For those who don't know who Agatha Raisin is. Created by M.C. Beaton (pen name to Marion Chesney), Agatha Raisin decides to retire early (at the age of 53) from working in public relations in London and moves to the village of Carsley in the Cotswolds. It is where she encounters her first murder in Carsley itself and she decides to find the culprit. From there she encounters many murders from local Cotswold villages to faraway places like Cyprus whilst being an amateur sleuth, but being warned numerous times by the police. As of today, there are twenty three Agatha Raisin books, with the twenty fourth being released in the UK this October (September in the US). I will explain more on Aggie Raisin in another blog post, for now I will focus on the tenth book.The Fairies of Fryfam (for some reason I keep pronouncing it Fryam) takes place shortly after the ninth book, The Witch of Wyckhadden, where Agatha encounters a fortune teller who tells her she will find new love in Norfolk. Therefore she decides to sell her cottage in Carsley and moves to Fryfam, after sticking a pin randomly at a map. It is when she arrives in Fryfam not everything is all to be believed. Agatha sees mysterious lights at the end of her garden which are described as fairies by the villagers, whilst certain items goes missing, including a George Stubbs painting. She receives an invite to visit the local squire, Tolly Trumpington-James who is found murdered the next day (the reader doesn't witness the murder as Beaton prefer her murders to take place "off camera/off book"). Agatha, once again tries to solve the mystery by snooping around. Asking the wife of the victim and numerous village inhabitants. She is once again assisted by love mad, flirter, tight-ass and baronet, Sir Charles Fraith. Who makes a paying visit to Agatha and helps out in her investigation There is no DS Bill Wong to tell Agatha off this time as she is in new surroundings. Instead we get DCI Hand warning the pair not to meddle into police business. Will Agatha take Hand's advice? Of course she doesn't! As well as a murder investigation, Agatha discovers other dark secrets within the village itself.
What I like about this book (and the others in the series). This is basically a murder mystery with a touch of humour. Agatha Raisin is someone who you might not like at the beginning but will warm to her later on as she goes through the emotions. Also there are some laughs with her bossy nature, especially the conversations with love mad, Charles Fraith being around. The characters in he book are once again lively and anybody in Fryfam could be classed as a murder suspect. As the tenth book is set in Norfolk and not in the comfortable surroundings of the Cotswolds. Practically all of the villagers in Carsley and the police in Mircester takes a back set. Although the vicar's wife, Mrs. Bloxby gets a few mentions with Agatha phoning her up now and again to see how Carsley is doing as well as her love live and next door neighbour, James Lacey.
Although, once again this was a very good read by Beaton. There are two niggles I would like to point out. The first being Bill Wong being slotted as a guest appearance towards the end of the book. Agatha Christie doesn't have Poirot's friends (Arthur Hastings, Chief Inspector Japp, Miss Lemon) appearing in all the books but some are written in spirit. I would've preferred for Bill Wong not appearing in the book as a brief cameo but perhaps mentioned by name with the occasional phone calls between Agatha and Mrs. Bloxby. The second niggle is how the final chapter was written. Obviously it was written as a build up to the eleventh book (The Love From Hell) but I felt it might've been better as a prologue to the next book. Then I remembered the Raisin books don't tend to have prologues. The timeline of the book takes place around 2-3 weeks whilst Agatha and Charles was living in Fryfam. Which flowed nicely in the narrative. However, not spoiling the ending. The final chapter jumps over a matter of months. That said, Agatha doesn't have many happy endings but this book does. Although the warning signs are there.
Would I recommend this book to you? Yes, if you like cosy/comfy murder mysteries with a touch of humour. Also as it's a quick read, it should take you 5-6 hours, depending how long you read books. It is recommended to read the books in order with The Quiche of Death first as reading the books in order builds the series up, especially the characters in Carsley and Mircester.
Would I read the next one in the series? Definitely.
I gave Agatha Raisin and the Faries of Fryfam 4 out of 5 stars on Goodreads.
Next to read: The Big Over Easy
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