📖 Agatha Raisin and the Curious Curate by M.C. Beaton (2003) ⭐⭐

Welcome my friends and fellow bookworms 🤗 In this post I am going to be sharing my thoughts on Agatha Raisin and the Curious Curate by M.C. Beaton: the thirteenth book, published in 2003, from the long-running, cosy-crime series, that follows the bullish amateur sleuthing of the smart dressing, retired-PR executive Agatha Raisin. One of my go-to-comfort series.

After being hurt by a thoughtless proposition from her neighbour John Armitage, and with James and Charles no where to be found, Agatha swears off men and crime! Instead she settles for a quiet life in Carsely with her cats and friends; wearing loose dresses, sensible shoes, and no make up or cigarettes. But then the village peace is broken by the new, captivating curate, Tristan Delon, which has started stoking rivalry, jealousies and gossip.

Agatha finds herself singled out by Tristan for dinner, but despite his easy charm and angelic looks, however, there is something odd about him. Only for Tristan to be found dead, in the vicarage study, stabbed in the back with the vicar’s own letter opener. This leaves the poor vicar, Alf Bloxby, as the prime suspect, so our ‘old Aggie’ is compelled to help her closest friend, Mrs Bloxby clear her husband’s name.

Reluctantly, Agatha allows her neighbour, John to help her start investigating into Tristan’s past, in London. Like James previously, I am not a huge fan of how John treats Agatha, but also how he forced her to lie to PC Bill Wong and encouraged her to continue to dig when things got real dangerous. However their teamwork does uncover a large web of lies, persuasion, theft, blackmail and a desperate murderer.

Overall, I thought Agatha Raisin and the Curious Curate was a good, fun mystery, with a cast of my favourite characters, plus a few new ones, that kept me guessing till the end. This was the easy, breezy read I really needed in this cold, grey April.
My Rating: Good 

Now I would love to hear from you: Have you read this? Or any of the other Agatha Raisin mysteries? Any recommendations of other cosy mystery series I should check out? Please come chat in the comments below! 

Blessings, Jessica