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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Prickly, Grouchy, but Undeterred--Agatha Survives!, December 18, 2002
This most recent of M.C. Beaton's Agatha Raisin series (all complete delights for cozy-holics like me) finds our Agatha at long last rid of her handsome ex-neighbor and ex-husband James Lacey, who has sold his cottage and joined a French monastery. And good enough for him, too, after the way he treated our Agatha. Regular readers will be delighted to see Agatha recovering surely if slowly from the wounds inflicted on her by the misogynistic, emotionally abusive Lacey...and will find further snickers in the brief images of the fickle tightwad Sir Charles Fraith, a former partner in investigation and erstwhile lover, caught in a not necessarily happy marriage and newly chubby to boot. Don't we all want to see Agatha find a man who thinks she's as funny and worthy as we do? Could her new neighbor, the famous author John Armitage, be The One? Can't wait for the next installment in this series to find out! As far as the plot, it's predictable and delightful. If you're an Agatha Christie fan, you'll recognize the plot and certain clue devices early on, although Beaton takes a few twists and contemporary turns on the original. Beaton never fails to delight in her plots, nor in the continuing saga of the grumpy but tender-hearted Agatha! More, more, more, and more, please Ms. Beaton!
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10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
made for compulsive reading, June 24, 2002
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.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
This is one of Beaton's better mysteries, August 28, 2003
Agatha is as loveable as ever -- funny and flawed -- but still mooning over James, the jerk of an ex-husband who abandoned her. A new bachelor has moved into the house next door, a mystery writer who has all the single women in the village (and some that aren't single) running after him. Agatha plans to ignore him, but ends up teaming up with him to solve a mystery -- a young girl floating in a flooded river, dressed in a wedding gown and holding her bouquet in her hands. Despite repeated warnings from the police to let them handle it and to quit going around in a wig asking questions, Agatha won't (can't?) leave it alone. It quickly becomes clear that getting arrested is not the worst danger she's in by pursuing this, but like smoking, she just can't quite quit. There are lots of laughs and a really good plot as the character of the murdered woman is gradually revealed. I can hardly wait to see what will happen next with Agatha. Will James return? Will Charles or the mystery writer take his place? Or will Agatha finally find a man suited to her? If you haven't read any of the series, you should probably start with the first (Agatha Raisin and the Quiche of Death). But no great harm would come from starting with this one and then working your way back.
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