Share for friends:

Read The Deadly Dance (2005)

The Deadly Dance (2005)

Online Book

Author
Genre
Series
Rating
3.83 of 5 Votes: 2
Your rating
ISBN
031298474X (ISBN13: 9780312984748)
Language
English
Publisher
st. martin's paperbacks

The Deadly Dance (2005) - Plot & Excerpts

I was beginning to see a chink in the old Agatha armor and I do think that this book continues with this belief. She might still have tiny bearlike eyes, but they just might be softening a bit, thanks to the patience of the much-adored Mrs. Bloxby.While on vacation in Paris, Agatha is mugged and when Paris authorities have no interest in pursuing her assault she concludes that she could do a better job herself and returns home to open her own detective agency.James Lacey is still away and his cottage has a new owner, Mrs. Emma Comfrey has appeared in Carsely, and just as Agatha is getting her new detective agency off the ground, she realizes that a professional appearance would include a receptionist. Having tired of the usual sort that work as receptionists Agatha takes a chance on Emma, plus she can run down the errant cat or two and the agency will look more full service.What Agatha did not take into consideration was that Emma might have plans of her own and when she sees Agatha as an obstacle for Charles’s affections, the gloves are off. Add this to the case that they are currently working on that includes the dead body of an IRA assassin on her kitchen floor and once again Agatha is in the middle of a murder investigation that has hit too close to home. She now needs to figure out if this is all tied to her first major case of the attempted murder of an heiress or if there is something more foul afoot.I adore Agatha, there is something endearing in the way that no matter how hard she tries or how honest her intentions are, something always go wrong and she is once again left with the utter fear of failure. If she could only understand that her friends do love and care for her – and if she would just stop trying so hard, things might just work out for her.

I was just rambling through the doings of Agatha and Carsely around about page 75, and enjoying them as always, when I suddenly realised that no murder had up to that point been committed - an attempted shooting okay, but no actual murder. Then page 78, 'And on that bed lay a man, face-down.' Of course it was the first murder!Thereafter Agatha trots off to Paris, gets involved with the French gendarmerie, is flown back to England and then her investigations, as is often the case, rub the local constabulary up the wrong way as she gets into one scrape after another.The usual cat and mouse hunting continues and in the end it is Agatha, despite her disasters along the way, again as is often the case, who comes up trumps. But her friend police officer Bill wong does say, 'You've had all the luck of the amateur.' However, undaunted Agatha, having establihsed her own detective agency, replies, 'I am a professional now.' Long may she continue to be and long may she continue to track down perpetrators of crime, despite the attempts of officialdom to warn her off.

What do You think about The Deadly Dance (2005)?

Deadly DanceMC Beaton (Author)To say that the work of MC Beaton is popular is something of an understatement. Beaton's two most well known characters, Agatha Raisin and Hamish MacBeth have provided her loyal readers with many books, characters, and story lines to enjoy. In Deadly Dance, the lady Sleuth Agatha Raisin is in familiar territory, in her fifteenth book. She has started a new business as a private investigator as you do, and the course of the novel follows her many travails in this new career choice.So, we meet many new characters, from her assistant who is not what she seems, to the many people who come to her seeking to make use of her talents. The novel is fluently written, it has engaging stories and is peopled with believable characterisations, and there would be much for people to discuss in a reading group. The book really is not up my street, but I could appreciate the craft that went into the writing of the story, and I can see why the continuing adventures of Agatha Raisin have found so many fans.
—Ben

Four stars, to me, is almost like five stars....only the absolute best books on the planet get five stars out of me. with that quantifier out of the way, THE DEADLY DANCE was lots of fun. I realized in this installment of the Agatha Raisin series that I like Agatha. If I knew this character in "real life," she would most likely drive me crazy, but I bet I would see the good in her before too long and begin to count her among my friends. With this book, Agatha finaly opens her own detective agency (which is no spoiler since this fact is in every review. In other words, people are actually soliciting her to solve cases for them instead of the other way around. I didn't figure out whodunit until it was time. What I enjoyed most is realizing how much Agatha has grown into her own skin - she actually finds herself caring about others and the friendships she has made....sometimes it is pointed out to her, and then other times, she even recognizes it on her own! The epilogue is typical Agatha, and it had me laughing out loud. Oh, I also realized in this installment that even though I sure wouldn't want someone like Roy in my life, I sure would miss it if he didn't pop in over a weekend from London to throw a monkey wrench in Agatha's latest shenanigans!
—Sue

In this Agatha Raisin mystery, Agatha finds herself busy running her detective agency and ends up hiring her new neighbor, (living in her former ex's cottage next door) as her secretary. She gets her first significant case when a Mrs. Laggat-Brown asks them to find out who threatened her daughter. When Agatha and Emma foil a shooting at the engagement party she feels that her agency is more than able to handle cases like this. While working the case, Emma develops a massive crush on Sir Charles Fraith, a long term friend of Agatha's. She becomes insanely jellous of Agatha. As Agatha and Charles and Roy Silver work on the case, Agatha finds herself in danger. This story had lots of twists and turns making it exciting to read. Agatha never fails to please.
—Sallee

Write Review

(Review will shown on site after approval)

Read books by author M.C. Beaton

Read books in series Agatha Raisin

Read books in category Fiction