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Topic: Agatha Raisin

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tsatske avatar
Subject: Agatha Raisin
Date Posted: 11/4/2008 10:12 AM ET
Member Since: 8/14/2008
Posts: 3,574
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I am considering trying these books. I have found number one on here and that ups my consideration of ordering. I know nothing about them, other than that they are mysteries, and I am always looking for new mystery series. Are they good? What are they like? I like humor okay - I can even enjoy goofy satare, but I don't like slapstick very much, esp. when it causes the story line to deterorate. As usuall, the attempt to explain what one does and does not like in a book is hopeless. I like Piers Anthony, love Carol Higgins Clark, I hate Patricia D. Cornwell. Did that help? probably not. Humor is not a necessary component, though, just love a good mystery - esp a good cozy. Anyway - what does anyone else think of this series? I'm low on credits and have a huge TBR pile, so I hesitate to order - and yet, there is book #1, just sitting on someones shlef, just calling to me... On that note, after I read #1 - would you say this is a series that should be read in order, or that it doesn't matter so much with this one?
stacy270 avatar
Date Posted: 11/4/2008 10:48 AM ET
Member Since: 7/8/2006
Posts: 791
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I read Agatha Raisin and the Haunted House a few years back.It was my first mystery and I loved it so much that I spent the summer reading teh whole series!! I loved them! I read them in order with teh exception of the "haunted house" one.

Stacy

twinkiestwice avatar
Date Posted: 11/4/2008 10:52 AM ET
Member Since: 5/20/2008
Posts: 2,161
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I have only read her Hamish MacBeth, and can say the humor is more tongue in cheek- british, not slapsticky American. Most people find Agatha Raisin annoying and yet somehow endearing. I am waiting for a three book anthology of hers on my wishlist that contains the first book. 

I responded because I also like Piers Anthony!!! I just had the first "Disc World" by Terry Pratchet come up on my wishlist today. It seems rare to find a sci-fi fantasy lover who also likes mysteries. Seems more common that mystery lovers share romances in common. I don't care for romance novels. Anyhow, I also love a very good cozy mystery. I don't like the slapstick humor at all.

polbio avatar
Kat (polbio) -
Subject: Agatha Raisin
Date Posted: 11/4/2008 2:11 PM ET
Member Since: 10/10/2008
Posts: 3,067
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I would consider Agatha Raisin a cozy mystery. They are short books, entertaining and good to get lost in for a couple of hours.

Beanbean avatar
Date Posted: 11/4/2008 4:59 PM ET
Member Since: 12/19/2007
Posts: 2,408
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I really enjoy both the Agatha Raisin and the Hamish MacBeth books but I have to read them sparingly.  For me, they tend to be a bit formulaic so if I read more than two in a row, I get bored with them.  Reas one or two and then read something that is either not a mystery or something that is "meatier" before going back to read more.  You'll enjoy them more that way. :)

Generic Profile avatar
Date Posted: 11/4/2008 5:02 PM ET
Member Since: 8/11/2006
Posts: 6,597
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It is advisable to read them in order so you can keep up with her many....uh....dalliances. Agatha is a hoot!!

Kukana avatar
Standard Member medalFriend of PBS-Silver medal
Date Posted: 11/4/2008 6:11 PM ET
Member Since: 1/26/2006
Posts: 320
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I've read them all...even though Agatha does get on my nerves sometimes.  She's a little too "snippy", but I guess that is just part of her character.

I think you would enjoy them more if you read the series in order.  Give it a try!

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Friend of PBS-Silver medal
Date Posted: 11/4/2008 9:16 PM ET
Member Since: 4/6/2007
Posts: 1,515
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I'm hooked on Agatha also.  She is a bit annoying at times and sometimes I don't get the British humor, but I'm still a fan.   There were a few books recently that I didn't like so much but I just finished the most recent one, A Spoonful of Poison, and I liked it better that the last few.  I do recommend they be read in order also, but then, I'm a stickler for that when it comes to series books.  I also recommend M. C. Beaton's Hamish MacBeth series.  I get a little annoyed at him and his ongoing unrequited (sp?) love for Priscilla (I think that's her name) but, again, I'm still a fan and enjoy the series.

batreader avatar
Date Posted: 11/14/2008 5:10 PM ET
Member Since: 4/16/2008
Posts: 9
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Love the Agatha Raisin books.  She's a character that you want to sometimes scream at for her flaws, but she's endearing as well, and she does recognize some of her bad qualities...all of which makes her quite human.  And it's nice to have a woman main character who is middle-aged and not exactly attractive by her standards actually be appealing to good-looking men. 

And the mysteries are clever, too.

Generic Profile avatar
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Date Posted: 11/24/2008 3:22 PM ET
Member Since: 8/23/2007
Posts: 26,510
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I just picked one of these up from the FOL kiosk today.  Agatha Raisin and the Love From Hell.  So these need to be read in order? 

Generic Profile avatar
Date Posted: 11/24/2008 7:51 PM ET
Member Since: 6/22/2007
Posts: 5
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I really like these books.  As some have said, sometimes Agatha annoys me but I realize that she's got a lot of the same traits that I have.  She's human, not the perfect droid of a character.  It's like your good friends, sometimes they annoy you but you still love them and keep going back to hang out. lol

I love how she's so prickly with other people but is crazy about her cat, how she's always trying (and failing) to slow the aging process and how she tries to hide just how vulnerable and insecure she really is.

I'm a huge fan of British humor and comedy, so that part doesn't bother me at all.