M. C. Beaton

Bored with the routine cases coming her way, Agatha Raisin finally gets an intriguing case after the poisoning death of a wealthy widow, Mrs. Tamworthy, who had sent Agatha a letter warning that she believed that someone in her family intended to kill her

Kissing Christmas Goodbye

C. J. Daley 

This is part of the Agatha Raisin series, and it’s number 18. It was included with audible, so I gave it a go because the title was Christmasy. The book itself, however, was not, plus this was my first for the series… 

Agatha Raisin has a detective agency and she is looking to hire someone young to handle some of the littler issues. It weirdly talks about education and smarts, teetering on basically mentioning good/bad breed, which was the first thing that threw me off about the novel’s time period. It is probably just an English thing that my American-ness does not pick up on, but the fact that the mystery took place and was surrounding the happenings of an estate was another thing that had me wondering the time period. It reads like Agatha Christie, but is apparently modern. It also uses terms like “cellular phone”, “computer games”, and others that makes it not only feel dated, but as if the author doesn’t understand the times either. 

The mystery unfolds when an elderly woman hires Raisin to protect her during a family party, assuming someone in her family wants her dead. Naturally, the detective does zero to protect her, and a murder mystery is started up. 

The story itself takes place in fall(ish?) with vague comments of having a Christmas dinner party. Agatha Raisin eventually does, but it has nothing to do with the novel, and I don’t think the name for it makes the littlest sense honestly. 

Personally a 2/5*, could be a bad area to start the series, or maybe just not for me.

Barbara Williford

Agatha is hired by an elderly woman to find out who will kill her. As they are celebrating the woman’s birthday, she falls dead. Agatha and her new employee sleuth to find the killer and are plunged into unsolved mysteries, more murder, death and mayhem. The elderly woman wasn’t as saintly as she appeared. The romance with James is finalized.

Agatha Raisin is bored. Her detective agency in the Cotswolds is thriving, but she'll scream if she has to deal with another missing cat or dog. Only two things seem to offer potential excitement: the upcoming Christmas festivities and her ex, James Lacey. This year she is sure that if she invites James to a really splendid, old-fashioned Christmas dinner, their love will rekindle like a warm Yule log. When a wealthy widow hires Agatha because she's convinced a member of her family is trying to kill her, Agatha is intrigued---especially when the widow drops dead after high tea at the manor house. Who in this rather sterile house, complete with fake family portraits, could have hated the old lady enough to poison her?

Kissing Christmas Goodbye

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