Agatha Raisin and the Quiche of Death [Mass Market Paperback]

 

 

Create your own review

This is a funny and irreverent series of cozy mysteries featuring a menopausal lady of means, Agatha Raisin. Having read the entire series, I totally love the lead character and find the books very entertaining. The characters are interesting and the dialogue is credible, moving the story along at a brisk pace. With each book, the lives of the main and recurring characters are fleshed out a little more and begin to resemble friends that one looks forward to seeing again.

In this book, Agatha Raisin has just sold her thriving public relations firm in London and taken an early retirement. Leaving London behind, she moves to Carsely, the Cotswold village of her dreams. Trying to fit in with the sleepy pace of the village and its environs, Agatha enters the local baking contest, thinking that a win would certainly secure her a successful entry into village life. Unfortunately, the best laid plans go awry, when Agatha's quiche causes the judge to drop dead.

As with all cozy mysteries, it is not so much the mystery that is of import but the characters that revolve around the mystery. While the mysteries are intriguing, they are the framework around which the characters evolve. In the character of Agatha Raisin, the author has created a sure fire winner that is bound to win many fans.

As a devoted fan of M. C. Beaton's Hamish Macbeth series, I was intrigued to keep reading reviews of Hamish Macbeth books by people who claimed they liked the Agatha Raisin series better. But every time I contemplated the title, Agatha Raisin and the Quiche of Death, it just seemed too tongue in cheek to be possibly any good. Well, I was wrong. Although the book couldn't be any more satirical and much punnier than it is, the book works very well both as a straight story and as a satire. It's like getting two books for the price of one.

Since the Hamish Macbeth series started first, let me address Hamish Macbeth fans first: Think of Agatha Raisin as being one of the optimistic incomers to Lochdubh who hope for peace and tranquility without realizing what village life in Sutherland is really like. But Agatha has mostly good intentions (except towards the women in the area who drive her batty) instead of being an incipient homicidal maniac like the incomers in Sutherland. Agatha is also her own woman, and not about to take any prisoners she doesn't have to. Like Hamish, she has a crime-solving partner, Bill Wong (of the local detectives), who helps her in ways she doesn't always appreciate (like Priscilla Halburton-Smythe does for Hamish). Agatha is based, however, in the gentle Cotswolds so there won't be too many stories about brutal winter blizzards in this series. You won't miss hearing about Strathbane.

In this inaugural book, Agatha has just sold her PR firm in London (where she succeeded by being a blunt instrument in plying journalists with meals and drink and then shaking them down for stories) and decided to retire to a cottage in the Cotswolds, an area she had once visited as a child. Naturally, she has a romanticized view of what life there will be like. Having been a busy businesswoman, she now finds herself not quite sure how to fill her time. Although she had made no friends in London, she expects to make many in rural Carsely. People nod and are friendly, but it goes no further. Agatha soon makes an enemy of her next door neighbor by stealing her housekeeper. While catching up on her reading of Agatha Christie mysteries, Agatha decides she needs to get everyone's attention. Why not win a prize for baking?

Plotting her strategy, Agatha invites the quiche competition judge, Reginald Cummings-Browne, and his wife, Vera, to an expensive dinner (expecting to curry favor as it were in the quiche wars). Agatha instead ends up with a very large bill and a not very high opinion of the Cummings-Brownes. Agatha makes a quick foray to London to buy a wonderful spinach quiche that she enters as her own.

But her plot is soon foiled when the woman who always wins the quiche competition once again triumphs. Agatha leaves her quiche behind in disgust, and Vera Cummings-Browne takes it home as a snack for her husband. That night, he eats the quiche and dies of poison! Naturally, there's a police investigation and Agatha has to confess that she cheated.

Feeling like she will never make it in Carsely after such a large faux pas, Agatha begins to think she should move out and go back to London. Soon, she's between two islands of discord and not sure what to do.

The police decide that the poisoning was an accidental death, but Agatha's not so sure. Before long, she starts acting on her urge to detect . . . with consequences that definitely heat up the story.

Where most detective stories are mostly about a crime and the process of uncovering the criminal, that element retreats into the background in this book. Instead, Agatha's search for happiness is the main focus of the story. The crime and its solution are merely incidents along the way. I liked that element. In fact, this would have been a very entertaining story even if it hadn't contained a mystery.

Any time your attention threatens to flag, you can just sit there and chuckle over the outrageous satirical elements. Although you know they are overdone, you can't help but laugh . . . as you might at good burlesque sketches with imaginative pie throwing.

Although I haven't read past this book in the Agatha Raisin series, I would have to say that Agatha could displace Hamish as number one in my affections for M. C. Beaton characters.

Enjoy!

As a devoted fan of M. C. Beaton's Hamish Macbeth series, I was intrigued to keep reading reviews of Hamish Macbeth books by people who claimed they liked the Agatha Raisin series better. But every time I contemplated the title, Agatha Raisin and the Quiche of Death, it just seemed too tongue in cheek to be possibly any good. Well, I was wrong. Although the book couldn't be any more satirical and much punnier than it is, the book works very well both as a straight story and as a satire. It's like getting two books for the price of one.

Since the Hamish Macbeth series started first, let me address Hamish Macbeth fans first: Think of Agatha Raisin as being one of the optimistic incomers to Lochdubh who hope for peace and tranquility without realizing what village life in Sutherland is really like. But Agatha has mostly good intentions (except towards the women in the area who drive her batty) instead of being an incipient homicidal maniac like the incomers in Sutherland. Agatha is also her own woman, and not about to take any prisoners she doesn't have to. Like Hamish, she has a crime-solving partner, Bill Wong (of the local detectives), who helps her in ways she doesn't always appreciate (like Priscilla Halburton-Smythe does for Hamish). Agatha is based, however, in the gentle Cotswolds so there won't be too many stories about brutal winter blizzards in this series. You won't miss hearing about Strathbane.

In this inaugural book, Agatha has just sold her PR firm in London (where she succeeded by being a blunt instrument in plying journalists with meals and drink and then shaking them down for stories) and decided to retire to a cottage in the Cotswolds, an area she had once visited as a child. Naturally, she has a romanticized view of what life there will be like. Having been a busy businesswoman, she now finds herself not quite sure how to fill her time. Although she had made no friends in London, she expects to make many in rural Carsely. People nod and are friendly, but it goes no further. Agatha soon makes an enemy of her next door neighbor by stealing her housekeeper. While catching up on her reading of Agatha Christie mysteries, Agatha decides she needs to get everyone's attention. Why not win a prize for baking?

Plotting her strategy, Agatha invites the quiche competition judge, Reginald Cummings-Browne, and his wife, Vera, to an expensive dinner (expecting to curry favor as it were in the quiche wars). Agatha instead ends up with a very large bill and a not very high opinion of the Cummings-Brownes. Agatha makes a quick foray to London to buy a wonderful spinach quiche that she enters as her own.

But her plot is soon foiled when the woman who always wins the quiche competition once again triumphs. Agatha leaves her quiche behind in disgust, and Vera Cummings-Browne takes it home as a snack for her husband. That night, he eats the quiche and dies of poison! Naturally, there's a police investigation and Agatha has to confess that she cheated.

Feeling like she will never make it in Carsely after such a large faux pas, Agatha begins to think she should move out and go back to London. Soon, she's between two islands of discord and not sure what to do.

The police decide that the poisoning was an accidental death, but Agatha's not so sure. Before long, she starts acting on her urge to detect . . . with consequences that definitely heat up the story.

Where most detective stories are mostly about a crime and the process of uncovering the criminal, that element retreats into the background in this book. Instead, Agatha's search for happiness is the main focus of the story. The crime and its solution are merely incidents along the way. I liked that element. In fact, this would have been a very entertaining story even if it hadn't contained a mystery.

Any time your attention threatens to flag, you can just sit there and chuckle over the outrageous satirical elements. Although you know they are overdone, you can't help but laugh . . . as you might at good burlesque sketches with imaginative pie throwing.

Although I haven't read past this book in the Agatha Raisin series, I would have to say that Agatha could displace Hamish as number one in my affections for M. C. Beaton characters.

Enjoy!

Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review

› See all 29 customer reviews on Amazon.ca

 

4.0 out of 5 stars Accident my foot
Advertising mogul Agatha Raisin always wanted to retire in the classic English village and turn domestic. When she gets her chance she also wants to be popular with the locals. Read more

Published on Aug 12 2006 by bernie

5.0 out of 5 stars Surprising delight
I heard the first chapter of Agatha Raisin and the Quiche of Death as a filler advertisement on another audiobook. Read more

Published on July 16 2004 by D. J. Leslie

5.0 out of 5 stars Ms. Raisin - funny, witty & fresh
I gotta confess that I was turned onto this book series only after I was looking for something of the sort after devouring all through the Goldy Bear series of Diane Mott... Read more

Published on May 2 2004 by I. Gutierrez

5.0 out of 5 stars --Quiche with a touch of cowbane--
Agatha Raisin, an aggressive businesswoman retires from running a public relations firm and moves to Carsely, a lovely village in the Cotswolds. Read more

Published on Nov 14 2003 by Judith Miller

5.0 out of 5 stars Best cozy mystery I've read all summer
I was so excited to discover M.C. Beaton's work this summer in her Agatha Raisin book entitled "The Quiche of Death". Read more

Published on July 22 2003

5.0 out of 5 stars Never Cheat With a Killer Quiche!
Agatha Raisin, a sharp-tongued middle aged woman, debuts in this cozy set in the Cotswolds of England. Read more

Published on Jun 19 2003 by L Smith

5.0 out of 5 stars Meet Agatha Raisin
Agatha Raisin is certainly one of the most unique heroines in all of mystery fiction. She is loud and bossy, opinionated and often rude, quick-tempered and impatient. Read more

Published on Jun 19 2003 by Lisa Bahrami

5.0 out of 5 stars This first in the Agatha Raisin series is a hilarious hit!
This is the first book in M.C. Beaton's series of cozies featuring Agatha Raisin. Agatha is a laugh-out-loud mix of vulnerability and tough-as-nails self-made business woman, who... Read more

Published on Feb 28 2003 by PMcD

4.0 out of 5 stars Great start to a series...
I am a very late-comer to this series, this first book having first been published in 1992. It was recommended to me by a fellow mystery lover. I truly enjoyed this book. Read more

Published on Feb 11 2003 by Louis M. Perdue

5.0 out of 5 stars A Great New Heroine and a Great New Series for Me
It's not often that I get really excited about a new series and a new author. Although I'd read one or two Hamish McBeth books, I had never cracked an Agatha Rasin before. Read more

Published on Sep 1 2002 by S. Schwartz

Search Customer Reviews
Only search this product's reviews

› See all 29 customer reviews on Amazon.ca

Search Listmania!