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Search tags: Agatha-Raisin
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text 2019-05-20 09:24
Snakes and Ladders Progress Update: Roll #11
There Goes the Bride (Agatha Raisin #20) - M.C. Beaton,Penelope Keith

Woohoo!  I finally landed on a ladder! Tossing two dice gave me a nine which took me to square #68. I was a little fuzzy about how the ladders work, so I just went ahead and chose books to meet the prompts for both the bottom and top squares. I couldn't find a cover on my TBR that had something related to weddings, though, so I perused my library's Hoopla offerings and selected "There Goes the Bride" by M.C. Beaton. This is the 20th book in Beaton's long running Agatha Raisin series, and while I've only read a half dozen or so of the early titles, I've also watched the recent TV adaptation and didn't have a problem slipping back into the setting and characters.  Unfortunately it wasn't a strong entry in the series.  The story felt really disjointed, and a lot of filler had also been added. Penelope Keith's narration was the only bright spot. 

 

 

Roll #11

 

 

68. Something related to weddings on the cover: There Goes the Bride by M.C.

      Beaton

 

 

 

  

Progress to Date:

 

 

 1. Author is a woman / start: Their Lost Daughters by Joy Ellis

 

     Roll #1 - Two Dice Roll:  3 + 3 = 6

     Timestamp: 2019-02-24 21:59:09 UTC 

 

 7. Author's last name begins with the letters A, B, C, or D: The Mysterious Affair

     At Styles by Agatha Christie 

 

     Roll #2 - Two Dice Roll:  5 + 5 = 10

     Timestamp: 2019-02-26 07:26:51 UTC

 

17. Genre - horror: The Mummy Case by Elizabeth Peters (skipping horror)

 

      Roll #3 - One Die Roll:  4

     Timestamp: 2019-03-04 02:36:31 UTC

    

21. Set in Europe: My Family and Other Animals by Gerald Durrell

 

      Roll #4 - Two Dice Roll:  6 + 5 = 11

      Timestamp: 2019-03-09 23:41:41 UTC

   

32. Genre: thriller: The Dry by Jane Harper

 

      Roll #5 - Two Dice Roll:  4 + 4 = 8

      Timestamp: 2019-03-14 20:42:23 UTC

  

40. Characters involved in the entertainment industry: Queen of Hearts by Rhys 

      Bowen.

 

      Roll #6 - Two Dice Roll:  5 + 1 = 6

      Timestamp: 2019-03-19 20:34:27 UTC 

     

46. A book that has been on your tbr for more than two years: The Devil's Novice

      by Ellis Peters

 

      Roll #7 - Two Dice Roll:  4 + 5 = 9

      Timestamp: 2019-03-26 22:06:20 UTC

   

55. Is more than 500 pages long: A Local Habitation by Seanan McGuire (skipping

      500 pg. book)

 

      Roll #8 - One Die Roll:  4

      Timestamp: 2019-04-03 05:53:32 UTC

   

59. Was published more than 10 years ago: Friday the Rabbi Slept Late by Harry

      Kemelman

 

      Roll #9 - Two Dice Roll:  2 + 4 = 6

      Timestamp: 2019-04-08 04:22:51 UTC

 

65. Snake - go back to 52: (Zap!)

 

52. Has a tree or flower on the cover: Open Season by C.J. Box

 

      Roll #10 - Two Dice Roll:  6 + 1 = 7

      Timestamp: 2019-04-11 04:58:21 UTC

 

59. Was published more than 10 years ago: Sylvester by Georgette Heyer

 

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  

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review 2018-12-26 11:02
"Agatha Raisin And Kissing Christmas Goodbye - Agatha Raisin #18" by M C Beaton
Agatha Raisin and Kissing Christmas Goodbye - M.C. Beaton

I don't normally start a series at the eighteenth book but I wanted something linked to Christmas and there it was. It turned out that being in the middle of everything was not a problem, it may even have skipped all that "who is Agatha Raisin and how did she get here?" stuff that can make the start of a series a little slow.

 

The Agatha Raisin I saw was someone who has started a second career, done well and become bored, Someone who sees herself as a tough cookie who has used sheer force of personality to climb from a bad home to being a successful woman, running her own small detective agency. Someone with an instinct to kindness and fairness that she hides, even from herself, with ex post rationalisations about return on investment that maintain her tough cookie self-image.

 

The story revolves around a new client, a rich old widow who lives in a stately home and owns the village around it, who asks Agatha to investigate who in her household is trying to poison her. Agatha imagines a sort Poirot investigation. A lot of the humour comes from how far away the reality is from Agatha's imaginings.

 

What I liked most about the book was Agatha's slow realisation of her changing desires. Hiring (rescuing might be a better description)  a very young but brilliant (and lucky) detective from a background similar to her own, holds up a mirror to Agatha. It allows her to see that she's become older but that that isn't a bad thing. It lets her review her strengths and her achievements and puts her in a position to think about what she really wants.

 

At the beginning of the book, what she really wants is to have the perfect Christmas meal, in her cottage, with all her friends and to end up under the mistletoe in the arms of her ex-husband. By the end of the book, what she wants has changed as she slowly acknowledges who she is and how much she likes being who she is.

 

This was a light read with a funny and clever plot and engaging characters. A good book to settle down with before Christmas (or to bring Christmas back when you feel the need for it.

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review 2017-10-18 17:47
The Witches' Tree: An Agatha Raisin Mystery (Agatha Raisin Mysteries) - M. C. Beaton

This was my second Agatha Raisin book and while the first one I read was okay for me, this one, not so much.

It was a good story but Agatha Raisin just really got on my nerves in this one. She's always pining for a man and looks at every man like a dog in heat and wonders what he could do for her. 

While I thought it was funny in the first book, not so in this second book that I read.

There were lots of other interesting characters and the story was good, Agatha's narcissist personality overwhelmed everything else for me.

Thanks to St. Martin's Press and Net Galley for providing me with a free e-galley in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.

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review 2016-06-25 00:00
Agatha Raisin and the Wizard of Evesham
Agatha Raisin and the Wizard of Evesham - M.C. Beaton Only finished because the writing was...ok. The mystery was perfectly abysmal and extremely unrealistic. Why is this series popular?
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text 2015-10-17 03:22
I won a door prize...
Agatha Raisin and the Fairies of Fryfam - M.C. Beaton,Penelope Keith

...and this is it - the unabridged audio version of Agatha Raisin and the Fairies of Fryfam. I've only ever read the first Agatha Raisin book and prefer Beaton's Hamish Macbeth books, but hey, this was free. I'll give it a shot. :-) 

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