Reviews

Agatha Raisin and the Quiche of Death by M.C. Beaton

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rockchickchickyrock's review against another edition

5.0

Better than the tv show

I came to these books after watching the tv show. As always much better than the adaptation. I like both four different reasons though.

gemloukay's review against another edition

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4.0

Nice, gentle, easy read with enough of a mystery that I wanted to keep reading.

gentleladybug's review against another edition

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lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

grdaneault's review against another edition

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lighthearted mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

meltingpenguins's review against another edition

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1.0

DNF at page 75 (about 27%).

The book certainly is a product of its time, but even all those bits and pieces aside...
I did start out liking the book at the beginning, but I quickly (not even 100 pages in) found my initial impression dwindle.

One of the worst things an author can do is write a maincharacter the audience just doesn't care about. And I don't friggin' care about Agatha in the slightest. I don't care if she grows as a character over the story/the further books, because right now she's just dreadful and annoying.

I found nothing about her I could sympathise with. Maybe the target audience back when found something good about her, but these days she's thoroughly the kind of abrasive biddy that dies at the start of a cosy mystery and who's death is hard to untangle cause everyone had very good reasons to do her in.

nabilanp's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

lakecake's review against another edition

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3.0

This book took FOREVER to go anywhere. Agatha is the antithesis of the usual cozy hero—she’s blocky and frumpy and rude, and I love her. The local police officer is actually helpful and pleasant, another change from the usual, and the village is picturesque. The villagers are given lots of different personalities and most of them add to the story in good ways. But so much of the book is descriptions of things that don’t actually matter to the mystery, and it really felt like this would never wrap up. The ending was surprisingly satisfying, so I will try book 2, but that was a last minute decision, so the second entry will really have to wow me for me to keep going.