Oh sure, wait until the last line of the book to grab my attention. After the way that Agatha’s life has been going, this was definitely an unexpected surprise and it will keep the Agatha Raisin lovers tuned into the next book. Agatha is feeling a twinge in her hip and refuses to believe that it could be arthritis. Ailments are for old people and being slightly over 50 she is too young. That does not mean that crumbling into old age is her lot in life, but still, with no man and a detective agency that is barely stumbling long leaves Agatha with too much time on her hands and too many freewheeling thoughts in her head.Tired of locating errant cats, Agatha needs a juicy case to work. In walks Robert Smedley, of Smedleys Electronics, determined to prove that his younger wife Mable is cheating on him. Finally, a spark appears in Agatha’s bear like eyes.Well, darn it if Mabel is not the perfect wife. Now what is Agatha to do? Once again, things are looking a tad boring until Robert Smedley is poisoned with weed killer and Mabel appears as the prime suspect. Not to say that she is the only suspect, as Mrs. Bloxby says, there is no telling what is in the hearts of women. A few more twists and accompanying storylines are floating within this book, but unfortunately, for me the whole thing never really took off and held my attention – that is until the very last sentence. Sir Charles Fraith is still lurking about and does come to Agatha’s rescue before she can once again make a fool of herself and an unnecessary couple of paragraphs show up with Agatha saving Roy Silver’s reputation, but for the most part, the book was a bit flat.
Review - I loved how Jessica was basically innocent of any serious wrongdoing and she turns out to be a wronged girl, whereas the Smedleys are the exact opposite of the paragons they're supposed to be. One of the better Agatha Raisin books in my opinion. I prefer the ones, like this one, that have several inter woven plots like the Smedley murder and Jessica's murder. It adds something to the storyline and makes it harder to guess motive.Genre? - Mystery / CrimeCharacters? - Agatha Raisin / Roy Silver / Charles Fraith / James Lacey / Mabel Smedley / Joyce / Patrick Mulligan / Mrs Freedman / Harry Beam / Phil Witherspoon / Bill WongSetting? - Carsely (England) & Marbella (Spain)Series? - Agatha Raisin #16Recommended? - YesRating - 16/20
What do You think about The Perfect Paragon (2006)?
My mother gave this to me with the caveat that she didn't like it; she loves the Hamish MacBeth series.After reading it, I understand Mom perfectly.Agatha Raisin is a divorced 50-something running a detective agency. She's not very good at it, but has a knack for hiring people who.What she is good at is complaining about being man-less and aging. It really turned me off.In this book she takes on a divorce case for a huge fee from a pompous guy wants to find out if his wife is cheating. Soon he's dead, and the agency looks to find his killer and clear his virtuous wife's name.It's not long before the killer has Agatha as a target, but getting to the end of this book was a slog.
—Andreasoldier
I had the pleasure of listening to another Agatha Raisin adventure (#16!). There’s not much else I can say about this series that I haven’t already said. I do enjoy listening to Agatha’s latest escapades. She can be both a fun and exasperating character.She’s still too quick to fall in love with any handsome guy she meets. Not to mention that she’s always wondering if they will propose marriage five minutes after she meets them. LOL Plus, there’s still too much talk about her being in her mid-50’s. Really, that’s not all that old. You’d think she was 90 the way they talk.I keep coming back for more so I must be enjoying this series :) The author is keeping this series fresh by adding new characters all the time. Giving Agatha her own detective agency opened the way for more storyline possibilities, too. Quick, easy mystery stories with a cast of crazy characters. It makes my work commute more enjoyable since commuting is never an enjoyable thing.
—Yvonne
Agatha Raisin as usual is lonely and unhappy about not being in love and is periodically thinking about her former husband James Lacey. In addition business at her investigation agency is so poor that she's had to lay off most of her staff. Then she's asked to find a missing girl, who she finds dead; but it's more than the police were able to do so they don't like her meddling, making them look bad. She also has decided to take divorce cases again which evolves into two murders. Business is booming, and she has to hire on additional staff. As usual the police do not like her successes since she finds murderers before they do, and Agatha rubs it in their faces by being sure that the press is informed of each of her resolutions.
—Carole
