Customer Reviews

AGATHA RAISIN AND THE WITCH OF WYCKHADDEN

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

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.

Missing her love (James) and her locks (she was shampooed with depilatory!) Agatha heads for the seashore for some rest and regrowth. Hearing that the local witch has a potion for everything, Agatha visits her to buy some hair restorer and also picks up a bottle of love potion. Soon after her visit, however, the witch is found murdered and Agatha has a chance to try out the love potion on a most attractive police inspector. A rollicking good read -- once I started I couldn't put it down.

This was an enjoyable book, though not the best in the series. Unlike, most of the other reviewers, I think Agatha ought to get back with James Lacey and dump Sir Charles(or bump him off). The game Agatha and James play of seeing what one can do to hurt the other is getting juvenile and tedious. Overall, the plot itself was good, though I didn't care much for any of Wyckhadden's residents. I also liked the book because M.C. Beaton stayed true to the real Agatha: always out of her element. I look forward to the next book in the series in June.

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

This book was frustrating because Agatha kept doing idiotic things and making bad choices--just like a real person. For once I would like to see her do the right thing at the right time. And, please, get rid of Charles! Am I the only one who gnashes my teeth whenever he comes on the scene. Great book but I would like to see Agatha have a little happiness for a change.

In this 9th book in the Agatha Raisin series, the reader finds Agatha desperately trying to regrow the hair that fell out during her previous case. She retreats to a resort for some relaxation and to give her hair some time to regrow, and quickly learns that there is a witch in town that might be able to provide a tonic to help in this process. While she is visiting the witch, she decides to purchase a love potion to help in her never-ending romantic problems. During her visit to the town, the witch is murdered, and Agatha attempts to help the local police officer solve the case, and also tries to catch his eye in the process.

I enjoyed this case primarily because Agatha was not mooning over James Lacey as she has in previous books. I enjoy the character of Agatha, and since I am rooting for her to have a good romance, I felt that it might actually happen for her with Jimmy. Overall, I enjoyed the book as a part of the Agatha series, but if you have never read any of the other books it would probably be better to start elsewhere first. This was not Agatha at her most endearing but still an excellent read.

The first book in the series is "Agatha Raisin and the Quiche of Death". Enjoy!

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.

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.

I have read all of the Agatha Raisin books and I bought this one with the expectation of enjoyment. I found that the humor in this book has been degraded into the school of --how many ways can Agatha be demeaned and hurt. Before I buy another book in this series I will make sure that I look briefly to make sure that is comes back up tp the level of the previos books.

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!