Book #47 for 2023: Agatha Raisin and the Perfect Paragon by M.C. Beaton
Agatha Raisin and The Perfect Paragon by M.C. Beaton
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
So, the sixteenth novel in the Agatha Raisin series feels darker and more serious than many of the previous titles. In the first few chapters, a teenage girl is found murdered, and it is up to Agatha to find out what happened.
Agatha has just started her own detective agency, so at the same time she is following around a man's wife to see if she can prove that she is having an affair. This is made harder by the fact that the wife seems to be completely flawless. However, then Agatha's client is murdered, and readers will probably guess that there is a connection to the dead girl.
Some of the content (implied molestation of a teenager) made this one feel more adult in tone than what has gone before, and I definitely think some of the book was toned back in the TV adaptation, probably to keep the usual light tone. I hardly remember any of what happened on the TV version, save that I didn't recognise any of when I read the book.
I found most of the novel quite enjoyable, with one or two lighter, farcical moments, to lighten the mood, and a third murder made things feel more exciting. I would have given this four stars easily, had it not been for the books denouement. First off, it wasn't particularly surprising, and also it felt a bit rushed, and with too many plot twists thrown at the reader all at once. The book's final paragraph did at least make me excited for the next title in the series.
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The picture on the cover shows a woman pruning roses in a garden; I guess this could be seen as "people doing work".
1 out of 10 for September's Calendar of Crime.
January: 3/10
February: 4/10
March: 2/10
April: 3/10
May: 3/10
June: 4/10
July: 2/10
August: 3/10
1. September in the title
2. Author's birth month
3. Primary action takes place in this month
4. Labor Day (US thing, I think)
5. Other September holiday (Harvest festival?)
6. Original publication month
7. Book title has word starting with S
8. People working, picnic scene, means of travel on the cover
9. Year of the Monkey
10. Set in a place of employment