Agatha Raisin and the Vicious Vet
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"- 'Anyone interested in a few hours' worth of intelligent, amusing reading will want to make the acquaintance of Mrs. Agatha Raisin.' - The Cleveland Pain Dealer - 'Agatha Raisin is sharp, witty, hugely intelligent, unfailingly entertaining, delightfully intolerant and oh so magnificently non PC. M C Beaton has created a new national treasure... the stories zing along and are irresistible, unputdownable, a joy. If you buy one book a year, let it be this. Agatha Raisin is The Strongest Link.' - Anne Robinson - 'Beaton's dry sense of humour and her unflattering but affectionate portrait of gruff, often adolescent acting Agatha make this... tale a bloom worth picking.' - Publishers Weekly - 'Engaging' - Booklist
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Product Description
Agatha lets sleeping vets lie...Retired PR boss Agatha Raisin is enjoying life in her pretty Cotswold village of Carsely. It even seems likely that the attractive new vet, Paul Bladen, has taken a shine to her. But before romance can blossom, Paul is killed in an accident with Lord Pendlebury's horse. Only the circumstances are rather suspicious. Agatha decides she must once more play amateur investigator. And this cloud has a silver lining - she can persuade her usually stand-offish neighbour, James Lacey, to become her partner in the quest. As usual, Agatha is quite prepared to rush in, heedless of the lurking menace to both James and herself. Praise for the Agatha Raisin series: 'Agatha is like Miss Marple with a drinking problem, pack-a-day habit and major man lust. I think she may be living my dream life' - Entertainment Weekly. 'Clever red herrings and some wicked unfinished business guarantees that the listener will pant for a sequel' The Times Audiobook Review.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Second in the Agatha Raisin series by Marion Chesney (writing as M.C.Beaton). Agatha, retired PR guru (and she would emphasise that she retired early), returns to her archetypal Cotswold village from an abortive Caribbean holiday to discover a dishy new vet has set up shop there. Perhaps he'll prove an easier catch than James, her nextdoor neighbour. However, life expectancy in the archetypal villages of cosy mysteries can be somewhat abruptly concluded.
Agatha Raisin is an ironic take on Miss Marple - she's less syrupy than Christie's sleuth, more abrasive, and she's decidedly sexually predatory. Agatha is a determined but gauche sexual being - she devotes more attention to dressing right, slapping on the right amount of warpaint, getting the ambience right, than to actual detection. She likes her food, she likes her booze, and she likes her cats. She's bright and resourceful and quite likeable. Bur her detective skills are hardly the cerebral powers of detection exemplified by Holmes, Marple, or Poirot - determination and bloody mindedness are more her forte, with just a soupcon of intuition. Agatha has her police collaborator, in the form of Bill Wong - I confess to feeling let down by the description of his home and family. And there is an ensemble cast of village folk, from vicar's wife to unmarried mother, ironic little sketches of characters who contrast with their counterparts in a Marple mystery.
It's an entertaining book - the Agatha Raisin series is written with genuine humour and charm - and there is an intriguing mystery to be unravelled here, with plenty of suspects and not a few red herrings. Where the book falls down, however, is in the method of deduction. The way some of the evidence is obtained is just too far fetched - it's a bit deus ex machina, 'with one bound he was free' simplicity. The strength of the Agatha Raisin series lies in the humour and insightful characterisation which trips off the pages - the weakness is in the detection side. With the detection side made a touch more real and gritty, this would be a very fine series - but maybe this is partly satirising the superhuman powers of deduction and convenient presentation of evidence found in many cosy mysteries?
Agatha Raisin is an ironic take on Miss Marple - she's less syrupy than Christie's sleuth, more abrasive, and she's decidedly sexually predatory. Agatha is a determined but gauche sexual being - she devotes more attention to dressing right, slapping on the right amount of warpaint, getting the ambience right, than to actual detection. She likes her food, she likes her booze, and she likes her cats. She's bright and resourceful and quite likeable. Bur her detective skills are hardly the cerebral powers of detection exemplified by Holmes, Marple, or Poirot - determination and bloody mindedness are more her forte, with just a soupcon of intuition. Agatha has her police collaborator, in the form of Bill Wong - I confess to feeling let down by the description of his home and family. And there is an ensemble cast of village folk, from vicar's wife to unmarried mother, ironic little sketches of characters who contrast with their counterparts in a Marple mystery.
It's an entertaining book - the Agatha Raisin series is written with genuine humour and charm - and there is an intriguing mystery to be unravelled here, with plenty of suspects and not a few red herrings. Where the book falls down, however, is in the method of deduction. The way some of the evidence is obtained is just too far fetched - it's a bit deus ex machina, 'with one bound he was free' simplicity. The strength of the Agatha Raisin series lies in the humour and insightful characterisation which trips off the pages - the weakness is in the detection side. With the detection side made a touch more real and gritty, this would be a very fine series - but maybe this is partly satirising the superhuman powers of deduction and convenient presentation of evidence found in many cosy mysteries?
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This has to be the worst book I have ever read and I was very disappointed. I kept expecting the great wit and amusement advertised on the cover and spent the whole book cringing like you would with a bad Carry On Film, but with less laughs.
The descriptions were repetitive, boring and grotesque.
Maybe it is just not my thing, but I love Agatha Christie and have been reading her since I was eight, don't expect a great whitty paraody with writing to equal the great lady herself.
The woman is a real sad character, predatory older woman and I just felt sorry for her for most of the book. Personally I don't like unsymapthetic main characters: Perfume, Catcher in the Rye, Mayor of Casterbridge etc are stories I struggled with, but they were much better written than this and I was cringing for the right reasons.
The descriptions were repetitive, boring and grotesque.
Maybe it is just not my thing, but I love Agatha Christie and have been reading her since I was eight, don't expect a great whitty paraody with writing to equal the great lady herself.
The woman is a real sad character, predatory older woman and I just felt sorry for her for most of the book. Personally I don't like unsymapthetic main characters: Perfume, Catcher in the Rye, Mayor of Casterbridge etc are stories I struggled with, but they were much better written than this and I was cringing for the right reasons.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is the sort of book you can whip through in a day or so. It makes very light bedtime reading and although it's very silly in places I'm more than happy to take all that tongue in cheek and enjoy it's froth. If you enjoy Midsomer Murders on a Sunday night then you'll probably enjoy this book.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
More frothy fun with Agatha
In the second of the series, the ladies of Carsely have a major crush on the handsome new vet, Paul Bladen. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Roman Clodia
AGATHA RAISIN and the VICIOUS VET
This book is the second book of a book 20 series. It's a good who done it with twist and turns,well worth reading I am on the sixth book in the series now.
Published 6 months ago by Old Git
Agatha Raisin and the Vicious Vet review
Following my first encounter with Agatha Raisin and the Quiche of Death, I could hardly wait to read the Vicious Vet. I wasn't disappointed at all. Read more
Published 8 months ago by louisa
Agatha's Animal Instincts
Agatha Raisin is back and this time she is going to forget about her failed attempt at romance with her next door neighbour, James Lacey and avoid men. Read more
Published 12 months ago by Joanne D'Arcy
Love it!
This is the second Agatha Raisin novel that I've read, and is also the second in the series. I enjoyed this even more than the first book. Read more
Published 12 months ago by Kew
rubbish
This is the sort of book to read if u really don't want to think about a book. It was pretty predictable, had no substance, the main characters were all annoying and unlike-able... Read more
Published 14 months ago by katieb
The second book in the Agatha Raisin series
Agatha Raisin is still in two minds about whether to stay in Carsely. Things seem a bit boring really and she's making no headway with her handsome next door neighbour James... Read more
Published 16 months ago by Damaskcat
Great book
This a must have for anyone who loves reading Agatha Raisin books even if you have not read any buy this and you will be hooked first class
Published 17 months ago by Debs
Loved It
Just started reading this series and I have fallen in love with Agatha, she is such a great character. She just can not help herself. Read more
Published 19 months ago by Titchthepunkess
CURIOSITY KILLED THE CAT...
In this second book of this cozy mystery series, Agatha Raisin, a retired public relations agent, is still trying to meld into village life in the Cotswold village of Carsely. Read more
Published 19 months ago by Lawyeraau
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