Description:

Wretched after being dumped by her husband, bored with pottering about Carsely, and wishing every man would sod off, including her neighbor John Armitage, Agatha Raisin is unmoved by news of the captivating new curate. But when she meets the golden-haired, blue-eyed Tristan Delon, she is swept off her feet...along with nearly every other female in the village. Wrapped in brightly coloured dreams of the curate (never mind that he's a tad odd), Agatha is as ecstatic as a girl when he invites her to dine. But his cold body is found the next day, and Carsely is whisked from time-warp monotony to a hotbed of murder and intrigue-and a clear-headed Agatha Raisin is back on track, this time with John. As the corpses multiply, ever-obstinate Agatha trails clues from Lilac Lane to London, unmindful that someone wicked is arranging that Mrs. Raisin's cats never again hear their mistress' footfall on the path...

From Booklist

At the core of every village cozy is a pinch of arsenic. In the Agatha Raisin Cotswold cozies, the arsenic is Agatha herself, a pushy, whiny, unsociable, self-pitying sort who investigates murders in the tiny village of Carsely the way other women might shop, as a distraction from boredom. Despite Agatha, this series, now in its thirteenth outing, is very popular. In the latest, the village is shaken by the appearance of a gorgeous new assistant cleric. Before long, the cleric is hated by the vicar for pulling in record crowds at services and lusted after by every woman in the village. After the cleric is found stabbed to death at the vicarage, Agatha takes it upon herself to discover who did in the body in the library. The cleric fascinates even after death; Beaton revives a fairly routine plot with a whiff of Dorian Gray here. For die-hard cozy fans only. Connie Fletcher
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review

"Anyone interested in a few hours' worth of intelligent, amusing reading will want to make the acquaintance of Mrs. Agatha Raisin." -Atlanta Journal Constitution

"The Miss Marple-like Raisin is refreshingly sensible and wonderfully eccentric."-Buffalo News

"Beaton's Agatha Raisin series...just about defines the British cozy."-Booklist

"Beaton has a winner in the irrepressible, romance-hungry Agatha."-Chicago Sun-Times

"[Agatha] is a glorious cross between Miss Marple, Auntie Mame, and Lucille Ball, with a tad of pit bull tossed in. She's wonderful."-St. Petersburg Times

"The Raisin series brings the cozy tradition back to life. God bless the Queen!"-Tulsa World

"[Beaton's] imperfect heroine is an absolute gem!"-Publishers Weekly