The Potted Gardener: An Agatha Raisin Mystery

Like the other books, a cute murder mystery. Agatha is messy and difficult, but in this installment it’s sweet to see her relationship with the village. I like Mary’s character a lot, how she treats others and how they react is very interesting to see unfold. She’s a very compelling character. It takes a while to actually get to the murder but the story is engaging enough I often didn’t even notice.

Somehow I had gotten these books out of order and had to go back and read this one. For some reason I had confused it with a Nancy Atherton book; well, at least that is who I think it was. After taking a break from Carsely and James Lacey, Agatha returns from her cruise with a few extra pounds and finds that she now has competition for James' affection and it's none other then a tall, beautiful, well put together woman by the name of Mary Fortune. When Agatha finds that Mary has taken the gardening club by storm she sets out to beat her at her own game. Since Agatha is not against cheating to win at all costs, remember the cake incident in the first book, she sets out to win both James and the gardening award. When mysterious incidents start happening around Carsely and a curious murder occurs, it's up to Agatha, with the help of the wayward James, to solve the crimes and to find out how much Carsely really loves and appreciates Agatha.

Agatha Raisin is a fifty something independant woman who finds, after years of not giving a [darn] that all she wants now is a man- badly. Agatha is moody, rude, and fantastic. Her men, Roy, Sir Charles Fraith, even that whiny [guy] James Lacey, are funny and entertaining. You'll get addicted to Agatha, I promise.

This was my first Agatha Raisin mystery and I have already ordered two more! I love cozy mysteries and this had not only interesting characters but a great deal of humor. The story was well written and held my interest throughout.

Have read several of the Agatha Raisin and Hamish Macbeth books. Have liked them all. Agatha is now trying to get into the flower business to impress her, want to be sweetie, James Lacey. However, there is a new WOMEN in town. She is Mary Fortune. Of course hard headed Agatha will not listen to anyone about when to plant her flowers and they all are killed by frost. She then decides to buy a load of flowers and get them planted during the night. Is like the time she bought a quiche instead of baking it for a village competition and one of the judges dropped dead of poisoning. Every one seems to love Mary Fortune, but she ends up being planted upide down in a flower pot. Agatha and Lacey, of course, start asking questions and trying to find out who the killer is. Could it have been Mrs. Bloxby, Miss Simms, Mrs. Mason, the Boggles or old Mr. Spott? I think the ending will surprise you. As usual Beaton has written the characters and the village so that they seem real and you can see them in your mind as you read. Am looking forward to the next book.

I enjoyed this book more than anything I've read recently. The setting is the classic English country village, where doors go unlocked and gardening, tea, and the Ladies Society are the priorities of most of its residents. The real jewel is Agatha Raisin herself; a wonderfully flawed character who makes us laugh and shake our heads sometimes. Some have compared her to Agatha Christie's Miss Marple, but she's really very different. She's middle-aged former P.R. exec who has moved to the country in her retirement, with a heavy crush on her next-door neighbor, who unfortunately doesn't return the sentiment. Agatha returns home from a solitary vacation that wasn't quite as fun as she'd hoped to find that a new, glamorous woman has moved into town and gotten her claws into Agatha's love interest, and in an attempt to thwart the affair Agatha decides to join the gardening club, which both James (the neighbor) and the new woman are avid members of. Soon, the new woman is murdered. It gets hilarious when we find Agatha up to her old tricks - cheating in a contest, going to elaborate lengths to cover it up, but of course it all comes out in the end, including the murderer. This was a great, fun read. Agatha is a real gem! Her flaws and sometimes petty emotions sometimes remind me a little of, well, me!