From Publishers Weekly
The author of the estimable Hamish Macbeth mysteries falters with this second story (after Agatha Raisin and the Quiche of Death ) to feature London PR executive Agatha Raisin, who has recently retired in the Cotswolds. When handsome veterinarian Paul Bladen dies from a drug injection intended for a horse, Agatha decides it was murder and calls on her bachelor neighbor James Lacey to help investigate. Although her friend, Detective Sgt. Bill Wong, believes the death was an accident and cautions her against overdramatizing life in their village, Agatha proceeds . She discovers an angry former client of the vet whose cat had died at his hands and claims she has information about Bladen. But when Agatha shows up for their meeting, the woman is dead; another accident, suggest the police as Agatha cries murder once more. Pursuing men and clues with abandon, Agatha finally ferrets out the murderer but loses her male quarry in the process. Stretching for charm, Beaton here unexpectedly scants characterization and plot--both of which are amply supplied in Constable Macbeth's Scottish Highland adventures. Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Library Journal
Still on break from her Hamish Macbeth series, Beaton adds to her Agatha Raisin opus ( Agatha Raisin and the Quiche of Death , St. Martin, 1992). Constantly shunned by the man next door, Agatha turns her attention to the handsome new veterinarian--only to become involved in investigating his suspicious death.Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Kirkus Reviews
Fifty-ish Agatha Raisin, the author's amateur second-string sleuth (Hamish MacBeth being the pro), has yet to feel comfortably settled in the Cotswold village of Carsely, where neighboring bachelor James Lacey eludes her romantic overtures and life is dull (Agatha Raisin and the Quiche of Death, 1992). The arrival of handsome vet Paul Bladen, however, provides a new object for the chase--until he dies of an injection meant for the horse he was about to operate on. Agatha is sure it was murder, not accident, and sets about talking to everyone who had dealings with Bladen, most of them women he was conning out of money for a never-to-be- built veterinary hospital--a scheme his partner, Peter Rice, seemed unaware of. Lacey, bored with the military history he's trying to write, joins in Agatha's detecting forays--proving to be considerably more adept than she. A second death and the kidnapping of Agatha's cats lead her, solo, to a near-fatal meeting with a killer. Clumsy plotting, a clutch of listless characters, and the singularly charmless Agatha Raisin--in one of Beaton's least attractive outings. -- Copyright ©1993, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.


Book Description
"A glorious cross between Miss Marple, Auntie Mame and Lucille Ball with a tad of pit bull tossed in. She's wonderful." St. Petersburg TimesFeisty Agatha Raisin, until recently a public-relations executive in London, has retired to peaceful Cotswold, where a romance is budding with the attractive new village vet, Dr. Paul Bladen. But Bladen accidentally kills himself while attending to Lord Pendlebury's horse, and Agatha must turn to her distinguished neighbor, the retired military man James Lacey, for comfort. Together, the odd couple begin to investigate Dr. Bladen's death . . . and the curious lack of sorrow shown by his divorced wife. But will they succeed in unmasking a killer before suffering an "accident" of their own?


From the Inside Flap
"A glorious cross between Miss Marple, Auntie Mame and Lucille Ball with a tad of pit bull tossed in. She's wonderful." St. Petersburg Times
Feisty Agatha Raisin, until recently a public-relations executive in London, has retired to peaceful Cotswold, where a romance is budding with the attractive new village vet, Dr. Paul Bladen. But Bladen accidentally kills himself while attending to Lord Pendlebury's horse, and Agatha must turn to her distinguished neighbor, the retired military man James Lacey, for comfort. Together, the odd couple begin to investigate Dr. Bladen's death . . . and the curious lack of sorrow shown by his divorced wife. But will they succeed in unmasking a killer before suffering an "accident" of their own?

ANNOTATION

From the creator of the popular Hamish MacBeth mysteries comes a new series, starring Agatha Raisin--an irascible but endearing sleuth in a small English town. The new vet has taken a shine to Agatha, but before romance can bloom, he accidentally kills himself.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Life in the English Cotswolds hasn't been all Agatha Raisin thought it would be. Retired early from a successful career in public relations, she longs for a little romance and excitement. After all, Carsley must have more to offer than tea with the village ladies. But friendly overtures toward her neighbor James Lacey have him running for the door every time. So when a handsome new veterinarian arrives in town, Agatha sees a chance to give her bruised ego a boost. But something sinister lurks beneath the vet's charming veneer: He has the village ladies riled up over his rough treatment of their pets and he has the nerve to make a date with Agatha and then not show up. Just when Agatha begins to hear some odd stories about him, he is killed. Now Agatha has more excitement than she bargained for and James Lacey to help her solve the mystery of the vet's suspicious death. Agatha Raisin is back, and a slew of charming village characters along with her. No one writes a cozy tale of murder like M. C. Beaton: Village life - and village mysteries - will never be the same.

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

The author of the estimable Hamish Macbeth mysteries falters with this second story (after Agatha Raisin and the Quiche of Death ) to feature London PR executive Agatha Raisin, who has recently retired in the Cotswolds. When handsome veterinarian Paul Bladen dies from a drug injection intended for a horse, Agatha decides it was murder and calls on her bachelor neighbor James Lacey to help investigate. Although her friend, Detective Sgt. Bill Wong, believes the death was an accident and cautions her against overdramatizing life in their village, Agatha proceeds . She discovers an angry former client of the vet whose cat had died at his hands and claims she has information about Bladen. But when Agatha shows up for their meeting, the woman is dead; another accident, suggest the police as Agatha cries murder once more. Pursuing men and clues with abandon, Agatha finally ferrets out the murderer but loses her male quarry in the process. Stretching for charm, Beaton here unexpectedly scants characterization and plot--both of which are amply supplied in Constable Macbeth's Scottish Highland adventures. (Aug.)

Library Journal

Still on break from her Hamish Macbeth series, Beaton adds to her Agatha Raisin opus ( Agatha Raisin and the Quiche of Death , St. Martin, 1992). Constantly shunned by the man next door, Agatha turns her attention to the handsome new veterinarian--only to become involved in investigating his suspicious death.

BookList - Barbara Duree