PS I no longer participate in WWW.WEDNESDAY via that link because her blog won't accept Blogger comments. I mention this only to save you the frustration I experienced trying to link up.
1. What are you currently reading? Agatha Raisin and the Murderous Marriage by M. C. Beaton. I don't usually read two volumes from the same mystery series back to back, but that's a personal preference, not an enforceable regulation, and so I felt free to break it now.
At the end of the last installation in Agatha's saga, we were titillated by sudden and repeated references to Jimmy Raisin, Agatha's long-ago first husband. Agatha has been a middle-aged retiree for all the time we've known her, and I was so excited to find out about her backstory that I couldn't wait.
2. What did you recently finish reading? Agatha Raisin and the Walkers of Dembley by M. C. Beaton. This book was originally published in 1994. I had to consistently remind myself of that as I plowed through, because it includes events that had me scratching my head and asking, "Haven't these people ever heard of Google?"
Well, no, they hadn't.
Jessica Tartnick was a local character who lived in the same county as our heroine, Agatha Raisin, but a few towns over. She seemed to have two gifts: stirring oratory and pissing people off. When she is found murdered, there's no shortage of suspects.
This pleases Agatha. Not because she disliked Jessica; she'd never met her. But because her talent as a sleuth has always impressed her handsome neighbor, James Lacey. So Agatha is on the case. Yes, her motive is that selfish. That's one of the things I like about Agatha. She is a definitely flawed woman. She is not driven by an unshakable desire to see justice done. She wants to impress a guy.
As mysteries go, this isn't so great. I figured it out pretty early on, and I'm not the sharpest knife in the drawer. But it's important in the series for character development. We learn so much about Agatha and James that I'm glad I'm reading these order and have been able to let events unfold the way M. C. Beaton intended.
3. What will you read next? I don't know.
I recently found out there is an Agatha Raisin show. I saw it on acornonline.com when I was looking at their sales stuff. It made me think of you and these books.
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