Customer Reviews

Agatha Raisin and the Vicious Vet (Agatha Raisin Mysteries, No. 2)

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This is the second in the Agatha Raisin series and my personal favorite so far. In the Quiche of Death we met Raisin and followed her around the Cotswold's as she moved into her new home in the country. We immediately are confronted with a haggy old dame who has retired and now plans on wrecking havoc on her poor neighbors. What makes 'Vicious Vet' work on an even grander scale than 'Quiche of Death' is Beaton's willingness to further expand upon the characters and Raisins interactions with them.

This is not at all a mystery. One does take place in these pages, but it is very much secondary to the town folk. So even though Beaton references Marples in every book, this is not an engrossing mystery online with Agatha Christies work. Instead I would recommend that you think of this as a romp on par with Wallace and Grommit.

If you are looking for something similar to this, I would recommend that you pick up the Kate Shugak novel 'Break Up,' by Dana Stabenow. Another good author that slightly reminds me of Beaton is Connie Willis, and I would recommend her work, 'To Say Nothing of the Dog.'

This is the second book in the series about Agatha Raisin, who has worked all her life in Public Relations, and retired early to live in a picturesque country village. In this episode, an attractive local vet, very popular with the ladies, dies suddenly, apparently of an accident. Agatha is convinced that it's murder. She manages to get her neighbour, James Lacey (on whom she has a crush)interested, and together they investigate. It turns out that some of the ladies the vet charmed had a grudge against him, and one of them dies suddenly in suspicious circumstances, giving strength to Agatha's murder theory.This is quite an amusing series. Agatha is an entertaining chracter, though I would prefer it if she was a bit more independent. I find her frantic, blatant pursuit of James Lacey a bit pathetic, I would prefer it if she was more independent. I can't imagine Miss Marple pursuing her neighbour so desperately.

This is the second book in the Agatha Raisin series.

Feisty Agatha Raisin is still getting used to living in a small village after retiring from her public relations business and leaving London. She's also very interested in getting the attention of James Lacey who is her handsome neighbor. Lacey seems to be avoiding her and Agatha turns to another pursuit. She hears that there is a very attractive veterinarian who has recently set up a nearby office and she makes an appointment for her cat. The vet, Dr. Paul Bladen, has attracted the attention of all of the local ladies, but he does make a date with Agatha.

When Dr. Bladen is found dead, it appears to be an accident, but after talking with several women, Agatha learns that he had angered people in the way that he treated small pets. Agatha suspects that he was murdered. The possible crime also interests James Lacey, and he and Agatha work on the mystery together.

Well, I have to say that while I enjoyed this book to an extent, I was really quite disappointed. After reading the first in the series, "AR and the Quiche of Death," I thought I had found a new series to replace the series that I could no longer find (author passed away or quit writing).

There are at least two major plot points in this book that are retreads of the first one: the murder victim is a womanizer (exactly the same as the victim in "Quiche") and Agatha threatens to sell her cottage and return to London (also exactly the same).

I was also disappointed in the characterization of James Lacey, Agatha's next door neighbor. Sometimes he comes across as intelligent & witty and on the very next page, he is a bumbling fool, making unbelievable mistakes.

I will definitely pick up the third in the series, but if it does not return to the form of the first book, it will be the last of the Agatha Raisin books I will read.

It is hard to think a mystery would be enjoyable but the Agatha Raisin books I have read are. They don't scare you to death but they are fun to follow and see how they come out. Agatha is a funny, funny woman. The local Vet dies, is it an accident or murder? The police say accident but Agatha and her neighbor, James Lacey, think it is murder. They start asking questions and find the Vet. has gotten money from several different women, all of whom he promised to build a new clinic and name it after them. Could the murderer be, Mrs. Parr, Mrs. Mason, Freda, Miss Webster, Miss Simms or someone else??? The ending is very good as Agatha ends up in trouble. A nice easy, quick read.

This second in the Agatha Raisin series is a bit less interesting than the others, but still an engaging read. Agatha is both annoying but endearing, and a very unusual heroine. Beaton has a sharp view on human foibles.

I picked up this book because of a review I read and am not sure what to make of the book. The murder-mystery aspect is a very light bit of fluff having to do with a womanizing jerk of a vet who doesn't like cats and dogs, cons a bunch of desperate women out of lots of money, and winds up dead. The amusement in this series, I assume, is to be had from the characters, and not the plots, which appear to be no more complicated than the most rote "Murder She Wrote" episode. The book really reads more like a romance novel about a particularly socially inept retired career woman, and a village full of desperate menopausal single women than a mystery. I'm reminded of Judi Dench's character Jean Pargiter in "As Time Goes By", only without any of the charm or wit. Oh, the situations Agatha gets herself into are amusing enough, but her behavior itself is off-putting. She's rude, she's grumpy, and worst of all, humorless. Anyone who can't see the humor in the whole the "knocking the sink off the wall trying to screw in a lightbulb to check up on her pimple makeup in a pub restroom" is a dull bore in my estimation. Just writing that should make me laugh, but somehow reading it didn't. Maybe it helps to be English?

All that said, the book was an amusing trifle. I read the whole thing cover to cover in a few days, and I don't waste time finishing books I don't enjoy; life is just too short. I may try another to see if it's a flavor that grows on you.

I picked this book up the other day--in preference to all the "serious" books in my "to-be-read" pile--because I was in the mood for an amusing mystery. And, as always, M. C. Beaton delivered.

Agatha Raisin and neighbor--and, in Agatha's mind, potential love interest--James Lacey join forces as amateur detectives, this time to solve the murders of a vet and a local woman. Let's just say they aren't Nancy Drew or the Hardy Boys. But, as inept as they may be, they deliver a mystery-solver's tour of the Cotswold "hot spots" as they stumble deeper and deeper into trouble.

Take this one to the beach or read it on a rainy afternoon.

They were excellent. I was very pleased.

I'm so happy that I discovered this series! This second book in the series is just as enjoyable as the first. Agatha Raisin is such a wonderful character in her own right, but in this book we are introduced to her neighbour James Lacey, and the book becomes twice as much fun. It has been a long time since I have laughed out loud while reading a book, but this book made me do just that! I will only say that the part where Agatha visits a washroom in a neighbouring village's pub is absolutely hilarious. Also, in this book we see Agatha adopt a second cat - so that in itself is enough to keep my interest. I can't wait to read number three.