really very appealing in this story. Her vulnerability is charming to me, as she tries to hide it in her usual bluster.
Rating:
Summary: REALLY WELL WRITTEN
Review: I read this book in two sittings, and it's the first I've read in the series. Honestly, I love M.C. Beaton now. So, I went and bought a bunch of Raisin Novels. Strangely, I found 3 typographical errors in the novel, which seemed strange, as I wonder who proofed the work before publishing, but it was very minor errors like, "I think you're silly," sad Agatha. Instead, it should have been "said". One thinks with everything done now in Windows, when you hit "spell check," it's only going to find misspellings...not incorrect words. Other than that, it was a fantastic read !!! Mike
Rating:
Summary: This lost it umph at the end....
Review: I was not impressed with this latest Agatha Raisin mystery. M.C. Beaton seemed to be writing to fulfill a contract. I found the book to be predictable, the obsession with James wearying--especially since he was nowhere to be found in the book--and quite a few loose ends that were never tied together. Agatha seemed to have lost her spunk. I hope the next Agatha gives us a little more!
Rating: 
Summary: Agatha seems to be going downhill
Review: I was not impressed with this latest Agatha Raisin mystery. M.C. Beaton seemed to be writing to fulfill a contract. I found the book to be predictable, the obsession with James wearying--especially since he was nowhere to be found in the book--and quite a few loose ends that were never tied together. Agatha seemed to have lost her spunk. I hope the next Agatha gives us a little more!
Rating:
Summary: REALLY WELL WRITTEN
Review: In the 8th book in the Agatha Raisin series, Agatha turns to a "wizard of a hairdresser" to repair the damage she has caused to her hair with a home coloring kit. The hairdresser, Mr. John, is good-looking and quickly charms all of his clients. Agatha soon falls under his spell, and spills her confidences to him. When several of his clients appear to be afraid of him, and then he is found dead, Agatha begins to be suspicious that he was murdered. Sir Charles Fraith, a friend of Agatha's from previous books, suggests to Agatha that Mr. John may have been blackmailing some clients, and one of them killed him to stop the blackmail. Agatha and Charles set out to discover the murderer, before Agatha gets more than just a bad haircut. I am a huge fan of the Agatha Raisin series and I highly enjoyed this installment. Noticeably absent in this book is Agatha's on-again, off-again love interest, James Lacey and I since I am not a huge fan of his character, I was glad he was on holiday. Overall, this is a wonderful book to read if you like cozy mysteries, or want to laugh aloud at some of the troubles with being a middle-aged, single woman. The first book in the series is "Agatha Raisin and the Quiche of Death". Enjoy!
Rating:
Summary: A Hair Raising Mystery!
Review: In the 8th book in the Agatha Raisin series, Agatha turns to a "wizard of a hairdresser" to repair the damage she has caused to her hair with a home coloring kit. The hairdresser, Mr. John, is good-looking and quickly charms all of his clients. Agatha soon falls under his spell, and spills her confidences to him. When several of his clients appear to be afraid of him, and then he is found dead, Agatha begins to be suspicious that he was murdered. Sir Charles Fraith, a friend of Agatha's from previous books, suggests to Agatha that Mr. John may have been blackmailing some clients, and one of them killed him to stop the blackmail. Agatha and Charles set out to discover the murderer, before Agatha gets more than just a bad haircut. I am a huge fan of the Agatha Raisin series and I highly enjoyed this installment. Noticeably absent in this book is Agatha's on-again, off-again love interest, James Lacey and I since I am not a huge fan of his character, I was glad he was on holiday. Overall, this is a wonderful book to read if you like cozy mysteries, or want to laugh aloud at some of the troubles with being a middle-aged, single woman. The first book in the series is "Agatha Raisin and the Quiche of Death". Enjoy!
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