What makes readers love Agatha Raisin? Is it her jealous rages? Inability to quit smoking? Beady little bearlike eyes? Or perhaps it's her insistence on keeping the silly Raisin name, whatever her marital status. Somehow this cranky middle-aged dame's many flaws only make her more appealing. In her latest adventure, one of the most suspenseful tales in the series, Agatha is struggling to settle into married life with James Lacey. Although they have separate cottages, they still can't manage to get along. Agatha is outraged when James is spotted cozying up to his ex-lover, Melissa, and causes a scene that the small British village of Carsley will not soon forget. Soon after, Agatha finds Melissa dead and James vanished--after leaving some of his blood on the cottage floor. Village tongues wag even harder when Agatha's friend and former lover, Sir Charles Fraith, returns to help her find James and identify Melissa's killer. Among the many joys of all Agatha Raisin adventures are Beaton's sweetly formal prose and her vivid descriptions of colorful villagers. This one, however, adds a crackerjack plot and a delightfully comic ending to the mix, making it clearly the best of the lot. A must for all cozy fans. --Jenny McLarin

In her 11th appearance (after 2000's Agatha Raisin and the Fairies of Fryfam), irrepressible amateur sleuth Agatha Raisin has, alas, lost her sense of humor. Finally married to the love of her life, neighbor James Lacey, Agatha soon realizes that what she hoped would be a happy modern marriage in the idyllic Cotswold village of Carlsey is anything but. First, James explodes with anger when she turns his laundry pink, then expresses vehement disapproval when she serves a Marks & Spencer's prepared lasagna for dinner. Finally, when each is sure the other is having an affair, James goes missing, leaving only blood stains behind. Determined to find him, Agatha and her friend, Sir Charles Fraith, begin an investigation that leads them to the discovery of the body of Melissa Sheppard, James's suspected mistress. Delving into Melissa's past life reveals two ex-husbands and an estranged sister, all with motive to kill. Beaton has been praised for bringing the traditional British cozy into the 21st century, but an up-to-date village setting is not enough. Without the wit and humor of prior outings that made the characters human, Agatha is unforgivably and inappropriately rude and sharp-tongued, the parsimonious Sir Charles is repetitively stingy beyond belief and James is just unreal. Stereotypical minor characters further disappoint. This one is strictly for invested fans. (Dec. 10) FYI: Beaton is also the author of Skeleton in the Closet (Forecasts, Jan. 8) and the Hamish Macbeth series. (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

Despite marrying recently, Agatha and husband James live apart and accuse each other of infidelity. When James goes missing, and his supposed mistress is murdered, Agatha determines to find the truth with a little help from her friend Sir Charles. Anticipate demand. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Her marriage to next-door neighbor James Lacey has nothing to curb Agatha Raisin's proclivity for outlandish adventures in and out of the criminal circuit. For one thing, the marriage itself is a rocky affair. The newlyweds continue to live in separate cottages; the bride is still spending time with her old friend Sir Charles Fraith; the bridegroom, for his part, is carrying on an intermittent affair with sexy Melissa Sheppard. It's only from Melissa, of all people, that Agatha learns James has been diagnosed with brain cancer. Before she can offer her shoulder for his drooping head, he disappears without a trace, and Melissa is discovered murdered in her cottage kitchen. Agatha's longtime policeman friend Bill Wong (Agatha Raisin and the Wellspring of Death, 1998, etc.) has been instructed to tell her nothing about the investigation, but she and Sir Charles, taking that snub as a challenge, decide to nose around on their own, beginning by interviewing Melissa's two ex-husbands. Agatha takes an immediate dislike to Megan, Luke Sheppard's new wife, but that's just for starters. Before they're through, Agatha and Charles will have located James in a French monastery and pinpointed the murderer as well. Sheer absurdity, start to finish, and only for those with a high tolerance for Agatha at her silliest.