Busy Body

It took me quite a while to get into the Agatha Raisin series – I find her character to be quite confronting – but she has gradually endeared herself to me and I quite like the cantankerous old biddy who is frantically slipping out of middle age kicking and screaming all the way. AGATHA RAISIN AND THE BUSY BODY opens with Agatha trying to escape Christmas by holidaying in Corsica, as is usual with her plans things go awry and she heads back home to find Christmas has been cancelled.

The new Health and Safety Board Inspector, John Sunday, has ruled that the traditional tree on top of the church is a public menace; lamp posts are unsafe for hanging illuminations; May Dimwoody's homemade toys are dangerous for children and forget about hanging light displays on your own house. The night Agatha returns home she is invited as a member of Carsely Ladies' Society jto join forces with the ladies in the neighboring village of Odley Cruesis to try to put a stop to Sunday's meddling. At the meeting the local land owner, Miriam Courtney, publicly states what many are feeling when she proclaims she wants to kill Sunday. Her wish comes true because before the meeting is over John Sunday turns up very dead. This is not the first death – another one follows and a couple of murder attempts are made before Agatha and her team of private investigators solves the crime.

There are a lot of characters but I managed to keep track of them all as the story twisted and turned to its surprising ending. Agatha is less obnoxious; she is slowing down, thinking before she speaks sometimes, and showing sense occasionally. While I prefer MC Beaton’s Hamish Macbeth series – Agatha’s humorous romps are certainly growing on me.
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If you are looking for a emotionally comforting English mystery this is not it. Agatha Raisin shortsightedly thinks only of herself (her image, her health, her anger, her envy, her relationship status, the condition of her makeup, etc.). even when one of her employees is murdered, a friend struck down and squashes her partner's chances for love because she "has invested too much in her training to lose her to marriage and motherhood". Death abounds at Christmas time in the Cotswold, England. A disagreeable, petty bureaucrat turns up stabbed to death but with so many who disliked him for his nosey and spiteful ways, the murderer will be hard to find. Cotswold is a rural area in Great Britain that is made up of small villages and hamlets. Villages close rank when "one of their own is suspect" and would prefer living in fear with a killer than helping an outsider bring truth and justice to their little worlds. ( )

Poor Agatha is anticipating a dreary Christmas in her little English village. She has aborted a Meditteranean holiday that turned out to be no fun at all. Back in Carsely, the village Christmas tree and traditional fairy lights have been ordered taken down by an overzealous public safety inspector. Predictably, he is killed by someone in the village who resents his lack of Christmas spirit. Impulsive and mouthy Agatha is so funny. Her friends and enemies in and around Carsely are people I seem to know. Beaton tends to spell out the characters' thoughts and motivations more than I think a good author should. However, it works well. A super-fun and quick read. ( )

Its Christmas but Carsley is strangely subdued as a result of the tyrannical approach of the local Health and Safety Officer, John Sunday. When John Sunday is murdered the list of potential suspects is lengthy. One the prime suspect employs Agatha to find the real murderer, but when she's killed Agatha is determined to discover the identity of the murder. Along the way the usual shenanigans occur, some hilarious some quite dark and things possibly, maybe, develop in Agatha's relationships with Charles and James. An interesting and entertaining instalment to the series. ( )

Beaton is back on form with this addition to the extensive Agatha Raisin series, which still merits reading sequentially in order of publication. ( )