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vkaz's review against another edition
3.0
Saucy Agatha Raisin is a great character, and the reason I persevered through the book. The mystery (actually mysteries) was flimsy and there were plot holes. This is the first I’ve read in the series, so maybe I picked a weak one.
literary__escapism's review against another edition
5.0
In her 21st adventure, Agatha is determined to forgo with a traditional christmas. She's not the only one dampening the christmas spirit. It seems Health and Safety Inspector, John Sunday, is upsetting everyone in Carsely and surrounding villages, by deeming everything "unsafe". From the christmas tree on the Church to lights on private houses, no one is immune from his wrath. John Sunday is fast becoming the most hated man in the Cotswolds so it's no surprise when he is murdered. Of course, for Agatha, it is a case of trying to figure out which of all the potential suspects did kill him!
I love Agatha's adventures. She's always up to something. Not content to just enjoy retirement, she moved to the Cotswold, got involved in some murders, opened up a detective agency and she's enjoying her 50's with lots of detecting. This Christmas is no different as she tries to figure out who wanted John Sunday dead, and solves another murder that follows.
While I'm fairly good at solving murders in cozy mysteries, I always find M.C. Beaton's mysteries a lot more difficult with all the twists and turns. I definitely did not have this murder solved before Agatha and her team, and it was a shock to see how the murder had played out.
M.C. Beaton writes a very well-plotted mystery and one of the things that I liked about this one is that the murder wasn't solved in a few days. In real life murders can take longer to be solved, and this one took a year to be resolved. I love the realistic feeling this created to the mystery.
Busy Body was another great adventure in the Agatha Raisin series. I think readers of the series will enjoy seeing what mischief Agatha gets up to. I like that there is a hint of what is to come for Agatha and her romantic life!!
I love Agatha's adventures. She's always up to something. Not content to just enjoy retirement, she moved to the Cotswold, got involved in some murders, opened up a detective agency and she's enjoying her 50's with lots of detecting. This Christmas is no different as she tries to figure out who wanted John Sunday dead, and solves another murder that follows.
While I'm fairly good at solving murders in cozy mysteries, I always find M.C. Beaton's mysteries a lot more difficult with all the twists and turns. I definitely did not have this murder solved before Agatha and her team, and it was a shock to see how the murder had played out.
M.C. Beaton writes a very well-plotted mystery and one of the things that I liked about this one is that the murder wasn't solved in a few days. In real life murders can take longer to be solved, and this one took a year to be resolved. I love the realistic feeling this created to the mystery.
Busy Body was another great adventure in the Agatha Raisin series. I think readers of the series will enjoy seeing what mischief Agatha gets up to. I like that there is a hint of what is to come for Agatha and her romantic life!!
f4iryj's review against another edition
3.0
A review of Agatha Raisin and the Busy Body by M.C. Beaton.
2.5 stars, but I’ll round it up to a 3.
I mean, I think it was decent. Not particularly good but not horrible either. I’m not exactly waiting excitedly to read another one of these books from this series. I think I may one day, but that day will be in the far, far future. I think the main problem I had was that it was too easy. The prose was so simple that it sometimes felt lacking. There weren't enough interesting descriptions or sentence structures. A lot of it was just explaining what the characters were doing. This would be good if I was still a preteen. I imagine I would have loved this then, but right now I guess I want to read something a bit more interesting. I literally read this in 1 day. That’s how much of an easy read this was. If you are in the mood for an easy cozy mystery, this would probably be right up your alley.
The characters.
The main character, Agatha, is kind of annoying. She’s petty and rude. I think characters like her are always a hit or miss for me. There’s a fine line with creating an “unlikeable” main character. I think Agatha redeemed herself many times, but there were times when I wanted to smack her. Obviously, her characteristics were on purpose. I like how she has poor taste in men and is always jealous of relationships and tries to ruin them when it comes to her friends. I thought those parts were funny because they were so ridiculous. The rest of the characters were wack. Like what was that? They’re all incredibly boring. Agatha was the only interesting character.
The mystery was super weird. Spoilers, there are two different mysteries in one. The first one was really weird because the man got killed over Christmas lights. I honestly at some point was convinced everyone in the village came together to kill the man, but at least that’s better than the original ending. Like really? Christmas lights? The other mystery was actually worse. I was literally in tears reading who the actual murderer was. If being a detective was that easy, I would be one too. Also, where does Agatha get so much money? Was that explained in another book? She’s going on many vacations and she literally flies to America just to check a random alibi. Where is she getting all this money from? She gives Simon a huge paycheck, and Simon and Toni give like 200 pounds to this one woman for no reason. They say there’s a recession, so what gives? Also, one of the girls working for her literally dies, and because of how easy the book is to read, it feels like there’s barely any emotional impact. Her murder is also so easily solved, and without Agatha’s help either, so it feels unfulfilling.
I mean, I think there’s nothing else to say.
2.5 stars, but I’ll round it up to a 3.
I mean, I think it was decent. Not particularly good but not horrible either. I’m not exactly waiting excitedly to read another one of these books from this series. I think I may one day, but that day will be in the far, far future. I think the main problem I had was that it was too easy. The prose was so simple that it sometimes felt lacking. There weren't enough interesting descriptions or sentence structures. A lot of it was just explaining what the characters were doing. This would be good if I was still a preteen. I imagine I would have loved this then, but right now I guess I want to read something a bit more interesting. I literally read this in 1 day. That’s how much of an easy read this was. If you are in the mood for an easy cozy mystery, this would probably be right up your alley.
The characters.
The main character, Agatha, is kind of annoying. She’s petty and rude. I think characters like her are always a hit or miss for me. There’s a fine line with creating an “unlikeable” main character. I think Agatha redeemed herself many times, but there were times when I wanted to smack her. Obviously, her characteristics were on purpose. I like how she has poor taste in men and is always jealous of relationships and tries to ruin them when it comes to her friends. I thought those parts were funny because they were so ridiculous. The rest of the characters were wack. Like what was that? They’re all incredibly boring. Agatha was the only interesting character.
The mystery was super weird. Spoilers, there are two different mysteries in one. The first one was really weird because the man got killed over Christmas lights. I honestly at some point was convinced everyone in the village came together to kill the man, but at least that’s better than the original ending. Like really? Christmas lights? The other mystery was actually worse. I was literally in tears reading who the actual murderer was. If being a detective was that easy, I would be one too. Also, where does Agatha get so much money? Was that explained in another book? She’s going on many vacations and she literally flies to America just to check a random alibi. Where is she getting all this money from? She gives Simon a huge paycheck, and Simon and Toni give like 200 pounds to this one woman for no reason. They say there’s a recession, so what gives? Also, one of the girls working for her literally dies, and because of how easy the book is to read, it feels like there’s barely any emotional impact. Her murder is also so easily solved, and without Agatha’s help either, so it feels unfulfilling.
I mean, I think there’s nothing else to say.
marais90's review against another edition
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
max538's review against another edition
lighthearted
mysterious
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
evefaith's review against another edition
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
memphisholli's review against another edition
emotional
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
alrey's review against another edition
lighthearted
mysterious
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0