Customer Reviews

Kissing Christmas Goodbye (Agatha Raisin Mysteries, No. 18)

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I wholeheartedly concur with the previous reviewers: this particular Agatha Raisin installment is a good one.

It's beginning to look as if the bloom has fallen off Agatha Raisin's obsessive love for her handsome ex-husband, James Lacey. Not that Agatha is about to admit to this. No. she's decided that her feelings if ennui are down to the lack of a really good investigation that she can sink her teeth into. So that when Agatha receives a letter from Phyllis Tamworthy who claims that someone in her family is trying to murder her. Agatha thinks that Phyllis Tamworthy may be a nutter, but something about the letter gives her pause. What if it is authentic? What if Phyllis Tamworthy is in real danger? With visions of Agatha Christie's "Hercule Poirot's Christmas" in mind (Christmas is after all round the corner), Agatha decides to take on the case. Isn't just typical then that all of Agatha's Christie-like visions would come to nothing? Phyllis turns out to be penny-pinching bully to comes her children firmly under her thumb, while Phyllis' children seem to be so colourless and spineless a bunch, that Agatha has a hard time seeing any of them as potential killers. But when Phyllis drops dead after a truly awful tea, Agatha is sure that a very cunning murderer has struck. Quickly Agatha springs into action, determined to discover who murdered Phyllis, and no one, not the hostile police officers in charge of the case or Phyllis' equally hostile relatives or the twinge in her hip are going to stop her...


While the last few Agatha Raisin installments have not been exactly topnotch, "Kissing Christmas Goodbye" will remind fans of the Agatha Raisin installments that shone. Our prickly and acerbic Agatha is in top form as she juggles trying to figure out who murdered Phyllis, sorting out her latest employee's domestic problems and obsessing about giving her friends a truly spectacular Christmas dinner. I enjoyed every single moment of "Kissing Christmas Goodbye," and am truly delighted at being able to recommend it as a good read not only to fervent fans of the series but to anyone looking for a nice British cozy to curl up with. As to the perennial question: how will things pan out for James and Agatha? This installment moves neither backwards nor forwards in answering the question. There are intimations that Agatha may no longer be in love with James; but can we believe this? I'm not too sure and will look to the next Agatha Raisin installment for answers!

I'm only giving an opinion, not a review per se, the book jacket says it all. There is a new character that adds a lot of life to the series, very little James (thank goodness) and a dash of Roy, the vicar's wife and Bill Wong all combined with a mystery that for once I didn't figure out before the big reveal. It's light, it's fluffy & it's all Agatha. I loved it so much that I wish M.C. Beaton would slow down on the Hamish McBeth series for a bit & dedicate more time to Agatha Raisin.

The suspense in Kissing Christmas Goodbye is mostly focused on whether Agatha Raisin will be able to pull off a splendid Christmas party with James Lacey at her side: That's one of her dreams as the book opens. Having grown up as the daughter of two alcoholics in the Birmingham slums, Agatha has always craved a classic Christmas dinner. Her previous attempt hit a major snag when she burned her turkey and had to be bailed out by a last-minute caterer, but everyone had fun.

The detective agency is doing well because Agatha has overcome her scruples about taking on divorce cases, even if everyone on the staff finds them distasteful. But without the fantasy of a man to fall in love with, Agatha finds herself bored by it all. With her Christmas fantasy, she finds a substitute for romantic fantasies.

Life becomes more interesting when Agatha decides to check out an invitation from Phyllis Tamworthy, an elderly woman who claims that her family is about to kill her. Agatha takes on the assignment of preventing the murder and ends up having one of the worst country weekends imaginable. Mrs. Tamworthy is right about one thing: Someone is out to get her. The detecting trail leads Agatha to learn a great deal about this unpleasant woman and her undesirable family.

For me, the best part of the book came in the introduction of a new character, Toni Gilmour, a 17-year-old woman who seems to be a young Agatha Raisin in the making. Toni is hired to do the pet detecting that Harry Beam used to do before he headed off to Cambridge for his university studies. Toni is soon promoted into the front ranks as a detective due to her remarkable insights and good luck. But it's Agatha's reaction to Toni that makes this a good story: Agatha turns maternal, something we haven't seen before. I hope we will see and hear a lot more of Toni in future books in the series.

The story is fun and I would have graded the book higher except that this is a most transparent mystery in terms of who did what to whom. How could I grade a book above average if the mystery is child's play?

But I know this book will bring many smiles to your face.

Merry Christmas!

The feisty and ferocious Agatha Raisin is back in her 17th adventure with all the charm of a snappy pit bull. Jealous and cranky, yet incredibly kind and generous, Agatha's vulnerability has won her legions of fan who will enjoy this, one of the best in the series. Not only is there a country house mystery, but the Christmas setting adds charm as Agatha prepares to celebrate her best Christmas ever with friends, snow, yuletide decorations, and hopefully, James Lacey at her side.

The brightest spot in the novel may be the addition of a new character, teenage Toni Gilmour, whose background is eerily akin to that of Agatha. Toni may be the anti-Agatha: young, beautiful, vivacious, charming and clever. Despite Agatha's occasional bursts of jealousy, the two women are friends as well as fellow detectives and Agatha's incredible generosity in helping Toni softens the many hard edges she still exhibits.

Mrs. Tamworthy, matriarch of a highly dysfunctional family, hires Agatha to find the person who is attempting to kill her. More murders follow as Agatha is both friend and enemy to the Tamworthy heirs. There are red herrings aplenty before she finally cracks the case and can enjoy hosting her Christmas party. Will she get the snow she longs for and will James Lacey be the man she dreams he can be?

Long-time readers will enjoy visits from Bill Wong, Roy Silver, Sir Charles Fraith, Mrs. Bloxby (and even a deeper look at Alf Bloxby) and another cameo appearance by James Lacey. Two big questions remain to tease readers at the end: is Agatha really over James and has Bill Wong found the girl of his dreams at last? Can't wait for the next installment!

I am a long-term fan of Agatha Raisin and M.C. Beaton. I eagerly await any of her new books, and I particularly looked forward to this one because of the Christmas theme. Each time out we see Aggie getting stronger and doing better and better with her detective agency. In this book she is called in to protect an old lady who thinks her family is out to kill her. And boy does she ever discover a family! It turns out the old lady is not what she seems and the family has been suffering under her matriarchship for a long time. It's really no surprise when the old lady turns up dead, and then Aggie sets out to unmask a killer. We have all the old favourites here, James Lacey, Charles Fraith, Mrs. Bloxby and Bill Wong, as well as some new winners like young Toni who Agatha hires as a junior detective. This book was lots of fun and then a big Christmas dinner was thrown in for good measure.

With KISSING CHRISTMAS GOODBYE, M.C. Beaton gives us an exceptionally good story that is not only filled with details of Agatha's life, but also contains an interesting mystery!

Agatha Raisin has a rich dream life. In most of her dreams she does wonderful things and her friends admire and love her. She especially relishes the love of her former husband, James Lacey. This time Agatha is planning on having a wonderful Christmas dinner party where the food and decorations are excellent and her guests are full of admiration and love for her.

In the mean time, she has her detective agency to run. She needs another employee to work on the missing pet problems and hires a teenage girl named Toni. Toni proves to be even better than Agatha could have imagined. The young woman is smart and has a great deal of incentive. Agatha is, of course, jealous of Toni's youth, beauty and brains, but knows she's hired a good detective.

The agency's biggest case involves a very wealthy woman who is murdered before she could cut all of her children out of her will. All of Agatha's detectives get involved in the investigation including her friends Sir Charles Firth and Roy Silver

Judith Miller

I loved Agatha in Kissing Christmas Goodbye. She seems to have finally grown up. Her reactions to James made me very happy. I was getting tired of her obsession. Of course, now he probably will want her because she doesn't seem to want him. I cheered when the vicar's wife finally stood up to him...it's about time. Very happy for Bill...seems to have finally found the right person.
All this said...is this the final book in the series???? M.C. seems to have tied up all important ends in this book. I finished last night thinking this was the end. I sure hope not!!!!

I really enjoyed this book. I've always liked the Agatha Raisin series, but felt that it's started to get stale lately. That all changed with this book! It's a relief to finally see Agatha sticking to her guns about James Lacey, and her new protege is terrific. New perspective and new blood are exactly what this series needed!

I enjoyed this book immensely. I had a few chuckles. This is an easy to read, quick, fun, enjoyable mystery that once you pick up you don't want to put it down. Hooray for Agatha Raisin, a middle aged but full of life woman. I have read the whole series and was a little worried that Agatha was wearing thin, but this was definitely right on track where it should be

This is the 17th in the Agatha Raisin series and both M.C. Beaton and Agatha Raisin are back in true form with this Christmas tale of murder in the Cotswolds. Agatha is hired by an old woman who lives in a manor house and claims she is going to be murdered. Sure enough the old woman is found poisoned after high tea. In addition to solving the murder, Agatha is in the Christmas spirit and wants to put on a Christmas dinner with all the trimmings. All the old characters are here, but a new teenage trainee at her detective agency named Toni adds new interest to this old series. This book is a delightfully fun read, and would make a good Christmas gift for oneself or a friend.