Tag Archives: M C Beaton

Monthly Reading Summary – May 2023

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Top Book of the Month – ‘The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle’ by Stuart Turton

Book Club Book This Month – None

Books Read This Month:

Books Bought This Month:

  • ‘Under the Whispering Door’ by T.J. Klune
  • ‘A Golden Cornish Summer’ by Phillipa Ashley
  • ‘Death of a Green-Eyed Monster’ by M.C. Beaton
  • ‘Agatha Raisin: Down the Hatch’ by M.C. Beaton
  • ‘Agatha Raisin: Devil’s Delight’ by M.C. Beaton
  • ‘Children of the House of Cleves: Anna and her Siblings’ by Heather R. Darsie
  • ‘The Wisteria Society of Lady Scoundrels’ by India Holton
  • ‘Renaissance Self-Fashioning: From More to Shakespeare’ by Stephen Greenblatt

Statistics:

  • Books Read – 9
  • Currently Reading – 2
  • TBR – 194
  • Fiction – 8 (88.89%)
  • Non-Fiction – 1 (11.11%)
  • Male Author – 1 (11.11%)
  • Female Author – 8 (88.89%)
  • Multiple Authors – 0 (0.00%)
  • Paperback – 4 (44.44%)
  • Hardback – 1 (11.11%)
  • eBook – 3 (33.33%)
  • Audiobook – 1 (11.11%)
  • Total Pages Read – 2,224
  • Average Pages Per Book – 278.00
  • Hours Listened – 16.7
  • Average Star Rating – 3.89

‘Agatha Raisin: Devil’s Delight’ by M.C. Beaton

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Genre: Adult Fiction – Cosy Crime

Published: 2022

Format: Paperback

Rating: ★★★

It’s always fun to return to Carsley, though recently the books seem to have gotten darker in tone more generally. There are far more outside influences. In this book there are several seemingly unrelated mysteries that all link together at the end, which is clever, even though you can see it coming.

It’s the characters that keep me coming back to this series, and I don’t like leaving any series unfinished once I’ve started. Toni Gilmour is certainly one of my favourite characters, has been since she was introduced to the series. She just gets on with things, takes risks, and wants to help everyone that she can to better their lives, as she was helped by Agatha to do the same when we first met her. Agatha always annoys me with her love life. She can’t make her mind up and, rather than keeping me engaged in the story, those are the parts that I want to skip past or skim over.

The Agatha Raisin series is supposed to be a cosy crime series but it’s feeling less cosy these last few books, and more serious. Maybe more so since Beaton herself died, but it had started before that as well. I want to keep reading because I enjoy the series, but the tone is distinctly different from earlier books in the series.

It’s still a light and enjoyable read, but there is some darkness creeping into the tone of the book, so I think that’s something to be aware of. A fun and engaging read, nevertheless.

‘Death of a Green-Eyed Monster’ by M.C. Beaton

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Genre: Adult Fiction – Cosy Crime

Published: 2022

Format: Paperback

Rating: ★★★★

It’s been years since I’ve read a Hamish Macbeth book, but it was really good to return to Lochdubh! Hamish Macbeth is back, and once again in love, this time engaged to his new constable, Dorothy McIver. I think I actually prefer the Hamish Macbeth series to the Agatha Raisin series, which is probably a contentious opinion to have.

What ensues is a murder, several assaults, an arson, and some gangland culture interfering with the quiet village life of Lochdubh. It’s great to see some of the more familiar characters again like Elspeth Grant, Priscilla Halburton-Smythe, and the Currie sisters, alongside Hamish Macbeth. I also love Lugs and Sonsie, Macbeth’s dog and cat. They always add some comic interludes. What has changed about Macbeth is that he’s not quite the cheeky chap we’ve had in previous books, though he’s still pushing boundaries in his determination to solve murder.

Story-wise, this one has a lot going on in it. Inspector Blair is back and continuing his vendetta against Macbeth, while seeming to be involved in something slightly shady. This story is less of a local village crime, with more of the outside world and big city crime coming in. Maybe this is a sign of things changing with M.C. Beaton’s death. Apparently, there are several outlines still to come so it’ll be interesting to see.

I’ve really enjoyed reading this; it’s been a while since I’ve burned through a book in 2 days, but this one I did. I couldn’t put it down and I wish there were more new ones in this series to binge!

‘Agatha Raisin: Down the Hatch’ by M.C. Beaton

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Genre: Adult Fiction – Cosy Crime

Published: 2021

Format: Paperback

Rating: ★★★

Another lovely little mystery from M.C. Beaton with the help of R.W. Green (Beaton herself died in 2019). How long they can keep releasing with books with the author dead is unclear, though the mysteries have lost some of the original sparkle over the last couple of years.

I really love Agatha Raisin as a character – she manages to rub people up the wrong way, but still has this very loyal group of friends who are determined to keep her on the straight and narrow. Agatha is great at solving crimes, but she manages to get herself in a few scrapes. Her love life is also at the centre of the book, with James Lacey and Charles Fraith both still in her life and vying for her attention. Reading this makes me want to go back and re-read the rest of the series.

This was an intriguing little mystery about a death on a bowling green, which gets all muddled up with animal smuggling and a paternity question. More than just a murder mystery, and the storyline was more interesting as a result. However, the writing for me didn’t quite live up to previous books, hence only 3 stars.

I’m going to keep reading though because the Agatha Raisin books are just lovely light reads that I can listen to while I’m working, or while I’m doing something else. They don’t require a lot of conversation which makes a difference from most of my life where I really have to concentrate.