Monday, August 5, 2013

Review - Agatha Raisin and the Busy Body

Title: Agatha Raisin and the Busy Body
Author: MC Beaton
Publisher: Minotaur Books (October 12, 2010)
Format: Hardcover; Pgs 288
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Source: Library
Series: Agatha Raisin #21

On her way home from yet another disastrous vacation, Agatha arrives to find that there are no Christmas decorations around town, not even a Christmas tree. This is quite odd for the overly exuberant village. It appears that in her absence, John Sunday, the inspector for the Cotswold Health and Safety Board has deemed all the decorations, lighting and more, to be unsafe and has banned everything. Including items that directly affect the livelihoods of Carsley residences.

During a meeting in the neighboring town of Odley Cruesis attended by Agatha and Mrs. Bloxby, someone has decided to put a permanent end to the rein of Mr. Sunday.

Miriam Courtney, has asked Agatha to find out who killed John Sunday. Miriam made the mistake of publicly threatening him and now that he is dead, she is the most likely suspect. As Agatha digs deeper, there is no end to the number of people that wanted this horrible man dead and with fingers pointing in all directions Agatha is almost to her wits end.

Agatha is determined to get to the bottom of this and as she gets closer a second murder occurs, are the two related. There is no telling when the ladies of Carsley get their tail feathers in a twist.

To add more complication to her life, Sir Charles Fraith has something up his sleeve and it gets even more complicated when his butler decides to take matters into his own hands. It is once again up to Mrs. Bloxby to straighten everything out and guide each person down their correct path.

I enjoy the Agatha Raisin series, but after twenty-one books, they are predictable and all seem to blend together. At this point, I do not think that I will ever be able to differentiate one book from any of the others, but that is okay, Agatha is always good for a laugh or two and Mrs. Bloxby with be forever my favorite character.

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