Agatha Raisin and the Terrible Tourist (Agatha Raisin Mysteries, No. 6) (Mass Market Paperback)

by M. C. Beaton (Author) "AGATHA Raisin was a bewildered and unhappy woman..." (more)
Key Phrases: Bill Wong, James Lacey, Sir Charles (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal
Now that her ex-fiance has run off to Cyprus, Agatha decides that her Cotswold village is boring. She pursues her former intended, witnesses a murder in a disco, and sleuths once more. Another refreshing and delightful series addition.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Kirkus Reviews
The marriage of expublic relations whiz Agatha Raisin to cold, enigmatic James Lacey, who lives next door to her retirement cottage in the Cotswold village of Carsely, has fallen through (Agatha Raisin and the Murderous Marriage, 1996, etc.). James has taken off for Cyprus, the planned site of their aborted honeymoon, and Agatha, incomprehensibly, takes off after him. Soon after her arrival, on a day cruise in the harbor at Kyrenia, she meets an oddly mixed group of tourists--aristocratic Olivia Debenham, her broker husband George, and their older friend Harry Tembleton-- spending much of their time in the company of low-class, tarty Rose Wilcox, her hard-drinking husband Trevor, and their elderly friend Angus King. Agatha has tracked down James and, on a platonic basis, is sharing his rented house. They've joined the oddball group at a disco one night when Rose is stabbed to death and Agatha and James are detained and questioned by Detective Inspector Lyall Pamir. A second murder in the group arouses all of Agatha's detecting fervor. She gets background info on them from her policeman friend Bill Wong in England; escapes a couple of attacks on her own life; plays around a bit with vacationing long time acquaintance Sir Charles Fraith; and bemoans James's disappearance just as she solves the case. None of this nonsense can be taken seriously, least of all Agatha's obsession with the thoroughly off-putting James or plotting as full of holes as Swiss cheese. Only the author's blithe and breezy style and some interest in the historic sights of northern Cyprus could inspire most readers to stay the course. -- Copyright ©1997, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 198 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Paperbacks (July 15, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312965664
• ISBN-13: 978-0312965662
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.3 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #38,361 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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• This is item 6 in The Agatha Raisin Series.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Tour of Murder, June 26, 2003

By	L Smith "acozylover" (Macomb, MI) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

In this 6th book in the Agatha Raisin series, Agatha decides to take a trip to Cyprus to track down one-time fiancé, James Lacey, who took off after their disastrous almost marriage. Instead of enjoying a romantic reunion with James, they witness a murder of a fellow tourist. Staying in their rented "honeymoon" cottage, Agatha and James work together to solve the murder, but not before the killer strikes again.

This book was harder to get into than several of the other in the series. Overall, this series is one of my favorites in the cozy genre, and I was a bit disappointed in this offering. Agatha is portrayed as desperate for James' affections, and although I like her vulnerability, I could easily see why James becomes annoyed with her. With that said, I would still highly recommend this book as a part of the series since it has a decent mystery and an interesting setting.

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

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Terrible Tourists and a Rotten Sweetheart, August 8, 2006

By	Dennis Phillips "The Book Friar" (Bulls Gap, Tennessee USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

When last we left Agatha she had solved the murder of her estranged husband whom she had assumed was already dead. Unfortunately for her he showed up very much alive just in time to stop her marriage to James Lacey and when he shortly turned up dead the authorities naturally looked to Agatha and James as their chief suspects. Agatha and James worked together to solve the case and it seemed that James just might forgive her until he took off alone for Cyprus, which was to have been their honeymoon trip.

Still lovesick, Agatha decides to follow James and hope that she will be able to find him. Find him she does but she also finds a group of terrible tourists that she can't stand. Somehow though she always seems to end up running into this group and is present when one of them is murdered. The local police consider Agatha, James and the entire party of English tourists suspects and to clear her name Agatha starts to snoop. In previous books from this series Agatha has basically bumbled around and sort of fell backwards into the solutions of the various mysteries, an observation, which James makes in this entry. This time however she actually uses her wits and solves the mystery on her own. I must admit that I was quite proud of the old girl.

This book is set almost entirely in Cyprus and has a much different feel than the earlier books, which are set in the English countryside. This is a much more rough and tumble and somewhat seedy tail. It is nonetheless very entertaining, as Agatha becomes a target herself, finds another body, sleeps with a character from a previous book and tours the ancient ruins of Cyprus. All of this while she is still chasing after James Lacey who really doesn't come across in this book as much of a gentleman or as much of a human being for that matter. I don't know what will come of Agatha and James' relationship in future books but as of now I have to agree with one of the characters in this book that she deserves better.

This entry in the Agatha Raisin series does lose some of the charm contained in the earlier books but I really liked the fact that Agatha solved the mystery on her own and did so in a way that would make Sherlock Holmes proud. Another plus is that the reader is clearly shown the clues and can solve the mystery the same way Agatha did but one has to pay very close attention. I must admit that I apparently didn't pay close enough attention but once Agatha named the culprit it all made perfect sense. Not bad I would say, not bad at all.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars --Murder in Cypress--, January 30, 2004

By	Judith Miller (Bluemont, VA USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Agatha Raisin who had retired to the quiet life in the Cotswold village of Carsley, is finding life to be very boring without the companionship of James Lacey. She's depressed because James, the love of her life has broken off their engagement. Of course, he had a good reason to do so, because Agatha had not told him the complete truth about her husband, Jimmy. She had led him to believe that Jimmy was dead, and both Agatha and James were shocked to have Jimmy appear at the start of their wedding. James is now in Cypress where he and Agatha were to be together on their honeymoon. Since Agatha is wildly aggressive and impulsive, she decides to follow James and try to rekindle their romance.

Agatha has some trouble in locating James, and to fill her time, she takes a cruise. On the ship she meets up with a rather odd assortment of English tourists. She also runs into Sir Charles Firth who seduces her and causes more conflict between Agatha and James. When one of the English tourists is killed, Agatha jumps in to investigate, and after a second murder takes place; it appears that the murderer is also after our Aggie, as Sir Charles likes to call her.

AGATHA RAISIN AND THE TERRIBLE TOURIST is a little different from the other stories in this series because it takes place in an exotic part of the world. I really enjoyed hearing about the history of Cypress. This is the sixth book in the Agatha Raisin stories.