Book #59: Agatha Raisin and Love, Lies and Liquor by M.C. Beaton
Agatha Raisin and Love, Lies and Liquor by M.C. Beaton
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
This book starts with Agatha Raisin on holiday in the unglamorously-named Snoth-on-Sea. Almost right away, she gets into an argument with the frightful Geraldine Janckers, who is on holiday with her family.
Geraldine is soon found dead, strangled apparently by Agatha's scarf, so the book's heroine becomes a murder suspect. Agatha is soon acquitted, and as usual sets about finding out who did it.
I had mixed feelings about this book. First off, there were a lot of tangents and plot threads, some of which probably could have been cut from the book completely. There were several almost farcical plotlines involving Agatha's main love interests, which did briefly lead to yet another love triangle. Thankfully, most of these plot threads did dovetail into the main plot.
There seemed to be a higher body count than any of the previous books, and the action seemed to come thick and fast. By the time I had reached half way, Agatha had been almost killed twice, and I found that I was being left guessing. There were a number of red herrings, mostly due to the fact that the victim had a large number of ex-husbands, all with a potential motive for murder.
I would have given this four stars if not for the final few chapters, when the action seemed to slow down. It was one of those moments when I found myself waiting for a climax that never really came, and so I was definitely left cold by the final reveal.
Another case where unfortunately I preferred the Sky One adaptation.
View all my reviews