2 stars
I thought maybe this would be a cute little quick read...but it was a slog to get through this. I think I need to stop trying to read cozy mysteries from the 90s/early 00s because the protagonist's inner monologue is somehow always fatphobic, sexist, subtly homophobic, and simply rude. Despite its short length, the book was filled with unnecessary descriptions. There were also multiple times where a character who was not even in the scene was written as speaking, i.e. there were some big editing mistakes. I also felt that the actual mystery component to this story was juvenile and predictable to say the least. 

This might be the most ambivalent I've felt about a book. Most of the blame rests on Agatha Raisin herself, as she is a mixture of endearing and nearly intolerable. The narrative voice  isn't exempt from many of her flaws either.

(This digital edition included a Christmas themed short story at the end which spoils some aspects of the further series but suggests that Agatha might smooth out ...a bit.)

I am not a huge Agatha Christie reader, but I was not particularly reminded of the few I've read a while back here, if I was meant to be.