Agatha Raisin and Kissing Christmas Goodbye by M.C. Beaton
Agatha Raisin and Kissing Christmas Goodbye by M.C. Beaton
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
A family matriarch starts receiving death threats near to Christmas, and calls upon Agatha Raisin and her team to investigate. A few chapters in, she is poisoned in front of Agatha and her grown up offspring, who appear to be prime suspects.
Much of Agatha's investigations revolve around the family's inheritance, as well as the fact that she was refusing to sell her large estate, and as usual it transpires that there are a lot of suspects.
Like lots of the Agatha Raisin books I have read recently, this turned out to have quite a high body count, and it also turned out to be the best one I'd read in a little while.
First off, it kept me guessing, as it was difficult to tell who the killer would turn out to be, and also there was less fixation on Agatha's love life and whether she would get together with James or Charles, with this not really mentioned much until the final chapter.
This book also seemed more serious in tone than many of the other books, with a subplot involving Agatha's employee Toni having issues involving her brother, and also the deaths in the book included a few suicides. Reading all the way to the epilogue was made worth it by a couple of dark plot twists that I did not expect.
View all my reviews
A book with a wintry scene on the cover, so another for the 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
September: 3/10
October: 3/10
November: 3/10
1. December in the title
2. Author's birth month
3. Primary action takes place in this month
4. Christmas
5. Other December holiday (So, Hanukkah or New Year's Eve?)
6. Original publication month
7. Book title has word starting with D
8. Christmas tree, decorations, snow winter scene, probably - A TURKEY, just like for November ;)
9. Year of the Pig
10. House party or family gathering