Agatha Raisin and the Potted Gardener – M C Beaton

Well  this is now the third Agatha Raisin mystery I have read, I think it is official, I am well and truly hooked. I sadly now look forward to popping down the library not only to have a mooch to pick up my next requested copy of Agatha. Agatha Raisin and the Potted Gardener was first published in 1994 and is actually the first of this series that saw reviewed (by Bina of If you can read this)and which ignited my interest to check the rest out for myself. For my reviews of previous check the links below out:

Agatha Raisin and the Quiche of Death
Agatha Raisin and the Vicious Vet

Agatha isn’t Beaton’s only crime creation she also has the Hamish Macbeth series but crime isn’t where Beaton stops either oh no, M C Beaton is merely a pseudonym for Marion Chesney who is best known for having written over a hundred historical romance novels under her own name and many other pseudonyms. So I still have plenty more of her work to be checking out.

Agatha Raisin a stylish, successful and independent fifty something woman has thrown in the cut throat business world to live her childhood dream of dwelling in a little stone cottage in the blissful Cotswold’s countryside. However the transition from PR manager of her own company in London to retirement in a country village is anything but blissful for our Agatha. Trouble comes this time in the form of the immaculately turned out and green be-decked Mary Fortune, who Agatha returns home to find ensconced not only in the hearts of the villagers but more importantly with Agatha’s dashing neighbour James Lacey. Mary is perfect in almost every way charming, witty, intelligent as well as an excellent cook and gardener. . . everything Agatha is not! Events take a turn for the worst in the lead up to the Carsely Garden Open Day where several of the leading contenders find their gardens vandalise but this is nothing compared to the final act of murder which finds Mary planted upside down in a terracotta pot. Agatha wastes no time in delving into the personality and past of her not so favourite person in the village to find out what Mary could have done to be not just murdered but humiliated in such a way in death.

Well I’m sure you won’t be surprised to know I whipped through this in one afternoon, simply couldn’t put it down, and as always such a pleasant and simple read. As much as I love something complicated and thought-provoking sometimes I just want pure escapism and both the Agatha Raisin and Sookie Stackhouse books do that for me perfectly. What I loved most about this third instalment of Agatha was the victim Mary Fortune who appeared to be ‘practical perfect in every way’ however she also had a hidden side and at times could be quite skin crawlingly sinister, but I won’t say anymore daren’t ruin it if you decide to grab a copy of this. Agatha again was as infuriatingly annoying whilst being so entertaining at the same time, this book sees her trying to cheat in the Carsely Garden Open Day (rather like in The Quiche of Death) of course the cheating goes horribly wrong but it was good to see Agatha back to her usual tricks rather than constantly chasing after James Lacey (which can get a little old).  What this book really holds over the two previous instalments is the death to be fair though it would take a lot to top planting someone head first into a giant flower-pot! So 10 out of 10 for ingenuity!

As always I highly recommend checking these books out as I’ve said before they are a perfect read to snuggle up to one afternoon/evening especially with the nights getting darker and colder, what better than a good murder mystery with a good dollop of humour thrown in too. Has anyone else read this or other Raisin books, if so what did you think?

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