They say that thirteen is an unlucky number. But for this thirteenth outing for Agatha raisin, this is one of the stronger stories. Of course nothing is lucky for Agatha but then if you are a fan of the series then you will know that.
Agatha is certainly going through a man hating phase, James her ex husband is no longer around and no one knows where he is. The new neighbour made advances that Agatha was not prepared for and when the new curate, Tristan turns up it seems he is prepared to overlook Agatha as well.
Tristan is bringing the flock to church, but they are not there for any religious direction but to simply adore this man who has swept into the village and swept the hearts of many ladies away. The congregation is rather female dominated all of a sudden. The vicar, Alf Bloxby is starting to resent this intrusion into his vocation and Mrs Bloxby doesn’t like the fact he is upsetting her husband. It all seems too good to be true.
When Tristan ends up dead, the last person having seen him alive being Agatha and the vicar being the prime suspect. Mrs Bloxby wants Agatha to try find out the truth, who really killed him and why.
Once again Agatha is one step ahead of the police but blundering about when she gets there, you know that there is going to be some scrapes that she is needing to get out of as she gets to the truth.
This is a good example of an Agatha Raisin story, you can see the vulnerability of being an unloved woman that agatha is, but also the brash hard faced parts of her that upset people and somehow get them to tell the truth.
Great escapism read and ideal if you want something short and light with no real guts or gore.
I cannot believe that I have read so many of these, and I have to resist reading the next one as soon as I have finished.
They make light reading, and are ideal fillers in between more cerebral and hefty tomes or when I get bored with the blood and guts or overly sweet romance!
The Book Jotter 