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A review by cooperca
The Quiche of Death by M.C. Beaton
4.0
A reviewer had compared Agatha Raisin as a cross between Miss Marple, Auntie Mame, and Lucille Ball, so naturally I needed to find out who this Agatha Raisin was.
After selling her London PR firm, Agatha moves to a small, quaint village where she's always wanted to live. Finding small town life excruciatingly boring, Agatha decides to move back to London...which she will consistently state throughout the book. Trying to fit in, she enters the villages quiche contest. Not able to even boil water, she purchases a quiche made from a London baker and enters it as her own. When the quiche judge dies that evening, Agatha sees murder where others see an accident.
Ms. Beaton creates vivid scenery and quirky people that brings the village of Carsely alive. The number of suspects are numerous and Agatha can't help herself in becoming the Miss Marple of the village. Although overall I enjoyed novel, but my issue is lies with Agatha. Her severe, and I mean majorly severe, lack of social skills can make her scenes unreadable. What mystified me is that Agatha owned her own PR firm and it appeared to have been a successful firm. Having worked in PR, it's all about relationships. But Agatha doesn't appear to have the skills or the desire to create relationships with anyone.
There would be times it seemed like she could connect with people and then she would go right back to being annoying, petulant, and at times downright mean. I'm not sure where this series is going, but I'll read another to see if Agatha can act and behave like an adult.
After selling her London PR firm, Agatha moves to a small, quaint village where she's always wanted to live. Finding small town life excruciatingly boring, Agatha decides to move back to London...which she will consistently state throughout the book. Trying to fit in, she enters the villages quiche contest. Not able to even boil water, she purchases a quiche made from a London baker and enters it as her own. When the quiche judge dies that evening, Agatha sees murder where others see an accident.
Ms. Beaton creates vivid scenery and quirky people that brings the village of Carsely alive. The number of suspects are numerous and Agatha can't help herself in becoming the Miss Marple of the village. Although overall I enjoyed novel, but my issue is lies with Agatha. Her severe, and I mean majorly severe, lack of social skills can make her scenes unreadable. What mystified me is that Agatha owned her own PR firm and it appeared to have been a successful firm. Having worked in PR, it's all about relationships. But Agatha doesn't appear to have the skills or the desire to create relationships with anyone.
There would be times it seemed like she could connect with people and then she would go right back to being annoying, petulant, and at times downright mean. I'm not sure where this series is going, but I'll read another to see if Agatha can act and behave like an adult.