Agatha Raisin and the Murderous Marriage [Paperback]

M.C. Beaton (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Robinson; paperback / softback edition (2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1849011389
• ISBN-13: 978-1849011389
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 4.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (28 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,142,141 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

M.C. BEATON has won international acclaim for her bestselling Hamish Macbeth and Agatha Raisin mysteries. She is also the author of over 100 romance titles and a series of romantic suspense, The Edwardian Mystery Series. M. C. Beaton lives in a Cotswold cottage with her husband.

Marion is active on Facebook using her most popular pen name, M.C. Beaton. You can find complete book lists, information on events, and sign up for news updates at her website, www.MCBeaton.com.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another great pick from the grapevine, August 24, 1997

By 

Judith L. Burken - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Agatha Raisin and the Murderous Marriage (Agatha Raisin Mysteries, No. 5) (Paperback)

With each new book, Agatha becomes a more delightful character (at least to me).

An errant husband reappears and interrupts Agatha's marriage vows almost in midsentence of "I do."

When he is murdered, Agatha becomes the main suspect as well as a scorned fiancee. But while James may not be of a marriage mind with Agatha, he is still of the investigative mind. And so off they go to solve the murder.

The usual secondary characters are back and Bill, the local police officer, even has a love interest.

With little former background on James Lacy, we do discover here that he is very well versed in the art of lock picking, even having his own set of tools.

And a clearer idea of Agatha's age is given on page 101.

That alone is worth the price of the book.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Got me hooked on M.C. Beaton, June 4, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Agatha Raisin and the Murderous Marriage (Agatha Raisin Mysteries, No. 5) (Mass Market Paperback)

This was my first Agatha Raisin book, and I loved it. I work at a library, and now I've read nearly all of them. You'll love the village and the recurring characters.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Case of the Rotten Raisin, March 8, 2006

By 

Dennis Phillips "The Book Friar" (Bulls Gap, Tennessee USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Agatha Raisin and the Murderous Marriage (Agatha Raisin Mysteries, No. 5) (Mass Market Paperback)

When we last left Agatha she was planning for her marriage to the dapper James Lacey, the man of her dreams. Sometimes dreams have a way of becoming nightmares however and for poor Agatha this nightmare couldn't have been worse. Agatha you see has a terrible tendency to try to deceive both Lacey and the rest of the people of Carsely and although she never gets away with it she just keeps on trying.

In this instance she makes the assumption that the husband she left many years ago but had never divorced had certainly managed to drink himself to death by this time. She assures everyone that she is a widow and actually makes it to the alter before the not so dead Jimmy Raisin shows up and halts the wedding. The very proper Mr. Lacey is of course completely disgusted with Agatha and she is sure that she has lost him forever. On the bright side however, she is soon an actual widow after someone murders Jimmy but the bad news is that she is naturally the chief suspect.

To complicate Agatha's life even more, she has sold her cottage to a rather unpleasant woman who refuses to even discuss selling the place back to Agatha. Having calmed down a bit, Lacey tells Agatha that she can stay with him until she finds a place to stay and since he is a suspect also the two former lovers once again begin to work together on the case of the dead Raisin.

As usual, Agatha is feisty and outspoken and neither her nor Lacey have great sleuthing skills but they get the job done. The rest of the characters are again superb and the author has done a fine job of making the little town of Carsely seem not only real but also like a place where the reader would enjoy living. I even felt sorry for Agatha's friend Bill Wong as he chased puppy like after a lady cop who was working the Raisin case. Beaton's writing style is just simply superb.

That said, I must admit that this is not the best book in the series and the mystery is just a little too easy for the reader to solve. Even so, this is a fun read and no fan of warm fuzzy mysteries should pass this book or this series up.