Dishing the Dirt

July 13, 2015
Jealousy prompts Agatha Raisin to visit therapist Jill Devant, who has attracted the attention of Agatha’s ex-husband, James Lacey, in bestseller Beaton’s lively 26th cozy featuring the remarkably intuitive private detective (after 2014’s The Blood of an Englishman). The session at Jill’s office in Carsely, the scenic Cotswolds village where Agatha resides, doesn’t go well, since Jill accuses Agatha of lying about her past. Agatha has further reason to resent Jill because Jill is counseling Gwen Simple, who Agatha is convinced was an accessory to murder in her previous case. When someone strangles Jill, gossip suggests that Agatha was involved, given her quite public disdain for the therapist. Agatha, aided by her loyal team of investigators, sets out to prove her innocence, but as usual her penchant for allowing handsome suitors to distract her complicates her search for the killer. Fans of traditional English mysteries who appreciate oddball sleuths will be rewarded. Agent: Barbara Lowenstein, Lowenstein Associates.

April 15, 2015

In her latest case, New York Times best-selling sleuth Agatha Raisin is the suspect. New-in-town therapist Jill Davent snickered about Agatha's humble origins and pursued her ex-husband, but when she hired a private detective to investigate Agatha, our put-upon heroine yelled, "I could kill you," two days before Davent is found strangled. Oops.

Copyright 2015 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

September 1, 2015
The acerbic Agatha Raisin is back in her twenty-sixth outing. This time quasi-therapist Jill Davent is spreading information about Agatha's Birmingham slum upbringing, which Agatha has taken great pains to keep hidden. Agatha confronts the private investigator whom Jill hired, and soon the PI and Jill herself are found murdered, leaving Agatha, who was heard threatening to kill Jill, as the chief suspect. To clear herself, Agatha, her detective agency staff, and Sir Charles Fraith work to solve the murders. It turns out Jill was a blackmailer, widening the suspect pool. When Agatha is almost killed, Sir Charles sends her to Venice on the Orient Express, out of harm's way with the killer still on the loose. Agatha is the same character fans have adored and others have disdained all these years: vain; envious of younger, prettier women; man crazy; and blunt to the point of rudeness. It may not be everyone's recipe for success, but it works for Agatha.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)