Green is for envy
My last catch-up review is Agatha Raisin and the Potted Gardener by M.C. Beaton - another recommendation from Babs. Beaton is known for her English cozies, and this is just one of her prodigious output.
In her third outing, Agatha returns from a long holiday to find her comfortable country life upset by a new arrival in town - Mary Fortune, a slim, fashionably dressed woman who's quickly gotten cozy with Agatha's neighbor, James Lacey. The green-eyed monster swiftly comes to the fore as Agatha undertakes a mission to win James' heart away from Mary, starting by outshining the newcomer at her chosen pasttime - gardening. Agatha can't tell a rose from a dandelion, but she's determined to take the town's gardening prize if it means she can stick it to the unpleasant Mary. Unfortunately, it looks as though Agatha isn't the only one Mary rubbed the wrong way - she soon turns up dead, head-first in a flowerpot full of dirt. Eager to show off her detective skills, Agatha jumps on the case and sets out to find a killer.
This is the first Agatha Raisin I've read, and I definitely got a kick out of it. It's not high art, but it's an enjoyable little trifle that's easily polished off in an afternoon. Agatha is quite endearing in spite of her many faults, probably because I see a certain amount of myself in her. She's fiercly competitive and loves to show off her skills - definite shades of me there. But what I really found fun about the book was Beaton's pitch-perfect depiction of English country life. As someone who'd dearly love to eventually make her home in the UK, I can't help but love it. Until I can convince the Sureshot fiance to pick up stakes and move to the land of tea and crumpets, I'll have to live vicariously through Beaton's work. Well, it could be worse.
In her third outing, Agatha returns from a long holiday to find her comfortable country life upset by a new arrival in town - Mary Fortune, a slim, fashionably dressed woman who's quickly gotten cozy with Agatha's neighbor, James Lacey. The green-eyed monster swiftly comes to the fore as Agatha undertakes a mission to win James' heart away from Mary, starting by outshining the newcomer at her chosen pasttime - gardening. Agatha can't tell a rose from a dandelion, but she's determined to take the town's gardening prize if it means she can stick it to the unpleasant Mary. Unfortunately, it looks as though Agatha isn't the only one Mary rubbed the wrong way - she soon turns up dead, head-first in a flowerpot full of dirt. Eager to show off her detective skills, Agatha jumps on the case and sets out to find a killer.
This is the first Agatha Raisin I've read, and I definitely got a kick out of it. It's not high art, but it's an enjoyable little trifle that's easily polished off in an afternoon. Agatha is quite endearing in spite of her many faults, probably because I see a certain amount of myself in her. She's fiercly competitive and loves to show off her skills - definite shades of me there. But what I really found fun about the book was Beaton's pitch-perfect depiction of English country life. As someone who'd dearly love to eventually make her home in the UK, I can't help but love it. Until I can convince the Sureshot fiance to pick up stakes and move to the land of tea and crumpets, I'll have to live vicariously through Beaton's work. Well, it could be worse.
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home