Customer Reviews

Agatha Raisin and the Wellspring of Death

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The village of Ancombe is in an uproar. A mineral water company has requested the right to bottle part of its spring every day. Part of the town thinks this is just what their economy needs, but the other part doesn't want the increase of people this would bring. Agatha Raisin agrees to come out of retirement to handle the public relations for the company. But then a body is found. What side of the issue was the victim on? Will this help or hurt Agatha's new job? And can she find the killer before the launch of the label is ruined?

This book was my introduction to Agatha and her friends. While she is a gruff woman with some vices I don't like, I found myself liking the character. The sub-plots in her personal life seemed a bit immature, but I found them funny and the insecurity they brought out made me like the character. My only real complaint was the plot. While it did eventually pick up speed, much of the first half seemed slow to me, with not much advancement in the story. But once things got moving, I was hooked and completely surprised by the ending.

This won't be my last case with Ms. Raisin. I look forward to catching up on the back-story of this lovable crank and seeing where she goes from here.

In the Wellspring of Death, Agatha and James investigate separately, only coming together now and again for the usual misunderstandings and lack of communication regarding their relationship. I don't mind the on-and-off nature of their "love",it makes the stories interesting. Agatha may be insecure, but she's sure enough of herself to love a man who at least is intelligent, mature, handsome, etc. She could do a lot worse than James Lacey, though I prefer Sir Charles, myself.

Agatha Raisin is not promiscuous. In fact, she suffers marked guilt each time she has sex with any man besides her "true" love, James Lacey. But come on, give the woman a break! She's come a long way from her crappy beginnings. Doesn't she deserve a little fun? Agatha is a bright, go-getter with a soft heart beneath the rough exterior, and I cherish the character for both her realism, and her strength of spirit.

This is a good Agatha Raisin story. I found myself enjoying it immensely. Of course it helped that James Lacey was not in it as much as he is in some of the other stories. I don't like him and I wish Agatha would forget him and get on with her own life. Agatha's a mix of city sophisitication and small town vulnerability and that is what makes her so appealing.

In this book Agatha is working freelance on public relations for a new spring water company in a neighbouring village. The commercialization of the spring has opened up a Pandora's box of bad feelings in the village and results in two murders (in true Agatha fashion). In this one though we see a mosltly solo Agatha working on solving the mystery. At the very end she is joined by her village friends to unmask the killer.

At the end of Agatha Raisin and the Terrible Tourist, Agatha realizes that James Lacey is probably not going to become her husband in this lifetime. That realization leaves her feeling flat and depressed. When her former assistant, Roy Silver, calls to offer a job doing PR for a local water company, she's mildly interested. That flicker of intrigue is soon fanned into a bonfire when a trip to the water company's source causes Agatha to find the dead body of Mr. Robert Struthers, chairman of the Ancombe Parish Council, a group that was about to hold a key vote on allowing the new water company to use the spring. What better way to sleuth than to have the chance to use PR as a cover?

Agatha is soon attracted to one of the owners of the new company, Guy Freemont, who is "tall and slim, with jet-black hair and very blue eyes, a tanned skin and an athlete's body." Guy takes her out and they end up spending the night. This becomes a routine that keeps Agatha worrying about her appearance while others tell her she's making a fool of herself.

Agatha's suspicions soon focus on the parish council, whose members are a particularly nasty and unfriendly lot. Motives and bad behavior abound. James Lacey chooses to investigate without Agatha and turns up even more motives for murder.

One of the hilarious events of the book builds around Agatha trying to make a local fete into a large PR event, as circumstances and villains conspire against her.

The resolution of the mystery includes some good drama that will delight Agatha's fans.

I found that the reduced emphasis on James Lacey in this book gave this series a new shot of adrenaline and brought back the awkwardness and earnestness of Agatha Raisin into center stage where she reigns so well.

This is a good addition to the Agatha Raisin series. The most interesting thing here, without giving much away, is that this novel has a surprisingly active ending, and Mrs. Bloxby, a truly enjoyable and human character throughout all of this series, grows and reveals a great deal of courage and willingness to put herself in danger.

it was the name "Agatha" that drew me to this book: my first Agatha Raisin and being a crime fan it is no puzzle to see how this came about. I enjoyed it so much I bought all the rest, spent many delicious summer weeks reading them all and now waiting for another one. They won't challenge the intellect but boy are they good for relieving stress. thanks Mrs Beaton

There's not much I can add to the previous review of Agatha Raisin and the Wellspring of Death. I just love this series! The characters are irascible, much like real life, and with Beaton's wonderful sense of humor and description, I enjoy reading this so much that the mystery itself is secondary!

In this 7th book in the Agatha Raisin series, Agatha is asked to come out of retirement to help a local firm promote its spring water, bottled from a historic village spring. The parish council members are divided on whether to agree to the deal, and one of the members soon turns up dead...in the spring! Agatha must put a spin on this P.R. disaster, and in the process once again steps in to blunder her way to solving the case.

The Agatha Raisin series is one of my favorite cozy mystery series on the market, and I have enjoyed the character development of Agatha throughout the series. I like that Agatha was able to use some of her P.R. skills in this book, and the fact that the premise to the case was fresh and interesting. After reading several books in the series I began to wonder how Ms. Beaton would develop new cases for Agatha since it would be odd to have a village where everyone went around killing one another. (Who would want to live there?) However, I think that each case Agatha stumbles across (she always happens to be in the wrong place at the wrong time!) is entertaining and somewhat believable. Agatha is a rich character that is not at all what she seems on the outside, and I believe that it takes several books to get to know the true goodness of this character. If you enjoy cozy mysteries, you will find that this series is a humorous delight.

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

Reading an Agatha book like AGATHA RAISIN AND THE WELLSPRING OF DEATH is like eating chocolate-covered jalapeno peppers while drinking grapefruit juice, followed by a nice, hot cup of sweetened tea. You don't see how all the different elements could go together, but they do! This is about the 7th in the series that features Agatha and her neighbor James. All the traditional Agatha elements are here: the cozy Cotswolds, the quirky local characters, some "incomers" to stir things up, James, Roy. And it's so funny I laughed out loud several times, usually at Agatha's biting sense of humor. ("That woman has halitosis of the soul," said Agatha.) I'm telling you, Agatha really grows on you. Where I once said she'd never be my best friend, I just love her now. And where else in literary circles do we find attractive women in their 50s with a hot sex life? Go, Agatha!

In this seventh book of this contemporary cozy mystery series, the indomitable Agatha Raisin is still trying to meld into village life in the Cotswalds. It is still slow going, as she sometimes just doesn't quite get it that a London outsider such as herself may never be a perfect fit for quiet village life.

In this book, Agatha volunteers to handle the publicity for bottled water from a village spring, a venture that proves to be somewhat controversial, as some of the villagers are totally against this new enterprise, fearing that it could change their peaceful way of life. Tempers run high, and Agnes finds herself with a potential public relations disaster, when a body turns up in those same spring waters.

Agatha is engaging as she tries to discover just who is up to no good. Of course, the on-again, off-again love of her life and neighbor, James Lacey, goes his separate way in his investigatory efforts, as they are off-again, Agatha, as always looking for love in all the wrong places, ends up with a brief romantic fling that she quickly regrets. Moreover, her investigatory efforts land her in a bit of a pickle, and her best friend, Mrs. Bloxy, steps up to home plate and comes to the rescue, when Agatha finds herself caught between a rock and a hard place.

As with all cozy mysteries, the mystery is secondary to the evolvement of the recurring characters and the ordinary discourse of life that binds them. As always, the dialogue is laced with humor and moves the plot along at a brisk pace, and the book is peppered with a host of interesting, quirky characters that entertain the reader. This is a highly addictive series that makes the reader race off to get the next volume.