After finishing this book, the main question I find asking myself is 'Have I really read a murder mystery?'. It really did not feel like it.

Of course, I'm not really a fan of crime fiction, so it is not a genre I read much, and my expectations of what a book of this genre should be might be wrong, but...

Well, there is a murder, yes. And the guilty party is arrested at the end. But I'm not sure we can say there is an actual inquiery?

I mean, the main character, Agatha, does go around interrogating people, but that's about it. If a person might be the culprit for a reason or another (and more often than not, the reason seems to be 'because they knew/had an affair with the victim'), she goes and question them, even if there is no actual clue pointing their way. It seems to me that clues are what is missing in this book. I understand that interrogating suspects is part of any inquest, but doesn't one also need actual, physical clues one can use to prove there is some kind of contradiction between what the suspect says and what actually happens? Because, without any clues (or at least contradicting statements from different people), the suspects can just lie, and no one would be the wiser!

(...or maybe I just played too much Ace Attorney and have become obsessed with contradicting evidences)

My problem with the lack of clues disseminated throughout the book is that the reader has basically zero chance to find the culprit (other than taking a guess and thinking that 'X as the culprit makes the most sense'). The reader, in this book, is not invited to investigate along Agatha, they are simply a spectator, and I think that's a little bit of a shame, because what's the point of a crime novel if you can't try to solve the crime as you read it? Here, there basically never is any discovery of a new clue that turns things around and make you reconsider your ideas of what might have happen, there just are sometimes new characters, who might be the culprit. And Agatha goes and sees them, and when she's done, all you can think is : yes, this was a new character, and they might be the culprit...Or not.

(but again, maybe some people just enjoy to witness the resolution as it goes without having to think about it themselves, and my expectations were just wrong)

That being said, surprising as it might seem given what I just wrote, I did enjoy the book quite a bit. It was an easy, short read, and I felt compelled to go back to it every time I had a free moment. Not to know about the murder (even if I did want to know what the final answer would be), but to find out how Agatha's settlement into the village of Carsley would go.

That, in my opinion, is the main theme of the book, not the murder. This is a book about how a middle-aged, freshly retired business-woman, used to city-life, and quite frankly full of herself, adjusts in a small village where everyone knows their neighbours and lives as a community. She needs to find a new equilibrium, and her place in this community, which has the effect of make her reevaluate her ways and some preconceptions she has about "small English villages".

I know (because I've read other reviews) that a lot of people find Agatha insufferable, and frankly she kind of is. As I said before, she's full of herself, rude, and judgmental. BUT, contrary to what I could read in some other reviews, she does have an evolution. Granted, it's not a drastic, 180° change of heart, and she still has flaws and bad sides by the end of the book, but she does have moments of lucidity during which she takes a step back and consciously acts in a "better" way (

Spoiler

for instance, when she decides to act in a way that would please the vicar's wife...Yes, the egoistical reason for that is still simply that she want Mrs. Bloxby to like her, but let's say that it's a step in the right direction

), as well as times when she is surprised to find that the people in the village do not match the idea she had of them (

Spoiler

like when she is surprised to find the women in the village go and see a Chippendale show and are actually enjoying it

).

(I also think that -in most cases- an unlikable main character doesn't automatically means that the book is bad)

So, at the end of the day, it wasn't great, but wasn't horrible either. I might read the next book in the series, just to have an idea of where thing are going, but will most likely not read all the 35 books.

Not brilliant or something I'd necessarily reccomend but entertaining enough, some outdated language with race and disability that made me wince. Penelope Keith's narration was very good

3 - not overwhelmingly genius but a solid start to a cosy series.

This book was short and light, neatly wrapped up at the end. Not bad for a bit of fluff.

3.5
A quick read

What a fun little read! I can't wait to start watching the TV series.

Unlike a lot of readers who dislike the character of Agatha herself, I only gave this series a shot after hearing she was a sort of an acerbic anti-heroine. (and she wasn't that bad). There wasn't anything particularly wrong with this book, I was liking it fine at first, but after a bit I started getting bored. I'm afraid cozy mysteries are just not for me.

3.5 stars

I love Agatha Raisin and the pretty English village she's moved to. The story is a classic, lighthearted murder mystery. I'm looking forward to getting my hands on the next book.