Love, Lies and Liquor (An Agatha Raisin Mystery) (Hardcover)

by M. C. Beaton (Author)
Key Phrases: Fred Jankers, James Lacey, Charlie Black (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
In bestseller Beaton's mildly entertaining 17th Agatha Raisin mystery (after 2005's The Perfect Paragon), Agatha still carries a torch for her ex-husband, James Lacey, who invites her on holiday after moving back to the cottage next door to hers in the small English village of Carsely. Unfortunately, the surprise destination is a rundown British seaside town, Snoth-on-Sea, where a fellow guest at their hotel is murdered, strangled with Agatha's scarf. Before Agatha can make much headway in her investigation, two more guests are killed. More engaging than the crime solving—the underdeveloped victims and suspects are hard to tell apart, let alone care about—is the back-and-forth between Agatha and James. Driven by Agatha's strong personality, this predictable cozy will please devoted fans, but is unlikely to win new readers. (Sept.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist
In the long and successful string of mystery novels featuring private detective Agatha Raisin, who lives a perpetually prickly existence in the picturesque Cotswolds, trouble normally comes right to Agatha's tiny village of Carsely. In this seventeenth entry in the series, Agatha goes a little farther afield before trouble engulfs her. Agatha's ex-husband, James, from whom she has never fully recovered, has given Agatha reason to believe he may want to reconcile. He invites her to join him at the beloved scene of his childhood summer vacations, Snoth-on-Sea. The resort is rundown, the food miserable, and the guests obnoxious. Agatha's shouting match in the dining room with a boorish, insulting woman comes back to haunt her when the woman is found strangled to death, Agatha's scarf around her pudgy neck. Agatha must investigate to clear herself. More murder follows. Another highly satisfying Beaton cozy, this one is long on the kind of social comedy that uses character, plot, and atmosphere to produce the laughter. Connie Fletcher
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 240 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Minotaur (September 19, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312349106
• ISBN-13: 978-0312349103
• Product Dimensions: 5.7 x 1 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #449,776 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

  Popular in this category: (What's this?)

  #64 in

  Books > Mystery & Thrillers > Authors, A-Z > ( B ) > Beaton, M.C.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Agatha's Back and Up to Her Beady Eyes in Mystery and Romance, October 3, 2006

By	Antoinette Klein (Hoover, Alabama USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Agatha Raisin has two addictions in life---one is butting in where others fear to tread and the other is James Lacey. Both consume her in this latest adventure of the middle-aged detective who prides herself on her good legs.

Can she find lasting happiness with her ex-husband? Agatha is hoping so, and the reader finally sees Agatha wising up to James' cold and unaffectionate nature. Can that actually be Agatha Raisin rejecting James? Spurning his advances? The game playing is over and Agatha is the clear winner. Or is she?

Devotees of this series, of which I am definitely one, will enjoy M.C. Beaton's trademark humor and laugh-out-loud moments as James whisks Agatha away on a mystery vacation. With lacey lingerie, sexy dresses, and visions of romping on beaches and beds along the French Riviera, Agatha sets off with great expectations. When James' dream vacation turns out to be a run-down and very seedy hotel in Snoth-on-Sea, England, Agatha realizes the life she wants with James may never be possible. In a refreshing change of pace, the pursuer becomes the pursued and Agatha can see a future without James.

Once again her grouchy disposition and smart-aleck mouth lead to trouble, this time to the murder of a fellow guest at the hotel. When the brassy guest is strangled on the beach with Agatha's scarf, the police are eager to arrest the obnoxious Ms. Raisin. Agatha springs into action to solve the case and clear her name. As usual, there are myriads of minor characters, though Beaton has done a better-than-usual job of delineating each one for the reader. In addition to the staff from her detective agency, old favorites like Sir Charles Fraith, Mrs. Bloxby, Ron Silver, and Bill Wong return. Stolen jewelry, heavy drinking, and a raging sea figure prominently in this latest adventure. And in a classic moment, a Chinese waitress laughs at Agatha's name and tells her she might as well be called Mrs. Prune. The seventeenth adventure does not disappoint and leaves us with an unexpected, but totally Agatha-like cliffhanger.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A Disappointment, January 31, 2007

By	Katherine Makus (Ellensburg, WA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Although the usual cast of characters is up to lots of engaging antics, this latest Agatha Raisin mystery fails to pull it all together. It's a shame, because Agatha is truly a delight--abrasive, insecure, looking for love from unavailable men, yet feisty and somehow endearing. Unfortunately, the hurried, choppy writing and the disjointed plot make it hard to appreciate the characters. This installment is definitely not up to the standard of the first five or six books in the series. Please, Ms. Beaton, either do some polishing or get yourself a good editor!

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars NOT UP TO SNUFF, October 29, 2006

By	miss demeaner "BOOK SMARTS" (philly , pa. usa) - See all my reviews

I AM A BIG AGATHA RAISIN FAN . I'M SAD TO SAY THAT THAT WHILE I PRE-ORDERED THIS BOOK MONTHS BEFORE IT WAS RELEASED, AS I DO ALL M.C.BEATON'S "AGATHA RAISIN " BOOKS, I FELT A LITTLE CHEATED .

I THINK M.C. BEATON HAS SO MUCH TALENT THAT PERHAPS SHE WAS RUSHED BY PUBLISHERS IN GETTING THIS BOOK OUT AND ALSO HAD A MINUMUM PAGE REQUIREMENT. WHICH WOULD ACCOUNT FOR MY POOR REVIEW BELOW .

I HATE TO GIVE THE PLOT AWAY SO I'LL JUST SAY , THERE WAS TOO MUCH , RUNNING BACK AND FORTH TO THE POLICE STATION . AND WHEN NOT DOING THAT SHE WAS EITHER FINDING MURDER VICTIMS OR SHE WAS THE TARGET ...WHICH AGAIN HAD US FOLLOWING HER EITHER TO POLICE STATION OR BACK TO THE HOTEL ON " SNOTH-ON-SEA " . IT WAS ALMOST LIKE A KEYSTONE COMEDY . THE OTHER CHARACTERS SEEMED TO BE THROWN IN JUST TO SHOW US SHE HADN'T FORGOTTEN THEM LIKE MRS. BLOXBY COMING TO COMFORT AGATHA WITH NOTHING REALLY TO DO , BUT, COMES UP WITH AN IDEA . CHARLES WANDERING IN AND OUT OF THE STORY WHEN JAMES ISN'T . AND OF COURSE DET. BILL WONG ...NO REAL PURPOSE IN THIS EITHER.

I THINK IF THE CHARACTERS WERE NECESSARY TO INCORPORATE SOMEHOW, SHE SHOULDN'T HAVE THEM RUNNING BACK AND FORTH TO SEASIDE AGAIN AND AGAIN MAKING IT ALMOST COMICAL BUT A NUSANCE FOR ME THE READER . JUST NO GOOD REASON FOR THEM TO ALL SHOW UP .

BUT, IT WOULDN'T HAVE BEEN A SIN TO JUST LEAVE THEM OUT AS SHE HAD ENOUGH CHARACTERS IN THIS NOVEL GOING AT ONE TIME AS IT WAS .

I WILL STILL BE A FAN OF HERS AND TAKE MY CHANCES BUT, SADLY THIS BOOK ALREADY FOUND A NEW HOME WITH MY LOCAL LIBARY UNLIKE MOST OF HER PAST WORKS WHICH HAVE THEIR HOME ON MY BOOKSHELVES ALONG WITH MANY FAVORITES .

THAT'S MY OPINION . SORRY FOLKS .