The first book in M. C. Beaton’s beloved Agatha Raisin mystery series—now a hit show on Acorn TV and public television.Putting all her eggs in one basket, Agatha Raisin gives up her successful PR firm, sells her London flat, and samples a taste of early retirement in the quiet village of Carsely. Bored, lonely and used to getting her way, she enters a local baking contest: Surely a blue ribbon … a blue ribbon for the best quiche will make her the toast of the town. But her recipe for social advancement sours when Judge Cummings-Browne not only snubs her entry—but falls over dead! After her quiche’s secret ingredient turns out to be poison, she must reveal the unsavory truth…
Agatha has never baked a thing in her life! In fact, she bought her entry ready-made from an upper crust London quicherie. Grating on the nerves of several Carsely residents, she is soon receiving sinister notes. Has her cheating and meddling landed her in hot water, or are the threats related to the suspicious death? It may mean the difference between egg on her face and a coroner’s tag on her toe…
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As another reader mentioned in their review, this book gets better as you go along. It was a little slow going at first and I didn’t necessarily like the main character in the beginning, but with each turn of the page it did get better. By the time I reached the ending, I was looking up the next book in the series.
I’m a real fan of Agatha Raisin! Am reading every one in order and delighted when I get a new one!
I love the character Agatha Raisin!!
Loved this book. Have been reading the whole series.
I liked this book. Stick with it because it gets better each chapter. Took me a while to take to the lead character but I did. If you’ve been looking for a book that’s not all sunshine and rainbows boy have I got a series for you!
I love this series! Agatha is exasperating, selfish, unrealistic in her expectations – but you want her to succeed anyway.
I love the main character –mrs. Raisin. She is such a hoot!
I love a flawed character, and Agatha Raisin is certainly that. She wants to fit in with her new Cotswald village neighbors and uses the same tactics as she did in her successful London agency. Whether it involves lying about her cooking skills, stealing a neighbor’s cleaning woman, or attempting to solve a murder, she provides an entertaining …
I like Agatha Raisin even though she’s not always very agreeable.
It’s more a 3.5 stars rating. I was brought to this book by the TV series, which my mother and I both adore. There was a lot I liked about this book. I did enjoy Agatha’s characterization a lot, and I enjoyed getting to peek inside her head and her heart. I really enjoyed seeing her settle into Carsley and struggle with retirement and learning to …
In honor of the recent death of author M.C. Beaton, I just had to write about one of her quirky novels. Agatha Raisin has transplanted herself from a high-powered job in London to a charming, picture-perfect village in the Cotswolds, and she’s doing everything she can to fit in—in her own way, of course. This includes jumping into a baking …
Love Agatha Raisin!
Love all the Raisin books. Not very realistic, but the situations Agatha finds herself in always keep me interested.
oh, Aggie, , have you done? moved from Mid London to the Cotswolds, to a town full of crazy people. And of course, there’s a murder in which you are embroiled.
WIll you solve the mystery? of course you will, and we will have a lovely time reading about it.
I just started the Agatha Raisin series and I really loved this first installment. At first, I was not very fond of Agatha, but as the book progressed I saw that she just wanted her place to fit in and a place to call home. She is perfectly imperfect, and watching her solve a mystery just to fit in, well ,I think we all feel that way at times. …
As the branch manager of a small library, I should have known that these little books by M.C. Beaton would not be disappointing. After all, my patrons check them in and out and talk about her characters Agatha Raisin and Hamish MacBeth often. So, why am I so late getting on the M.C. Beaton bandwagon?
Agatha Raisin is a little bit “Murder She …
M. C. Beaton takes the spinster sleuth, and gives it her own spin. Agatha Raisin is a London business woman who retires to the English countryside to what she believes will be an idyllic life.
The plot begins at a leisurely pace, recounting Agatha’s attempts to fit into village life. It builds to the murder, and solving it.
The book is full of …
I met Agatha Raisin in this book. She is irreverent, funny and complex. One of my favorite amateur sleuths.
The Quiche of Death is the first book in M.C. Beaton’s Agatha Raisin Mysteries. Agatha is head strong, funny, stubborn and hilariously brave. I strongly recommend this book if you like fun, suck you into the story murder mysteries that have a bit of romance added in. All of the books that follow are also very good. M.C. Beaton is a master at …