This is Beaton’s 14th Agatha Raisin novel, but it’s the first one that I’ve read. I have already bought the next two! I know I’ll probably go back and read it from the beginning, too. I really love Agatha Raisin as a character. A lot of cozy characters can seem too perfect, so Agatha’s personality is a breath of fresh air. She says what she thinks and doesn’t worry about the effect. She isn’t cheerful or fake. She does care what Paul thinks of her and can’t make up her mind about how she feels about him. She vacillates between trying to impress him and not caring at all. This part seemed quite realistic for me.
I also loved how Beaton deals with time in this novel. The timeline isn’t compressed. Agatha gets a PR job in the middle of her investigation and goes back to London for a bit. This allows for some space between her and Paul and gives time for her thoughts to develop. It also makes sense that an investigation would need time for leads to come through and for things to happen.
I love Agatha’s small bear like eyes. She is ade to be an imperfect person and therefore, rather human.
She is rather endearing in her own way. I love how she “howls” at people and solves the mysteries in her own way.