Agatha Raisin And The Potted Gardener (1995) - Plot & Excerpts
You can translate this review on: http://labibliotecadidrusie.blogspot.it/Avevo adorato Agatha già dal primo libro e ammotto di non riuscire più a staccarmi da lei. Prima di tutto perchè è adorabile, e difatti, pur senza accorgersene, nel paesino in cui si sentiva rifiutata, adesso tutti le sono amici e si prendono cura di lei.Poi perché i racconti della Beaton traggono esempio da una più celebre Agatha (la Christie) e, pur non essendo paragonabili, hanno una semplicita e una quotidianità che li rende leggeri e gradevoli. Niente storie adrenaliniche, ma gialli più classici, più quieti, domestici. Ideale da leggere ovunque, in compagnia di personaggi singolari e simpatici (sembro una quarta di copertina).Stavolta la pensionata, non così pensionata, si trova daanti una rivale: bella, curata, brava in tutto, dolce e affettuosa.Il suo istinto competitivo si risveglia, soprattutto quando si accorge della preferenza e dell'intimità che James le riserva, dando origine a momenti davvero leggeri ed esilaranti. Alla fine però, la dolcezza di Mary conquista anche Agatha e la protagonista lascia perdere la gelosia.Come sempre, essendo in terza persona, il libro è molto incentrato sulla protagonista e gli altri personaggi vengono un po' filtrati dal suo carattere, ma prende piede anche James di cui ci vengono mostrati alcuni pensieri, soprattutto in relazione alla vicina.Sembra un momento tranquillo in un tranquillo villaggio inglese, peccato che la nuova arrivata nasconda una lingua nient'affatto dolce e ben presto qualcosa si muove. Complici anche alcuni dispetti che gi abitanti subiscono. in mancanza di meglio, l'attivissima Agatha si impegna a scoprire chi è stato, ma poi l'omicidio arriva...Finale molto signora Raisin, avventata e spericolata, ma almeno stavolta non rischia la pelle.Personaggi: Bè, che adoro la protagonista mi sembra chiaro. Anelo fortemente a divenire una pensionata come lei (senza omicidi possibilmente che i cadaveri mi fanno senso) sempre attiva e sempre curiosa. Oppure come la dolce signora Bloxby, moglie del pastore. Nei primi libri sembrava un po' bigotta e artefatta, in realtà è un vero angelo, disponibile, comprensiva, sempre dedicata agli altri senza essere stucchevole o melensa. Quella che una volta si sarebbe definita 'una bella persona'. Al maschietto della situazione invece rimprovererei di fare un po' troppo lo scapolone incallito e prezioso. tra l'altro, fa tanto il fuggitivo con le donne e poi si fa fregare come un quindicenne. Ammetto però che questo ha risollevato le sue quotazioni. Un po' meno presente Bill Wong, anche se, nelle sue poche apparizioni, non ci mette molto a capire cosa sta combinando Agatha e ha rimproverarla e punzecchiarla senza mezzi termini.Stile: Semplice, scorrevole e leggero. Anche chiaro devo dire. Come per la storia ricorda molto quello della Christie (pur con le sue differenze), senza voli pindarici o giri di parole. Frasi dirette, riposandi che non costringono il lettore a doppie letture se è stanco, nè a pause riflessive alla ricerca di significati e verità nascoste. Ciò che c'è da dire o immaginare è riportato dagli stessi personaggi e a chi legge non resta altro che scovare gli indizi e godersi la storia.Giudizio finale complessivo: Un libro 'paracadute' uno di quelli che si leggono quando si vuole andare sul sicuro con determinate storie, certi di trovare ciò che si cerca senza sorprese (soprattutto brutte). Ammetto che non è un capolavoro, ma è piacevole, divertente e rilassante e mi ha fatto passare un paio d'ore in maniera ideale, catturando la mia attenzione senza impegnare troppo il mononeurone stanco.Poi Agatha è la pensionata più stramba e irriverente che ci sia e io l'adoro. Voto: 8/10
★Agatha Raisin and the Potted Garden★ M C Beaton ★ 3.5 Stars★This was my first exposure to Agatha Raisin, and an enjoyable light hearted read it was. I was fortunate to have been leant this book by a mutual avid reader (thank you Jill D), as such broke with tradition and started a series part way through. Fortunately for me, it was the 3rd in a long series so hadn't missed to much of the back story. In fact, this novel read well as a stand alone. In this novel we join Agatha at her home in the Cotswolds in the village of Carsely, having recently returned from solo traveling New York, Bermuda, Montreal, Paris, Italy, Greece and Turkey (how I envy her already). The travel was a lonely time, and Agatha was quite looking forward to returning to her quiet village life and being with familiar companions. Upon her return she finds a newcomer has arrived in the village, Mrs Mary Fortune, whats more, Mary has commenced a relationship with the love of Agatha's life, her neighbour James Lacey.Agatha has a bit of a reputation in the village, having solved more than one previous murder. As is traditional in the life of single (divorced or spinster) middle aged women of villages, she is a bit of a sticky beak and needs to know everthing in the village, of course starting with meeting the newest arrival, Mary. Initially Agatha is jealous of Mary, but over time their friendship grows, although we learn the relationship between James and Mary has ended, Agatha still feels the need to compete against this good looking, well dressed woman.Mary is a keen gardener, with Agatha not the least bit interested in gardening, however with Mary as competition for James' attention, Agatha immediately joins the horticultural society, and spends big on getting a new glasshouse with all the bells and whilstles, hoping to be an outstanding entrant in the Carsley Garden Open Day. As the story progresses, many villagers gardens are sabotaged in some way or another, with the offender never caught. Agatha and James then stumble across the murder of Mary Fortune. In turn James and Agatha (whose relationship continues to remain purely platonic), again join forces to attempt to solve another village murder. Through this process, they realise that neither of them truly knew anything about Mary, although all in the village had been spoken to spitefully at some time or another by this complex individual, Mary (with no one wanting to say a bad thing about this amazingly generous, active and kind woman).The novel is a light hearted, easy read like a current day Miss Marple mystery. I enjoyed all the colourful charcters and the village setting of this novel, together with the complexities of Agatha and James' relationship.I would recommend this to anybody who enjoys a light hearted murder mystery, set in a lovely village environment. I look forward to reading more Agatha Raisin mysteries and seeing what becomes of James and Agatha's relationship. A great, entertaining, light hearted and easy read. Most enjoyable.
What do You think about Agatha Raisin And The Potted Gardener (1995)?
I love all the Agatha Raisin mysteries. This is one of the early ones. I loved the story and the way the murder victim met her demise was very original and unusual. Agatha is still struggling to control her impulses. This to me, makes her very human. She is far from perfect. She has a bad temper, is often rude and outspoken. She can be jealous and mean spirited, and cheats sometimes.Yet, she has her softer side and can be generous with her words and money. Her love life or the lack of it is always causing her to make errors in judgment. In this story, a newcomer to Carsely has enthralled James Lacey, her next door neighbor which has Agatha seeing green. She handles it much better than usual, but because this attractive lady is a superb gardener as is James, she joins the Horticultural society also. When people start having their gardens vandalized and a shocking murder follows, Agatha goes full force into investigating mode.
—Sallee
Dear me what a hideous murder! I have to admit that after reading the second book of the series and not liking Agatha herself i wondered what i would make of the third one. I have to admit I am starting to like Agatha a lot more however if it's possible still detest James Lacey even more! This one was just the same...a very easy read interesting characters and i liked that the murder doesn't happen straight away you really get to know the victim first which you would think make it easy to guess whodunit...it does not. I actually really enjoyed this holiday read and luckily for me at the back was the first chapter of book number four which sounded just as good so watch this space for my next Agatha Raisin review!
—Elizabeth
You can always count on Agatha Raisin for an entertaining read. In this installment Agatha ventures into gardening. The reason there is a new lady in town and she has caught the eye of Agatha's neighbour and crush James. Mary Fortune is seemingly perfect in everyway, beautiful, charming, can bake and is an expert gardener to boot. How can poor Agatha compete? Surprisingly the two women eventually become friends. Things begin to go wrong around the village. Agatha eager to prove how great a gardener she is ignores all advise from Mary and other gardeners and puts her plants in too early. Needless to say they all die in the ensuing frost. In an effort to hide her mistake and avoid looking foolish, she builds a giant fence around her garden to keep people from peeking. This raises eyebrows until several gardens in the area are vandalized, spray painted, burned, plants dug up and goldfish in a pond are poisoned. All eyes turn to the new comer Mary, who it seems has a darker and meaner side to her that is so subtle most don't notice it at first. Mary is virtually shunned by the town except for Agatha and James, who are quite frankly also newcomers. The big gardening show arrives and Agatha once again cheats with hilarious results. One night concerned about their friend Agatha and James head out to her home to check on her. She hasn't been seen around the village for a while and with the growing anger and resentment toward her they are afraid something has happened to her. It has. They discover Mary in her conservatory in one of the most clever ways to dispose of a body I've ever read in any mystery, and I read a lot of mysteries. Let's just say it fits in the title of the book perfectly. Now Agatha with James by her side start to snoop around the village, despite warnings from the police not to do so. They uncover a great many village secrets along the way. Virtually everyone in town had a reason to hate Mary, then there is Mary's daughter and her boyfriend who stand to inherit a lot of money. As always Agatha proves to be a truly entertaining read, she is always getting into something, and as it says in the book she already has a reputation as being a character. Eccentric would be a better word. I had fun reading Agatha's latest adventure, always lifts my spirits and I look forward to moving on to the next installment in this series.
—Leigh
