- Mass Market Paperback: 185 pages
- Publisher: Ivy Books,U.S.; 1st Ballantine Books Ed edition (1 Jun 2004)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0804111634
- ISBN-13: 978-0804111638
- Product Dimensions: 17.3 x 10.7 x 0.5 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (55 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,445,961 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
Agatha Raisin and the Quiche of Death
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Product Description
Good Book Guide
"She's ratty and rude...a far cry from Chritie's detectives but she's our new village sleuth."
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Product Description
"The irascible but endearing personality of Agatha Raisin is like a heady dash of curry. May we have another serving, please?"
DETROIT FREE PRESS
Agatha has moved to a picture-book English village and wants to get in the swing. So she buys herself a quiche for the village quiche-making contest and is more than alarmed when it kills a judge. Hot on the trail of the poisoner, Agatha is fearless, all the while unaware, that she's become the next victim....
DETROIT FREE PRESS
Agatha has moved to a picture-book English village and wants to get in the swing. So she buys herself a quiche for the village quiche-making contest and is more than alarmed when it kills a judge. Hot on the trail of the poisoner, Agatha is fearless, all the while unaware, that she's become the next victim....
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
55 of 56 people found the following review helpful
Format:Mass Market Paperback
This is a entertaining and very funny "whodunnit". The characters are very well drawn for a crime novel. The "detective", Agatha Raisin, is someone you can both like and dislike at the same time, and the other characters cover a good range from the normal to the farcical. There are some very funny, moments, and some observant swipes at small-town life. The "whodunnit" element of the story is almost incidental: it serves to carry the story forward and introduce us to the characters, but at times it verges on getting in the way of the good fun!
If you like hard-boiled, mean streets, police-procedurals, you'll hate this. If you just want a good, easy, comfortable read, you'll love it.
This is the first book in the Agatha Raisin series.
16 of 16 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Agatha Raisin is an awful woman but I promise that by the time you finish this book you will love her, warts and all.
A self-made woman who sells her business and retires early to her dream-cottage in the Cotswolds (furnished by an expensive interior decortator, naturally).
Agatha suddenly finds herself in a completely alien environment.
In a effort to make her mark on the village and announce her arrival, she plots to win the village Quiche baking contest. Her plan is simple - she will enter, as her own work, a quiche bought from a top-class delicatessan in London. Unfortunatly for Agatha, the judge dies after eating it and her deception is uncovered. Worse she finds herself being held responsible for his death.
And this is when you start finding your self falling for her.
From the moment the plot is hatched the reader can't fail to know the outcome, but rather than feeling righteous indignation on the part of the other contestants you can only feel sympathetic embarrasment for the situation you know Agatha is going to find herself in.
Convinced that she can redeem herself in the eyes of those around her Agatha sets off to solve a crime the police insist hasn't happened.
A self-made woman who sells her business and retires early to her dream-cottage in the Cotswolds (furnished by an expensive interior decortator, naturally).
Agatha suddenly finds herself in a completely alien environment.
In a effort to make her mark on the village and announce her arrival, she plots to win the village Quiche baking contest. Her plan is simple - she will enter, as her own work, a quiche bought from a top-class delicatessan in London. Unfortunatly for Agatha, the judge dies after eating it and her deception is uncovered. Worse she finds herself being held responsible for his death.
And this is when you start finding your self falling for her.
From the moment the plot is hatched the reader can't fail to know the outcome, but rather than feeling righteous indignation on the part of the other contestants you can only feel sympathetic embarrasment for the situation you know Agatha is going to find herself in.
Convinced that she can redeem herself in the eyes of those around her Agatha sets off to solve a crime the police insist hasn't happened.
21 of 22 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Agatha Raisin couldn't be more different from the author's other well-known leading character - Hamish McBeth - if she tried.
Descending on a Cotswold village in seach of some kind of idealised retirement, after selling off her London PR agency for a substantial sum, Agatha quite quickly finds that the scenario she has dreamed up is just that - a dream - and village life is far more prosaic and easy going than anything she had prepared herself for.
Right up to the moment when she unwittingly becomes the instrument of a murderer's malicious plans.
As previous reviewers have mentioned, quite a lot of the book is spent familiarising us with Agatha, her past history, the village and so on. Given that the series now runs to more than a dozen books, is looks like the author could have spent a little less time on the background details, and a little more on the plot. Still, this book is completely representative of the series, and if you like this one you'll almost certainly like the rest.
To be frank, this isn't great literature, in fact it isn't really even comparable with Agatha Christie's stories. The village setting is there, and a bunch of village "characters", but Agatha has little of the insight into how other people tick than does Miss Marple, and her successes usually owe a lot more to brute force than skilful sleuthing. Though Agatha (Raisin, that is) does have her moments.
I get the feeling that these books are more about providing an easy, entertaining read than trying to join the band of detective fiction "immortals". And as such they work very well, indeed better than most of the current crop of "cozys", in my opinion.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Agatha hate and love her.
I think thats what we are supposed to do. Shes rude she annoys everyone shes a fraud but also really likeable in her own bumbling way. Read more
Published 8 days ago by daydream
A strange heroine
Another book with an unlikely and somewhat strange heroine, yet she solved the crime when others would have failed. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Charlie Watson
Grumpy Sleuth meets Grumpier Villagers
I absolutely loved the title of this book and bought a boxed set for my sister who has now loaned them back to me. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Wendy Unsworth
A good read
Agatha raisin says the kind of things that you'd love to say but wouldn't dare in a small village! She is really funny. A great book for easy reading with a good plot. Read more
Published 4 months ago by pixie
Eccentric, quirky and fun
This is the first of the Agatha Raisin series and is one of the best. With a wayward nod to Agatha Christie's Miss Marple, this updates the village cosy murder mystery and turns it... Read more
Published 4 months ago by Roman Clodia
Agatha Raisin and the Quiche of Death
I thought this was a very enjoyable, light read, just right for holiday reading. It isn't in the least demanding and is, as others have pointed out, a cosy type of detective novel. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Moonlit
Poorly written, where's the plot?
Tried sample of this for the kindle but don't think I'll bother. Didn't grip me at all. Not surprised the book people have these very discounted.
Published 5 months ago by JENNY WHITE
Very enjoyable and highly recommended
I really loved this book!!! I bought it because I was bored, and it was cheap. But I found it really good! Read more
Published 5 months ago by JohnMcM
Just delightful
The words this book brings to mind are, warm, gentle delightful. This is a witty read that get drawn into as though you are living there along side her. Read more
Published 5 months ago by JustBCoz
First of many but I dont think I will bother!
It was an ok read. Thats it really! I didnt like the leading lady very much and I found the plot rather plodding and not at all amusing. That said, it was ok. Read more
Published 6 months ago by Freddiesmum
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