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christinevellis's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
avidreadergirl1's review against another edition
5.0
Agatha, some senior villagers and a Christmas lunch (pudding à la Agatha included) what could go wrong? 🤔
rhi_books's review against another edition
1.0
I've read a couple of Agatha Raisin books and seen the TV series, and in my opinion they fall squarely into the "okay zone", solidly mildly entertaining. And that's great, that's just what you need sometimes, a nice bit of fluff to read in the bath.
This isn't a nice bit of fluff. This is the hair you pull out of the bath drain. It's only a few pages and spends the majority of them introducing characters and concepts that should, after so many books in the series, be taken as read.
The plot, such as it is, takes place over at least six months which feels completely unnecessary. One of the two "mysteries" is cleared up by the police in a single line and the other is solved through precisely no detective work.
Awful. I'd compare it to fanfiction, but that's an insult to fanfiction.
This isn't a nice bit of fluff. This is the hair you pull out of the bath drain. It's only a few pages and spends the majority of them introducing characters and concepts that should, after so many books in the series, be taken as read.
The plot, such as it is, takes place over at least six months which feels completely unnecessary. One of the two "mysteries" is cleared up by the police in a single line and the other is solved through precisely no detective work.
Awful. I'd compare it to fanfiction, but that's an insult to fanfiction.
carosbcher's review against another edition
2.0
I don't know if I'll ever be a fan of these series. Agatha just doesn't seem sympathetic to me, although the story was nice and I especially liked all these different characters of the elderly people and the village itself.
emmalynn's review against another edition
3.0
A very short novella in the Agatha Raisin world... I really liked the Christmas atmosphere and especially the way Agatha took care of her Christmas pudding (lol forever) but to be honest, the plot itself was really incredibly thin... I get that you can only do so much in so few pages, but it was still a bit disappointing.
sarah42783's review against another edition
2.0
I absolutely love the Agatha Raisin series but the last few instalments have been quite disappointing. Not that there were completely unenjoyable but they somehow lacked the wackiness of the first books.
The Christmas Crumble wasn't too bad as far as the story and characters are concerned. It lacked substance but it is after all a short story. The main problem here was the ending, which felt rushed and didn't make any sense. Ultimately I think Agatha Raisin is too well-developed a character to be featured in a short story and the usual "Agatha Raisin recipe" doesn't work well in so short a form.
The Christmas Crumble wasn't too bad as far as the story and characters are concerned. It lacked substance but it is after all a short story. The main problem here was the ending, which felt rushed and didn't make any sense. Ultimately I think Agatha Raisin is too well-developed a character to be featured in a short story and the usual "Agatha Raisin recipe" doesn't work well in so short a form.