Customer Reviews

Agatha Raisin and the Terrible Tourist

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

In this, the sixth book of this cozy British mystery series, the irrepressible Agatha Raisin is still enthralled with her handsome neighbor and ex fiancé, retired colonel James Lacey, who has left the comfortable environ of their Cotswold village of Carsely for Cyprus to seek refuge from Agatha after their engagement came to an abrupt end at the altar.

The heartsick Agatha also takes off for Cyprus, which was where she and James were to have spent their honeymoon, hoping to catch up with him and make right what went wrong. Along the way, Sir Charles Fraith turns up and creates an interesting diversion for her. Unfortunately, by the time she meets up with James, she has also met up with a party of British tourists, and when one of them dies under mysterious circumstances, once again, she and James, as well as that entire party of tourists, are all suspects.

Of course, Agatha and James, despite their differences, once again team up to do some amateur sleuthing. Stung by James' observation that her previous sleuthing successes have been due solely to some happenstance bumbling, Agatha is determined to prove him wrong and show that she has the right stuff. When a second murder occurs, however, Agatha should be afraid, very afraid.

While I enjoyed this book, I did not enjoy it a much as the others, as I missed the goings on in the village of Carsely, which is part of the charm of the series. Still, fans of Agatha will definitely want to read this one, as the life and loves of Agatha Raisin are something they will not want to miss.

Stop reading right now if you haven't yet read Agatha Raisin and the Walkers of Dembly and Agatha Raisin and the Murderous Marriage. You should read those books before beginning this one. Otherwise the interactions between Agatha Raisin, James Lacey, and Sir Charles Fraith won't make as much sense as they should.

Better yet, go back to the beginning of the series and start with Agatha Raisin and the Quiche of Death which is followed by Agatha Raisin and the Vicious Vet, Agatha Raisin and the Potted Gardener before you get to Agatha Raisin and the Walkers of Dembly.

Agatha Raisin experienced a marital setback the likes of which I don't recall in fiction during Agatha Raisin and the Murderous Marriage: Her husband showed up as she was about to say "I do" with James Lacey. Outraged, James Lacey decided he'd had enough of Agatha . . . except when she can help him clear his name. As soon as her husband's murderer is identified, James is off to Cyprus alone, the planned site of their honeymoon.

Dauntless, our Agatha finds out that James is on Cyprus and heads off to find him . . . which is no easy matter. Before she can locate James, she finds herself drawn into meeting two trios of English tourists. Each group contains a married couple and a single older man. It's most unusual. Since one group sees itself as higher class, Agatha is surprised when the two groups merge. Despite her best intentions, Agatha finds herself drawn into the merged group's activities.

James, when located, is about as warm to Agatha as an iceberg in winter. Despite this, they are soon sharing a villa . . . in separate rooms. Their privacy is at risk, however, when members of the merged group start to meet murderers. Agatha, herself, experiences to murder attempts against her life.

Much of the appeal of this story comes in Agatha attracting other men without any intent to do so. The effect of this is to complicate her life in ways she doesn't want . . . and to infuriate James Lacey. In the process of again sharing a roof with James Lacey, Agatha discovers even more reasons why this man may not be such good marriage material.

I commend M. C. Beaton for moving this story away from Carsely. Otherwise, there wouldn't be any people left in the village if murder keeps whittling away at the local population.

The murder mysteries aren't really up-to-snuff. You'll figure out who did it long before the characters do.

I also found much of the Agatha-James interaction to be painful to read rather than funny.

But if you are like me, you'll be rooting harder than ever for Agatha to make her way more positively into her new life as this entertaining series continues in Agatha Raisin and the Wellspring of Death.

M.C. Beaton's devious evil twin must have written this instalment of the Agatha Raisin series. It has none of the charm, humor or delight of its predecessors. What's more, we are treated to heavy-handed pedantic descriptions of Cyprus' history, geography, and politics. It's a pretty dreary ride. I suggest that fans of Agatha Raisin give this one a miss. All one really needs to know is that both Agatha and James have liaisons with other people, James is still flint-hearted at the end, and Agatha realizes her obsession with James is just that. On to the next!

Agatha Raisin who had retired to the quiet life in the Cotswold village of Carsley, is finding life to be very boring without the companionship of James Lacey. She's depressed because James, the love of her life has broken off their engagement. Of course, he had a good reason to do so, because Agatha had not told him the complete truth about her husband, Jimmy. She had led him to believe that Jimmy was dead, and both Agatha and James were shocked to have Jimmy appear at the start of their wedding. James is now in Cypress where he and Agatha were to be together on their honeymoon. Since Agatha is wildly aggressive and impulsive, she decides to follow James and try to rekindle their romance.

Agatha has some trouble in locating James, and to fill her time, she takes a cruise. On the ship she meets up with a rather odd assortment of English tourists. She also runs into Sir Charles Firth who seduces her and causes more conflict between Agatha and James. When one of the English tourists is killed, Agatha jumps in to investigate, and after a second murder takes place; it appears that the murderer is also after our Aggie, as Sir Charles likes to call her.

AGATHA RAISIN AND THE TERRIBLE TOURIST is a little different from the other stories in this series because it takes place in an exotic part of the world. I really enjoyed hearing about the history of Cypress. This is the sixth book in the Agatha Raisin stories.

In this 6th book in the Agatha Raisin series, Agatha decides to take a trip to Cyprus to track down one-time fiancé, James Lacey, who took off after their disastrous almost marriage. Instead of enjoying a romantic reunion with James, they witness a murder of a fellow tourist. Staying in their rented "honeymoon" cottage, Agatha and James work together to solve the murder, but not before the killer strikes again.

This book was harder to get into than several of the other in the series. Overall, this series is one of my favorites in the cozy genre, and I was a bit disappointed in this offering. Agatha is portrayed as desperate for James' affections, and although I like her vulnerability, I could easily see why James becomes annoyed with her. With that said, I would still highly recommend this book as a part of the series since it has a decent mystery and an interesting setting.

The first book in the series is "Agatha Raisin and the Quiche of Death". Enjoy!

Though I have read and thoroughly enjoyed other Agatha Raisin mysteries, The Terrible Tourist is really a terrible book. Lots of sad drinking and sad sex, combined with very little plot make this book both boring and discouraging. (You may have murderous thoughts about Agatha before you finish!). If you must read it, check it out from the library. You won't want this one on your shelves.

I don't think that this book is terrible, but it surely was not nearly as good as some of the others I've read in the series. It is rather disjointed, and even the murders (there are two) seem contrived. The denouement didn't make much sense either. But the biggest disappointment is Agatha's fascination with the odious James. I wish Ms. Beaton would take him out of the storyline actually. I quite enjoyed Sir Charles Firth, and I think he would be a better romantic interest for her than cold and hard James. The setting in Cyprus was interesting. I will continue to read the series, and hopefully we get back to the funny Agatha again. I also want the quaint citizens from her English village in the story.

I don't think that this book is terrible, but it surely was not nearly as good as some of the others I've read in the series. It is rather disjointed, and even the murders (there are two) seem contrived. The denouement didn't make much sense either. But the biggest disappointment is Agatha's fascination with the odious James. I wish Ms. Beaton would take him out of the storyline actually. I quite enjoyed Sir Charles Firth, and I think he would be a better romantic interest for her than cold and hard James. The setting in Cyprus was interesting. I will continue to read the series, and hopefully we get back to the funny Agatha again. I also want the quaint citizens from her English village in the story.

After reading this book I would swear off Beaton forever if it weren't for the fact so many people seem to enjoy them. This was my first shot at an Agatha Raisin book, and it was terrible. The cast of characters was unbelievable. Agatha follows her ex-fiancee to Cyprus. She follows him around moon-eyed and sulky because he doesn't receive her with open arms. She spends the whole book acting like an attention-starved puppy. James treats her badly, insults her, belittles her and she still goes back for more stomping around and getting angry when he doesn't fall at her feet. As for the actual mystery, it was a little more plausible, but still took way too long to solve. The book could have been much shorter and still gotten the point across. I hope her other Agatha Raisin books are better than this one.

I have read every book by the author "M.C.Beaton" and I must say that since rereading "Agatha Raisin and the Terrible Tourist" I am more than convinced that M.C.Beaton must be a pseudonym for Multiple Contributors Beat 'em. The writing style of this book is not the same as other Agatha books. This one reads like a travelogue. It also is from a male point of view. The plot is boring,the characters are shallow to the point of stupidity and even the reasoning doesn't fit our Agatha. I've done some research on this author and still feel that the Agatha novels are written either by several contributors or "the author" has a split personality! This novel is not even related to the good Agatha stories. If any of you fans out there can clear this up for me, please do.