M.C. Beaton

Fiction 2023 | 242 pages

I will not be watching the Agatha Raisin TV show, nor will I go in search of any of the other 34 books in the Agatha Raisin Series.  Dead on Target was enough for me.  A fairly typical British mystery story, Mrs. Raisin retires, moves to Cotswold, and becomes a private detective.  In this book, she solves the mystery of a murder performed with an arrow.  The writing is light, easy reading, not complex.

However, I really don't care for our main character, the divorced Mrs. Raisin.  She has a sharp tongue, is somewhat brutal in her words.  A good heart, granted, but a mean communicator.   And, perhaps even worse, she is obsessed with how she looks.  What other character would take our her compact and fix her lipstick after just having found a murdered body, but before the police arrive?  She also walks in town, and notices how good she looks in her reflection in the shop windows.  Some readers may find this quirky character trait quite enjoyable, sweet, even funny.  I did not like it one bit.

I don't recommend Agatha Raisin to you.

September 2024