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Title: Agatha Raisin and the Haunted House by M. C. Beaton ISBN: 0-312-20769-7 Publisher: St. Martin's Minotaur Pub. Date: 14 October, 2003 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $23.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.75 (8 reviews)
Rating: 3
Summary: The Irascible Agatha Raisin Returns In Her 14th Adventure
Comment: Agatha Raisin returns in her 14th adventure. All the characters we've come to love also return. There's the esteemed Mrs. Bloxby, the flamboyant Ron Silver, endearing Bill Wong minus his wacky parents, and even a surprise visit from Sir Charles Fraith. Agatha, however, does seem to be getting a little too trite. I love her crotchety nature, and although there were glimpses of it here, Agatha is becoming a little too obsessed with whatever man moves in next door. Worst of all, the strong Mrs. Raisin actually broke down and cried and, horror of horrors, fainted at the sight of a dead body. That's not the real Agatha! Don't go soft on us, girl!
This book also didn't live up to previous ones because Agatha's male love interest was just too wimpy for words. The fact that he had a wife, albeit a stereotypical dark-haired and jealous beauty, also never really made the reader think Agatha could wind up with him. So now, yet another man may move into the cottage next door and Agatha will have one more chance to wear her sexy black nightie. Ho, hum. Maybe Ms. Beaton needs to go back to what made Agatha so endearing to begin with---her desperate plotting, her vulnerablity, her total disdain for anything that stood in her path and her hilariously outrageous behavior.
I was also a little disappointed that the big plans Agatha made at the end of the previous book---the desire to start an active group for senior citizens of the village---got nary a mention. Hopefully, her big plan at the end of this book will carry forward to the next one.
With all the shortcomings of this offering, I still love Agatha, a woman who wouldn't dream of cooking for herself and will subsist on frozen dinners while preparing fresh fish for her cats.
Rating: 4
Summary: Aggie's a Riot-----but Beaton needs a new editor.
Comment: There is simply no question I adore Agatha Raisin in all her grumpy, middle-aged, love-starved, prickly, hard-nosed and soft-hearted misadventures!
In this latest effort, the latest in the series of handsome men who briefly live next door to Aggie's cottage in the Cotswold village of Carsely and help her solve mysteries is a silver-haired married computer guy. Unfortunately, he's a mere shadow of a character, just a temporary device to get Aggie involved in a new case and to provide a temporary distraction as she pines for her ex-husband and former neighbor James Lacey, a chilly jerk she's still fixated on in a mild way.
Aggie and her new neighbor agree to try to help Mrs. Witherspoon, a ninety-something holy terror, uncover the source of the "haunting" of her home by sitting up in the house all night to catch the ghost. The whole effort goes hilariously awry when Agatha runs shrieking from the house at the sight of Mrs. Witherspoon in her nightgown and a facial mask (the only laugh-out-loud moment in the book---and I'm used to many chuckles from Agatha).
Mrs. Witherspoon is subsequently murdered, and Agatha and her handsome neighbor-du-jour begin the search for her murderer and the reason for the haunting. Lost treasure, secret rooms, and more late night burgling are included in the enjoyable hunt.
Now, equally important to me is Aggie's personal life. This book finds her still pained by reminders of James Lacey. Her former friend, co-investigator and erstwhile lover Sir Charles Fraith shows up again in this story --- and thus begins my complaint about whoever is editing the prolific Ms. Beaton's manuscripts.
When we last met Charles, he was in the process of divorcing a French wife who duped him into marriage with a false claim of pregnancy with twins, and he was uncharacteristically pudgy with thinning hair. In this book, he seems to be unhappily separated from a French wife and the father of children, and claims his weight gain and hair loss were due to successful treatment for lung cancer.
Now, really..........can't someone at this publishing house provide better editorial support than that? Ms. Beaton is a talented and prolific writer, and I adore her work. Prior books have been cursed with editorial errors----dialogue attributed to the wrong character, etc.
But this is really a problem. Agatha's ex-husband James Lacey suffered from a cancerous brain tumor in earlier books in the series. Are we now to assume both Charles and James had cancer? Did Charles re-acquire his wife or re-marry? This at best needs clarification, and at worst is a howling mistake in continuity. Either way, that's what I thought editors were for.
Please, Ms. Beaton----keep writing these delightful stories, and insist on better editors and proof-readers. And----a modicum of resolution of the lovable but unloved Agatha's past relationships would help!!
Rating: 4
Summary: Exactly what you expect from Mrs. Raisin
Comment: I only just started reading the Agatha Raisin series about a year ago and I have read them all to date. I find The Haunted Mansion delightful. I would like to see her either end up with the neighbor or for her to have a married couple move in next time but if you like a good mystery then this book along with all of the others in the series delivers. If you are looking for something a little different than the other books in the series then you may want to try to read something else but if you like Mrs Raisin and you enjoy watching her get into, and most times stay into trouble then you will enjoy this book and take it for what it is worth. Lets hope that another comes out very soon.
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Title: Death of a Poison Pen by M.C. Beaton ISBN: 0892967889 Publisher: Mysterious Press Pub. Date: February, 2004 List Price(USD): $23.95 |
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Title: Agatha Raisin and the Case of the Curious Curate by M. C. Beaton ISBN: 0312207689 Publisher: St. Martin's Minotaur Pub. Date: 11 February, 2003 List Price(USD): $22.95 |
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Title: Agatha Raisin and the Day the Floods Came by M. C. Beaton ISBN: 031298586X Publisher: St. Martin's Press Pub. Date: 19 October, 2003 List Price(USD): $6.50 |
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Title: Death of a Village by M. C. Beaton, M.C. Beaton ISBN: 0892966777 Publisher: Warner Books Pub. Date: March, 2003 List Price(USD): $23.95 |
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Title: Snobbery with Violence: A Mystery by Marion Chesney ISBN: 031230451X Publisher: St. Martin's Minotaur Pub. Date: 16 July, 2003 List Price(USD): $22.95 |
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