Beating Around the Bush by MC Beaton

December 19, 2019December 19, 2019 / drbethnolan / Leave a comment

I adore Agatha Raisin, and I’ve read all the books in the series and watched the television show on Acorn TV. I am amazed that MC Beaton can keep coming up with plot lines and mysteries for Agatha solve in her cranky and determined way.

Description

New York Times bestseller M. C. Beaton’s cranky, crafty Agatha Raisin—now the star of a hit T.V. show—is back on the case again.

When private detective Agatha Raisin comes across a severed leg in a roadside hedge, it looks like she is about to become involved in a particularly gruesome murder. Looks, however, can be deceiving, as Agatha discovers when she is employed to investigate a case of industrial espionage at a factory where nothing is quite what it seems.

The factory mystery soon turns to murder and a bad-tempered donkey turns Agatha into a national celebrity, before bringing her ridicule and shame. To add to her woes, Agatha finds herself grappling with growing feelings for her friend and occasional lover, Sir Charles Fraith. Then, as a possible solution to the factory murder unfolds, her own life is thrown into deadly peril. Will Agatha get her man at last? Or will the killer get her first?

If you enjoy this series, don’t miss the latest for Agatha Raisin!

Thank you, Net Galley, for my ARC!

The Dead Ringer by M. C. Beaton

October 14, 2018 / drbethnolan / Leave a comment

Description

New York Times bestseller M. C. Beaton’s cranky, crafty Agatha Raisin—now the star of a hit T.V. show—is back on the case again in The Dead Ringer.

The idyllic Cotswolds village of Thirk Magna is best known for the medieval church of St. Ethelred and its bells, which are the pride and glory of the whole community.

As the bell-ringers get ready for the visit of the dashing Bishop Peter Salver-Hinkley, the whole village is thrown into a frenzy. Meanwhile, Agatha convinces one of the bell-ringers, the charming lawyer Julian Brody, to hire her to investigate the mystery of the Bishop’s ex-fiancée: a local heiress, Jennifer Toynby, who went missing years ago and whose body was never found…

Meanwhile, the bodies in the village just keep on piling up: the corpse of Larry Jensen, a local policeman, is discovered in the crypt. Millicent Dupin, one of a pair of bell-ringing identical twins, is murdered near the church. And Terry Fletcher, a journalist and (briefly) Agatha’s lover, is found dead in her sitting room! Agatha widens her investigation and very soon her main suspect is the handsome Bishop himself. But could he really be behind this series of violent killings, or is it someone who wants to bring him—and his reputation—down?

I love all the Agatha Raisin books and this one was particularly good. It’s funny but I feel like this installment, as compared to the most recent one, had a different tone to it, and it was more like the tone of the earlier Agatha Raisin books. Sometimes the jocularity can be a bit overdone and the characters seem caricaturist, but not in this one. Agatha has her issues – with romance, men, and jealous women – and she is as cranky as ever, but she’s not as irascible as she’s been in the past few novels. The storyline with her and Charles is heating up again as well.

I love the Acorn tv series and may have to purchase Acorn so that I can get it more easily (along with other awesome British series — the Brits just do television better than we do in the States!).

If you enjoy Agatha, don’t miss The Dead Ringer!

Thank you for my review e-copy!

Review: “Aunt Dimity and the Village Witch” by Nancy Atherton

August 7, 2012July 7, 2019 / drbethnolan / 1 Comment

Unbeknownst to me when I chose it from Net Galley, this book is the seventeenth in a series featuring “Aunt Dimity”, a ghost detective in the Cotswolds of England. Lori Shepherd is a young mother of twins who lives with her husband in England. Her beloved “aunt”, Dimity, has passed away but still communicates with Lori through a notebook (mysterious writing appears from Dimity). Together they solve (cozy) mysteries.

In this installment, which I believe can be read out of line in the series (since I did it!), a new neighbor, Mrs. Amelia Thistle, has arrived in the small village of Finch. Lori realizes that Mrs. Thistle is really a famous artist (who has a rather crazed group of fans chasing her). Amelia has come to Finch to solve a mystery related to her ancestors, and Lori and a small group of entrusted friends join forces with her to solve the mystery of “Mistress Meg”.

This was a satisfying read and a fun cozy to figure out. It reminded me a bit of Agatha Raisin (probably the Cotswolds). I did wonder whether Aunt Dimity was actually necessary to the story as Lori seemed just capable of being an amateur detective on her own; however, given this is the seventeenth in a series, she apparently is integral to its success!

Thanks, Net Galley and Viking Adult Publishers, for my copy.