Tome Time: August 25, 2013

So, you can officially kick me! I forgot to post this blog yesterday. That's okay, I'm allowed to make mistakes...once, anyway!

The purpose of these 'Tome Time' postings is to talk about what I've been reading over the past couple of weeks. Mostly, I've been reading anything having to do with ConnectionsAcademy, which is the school my son attends starting today!  Yea!!  School has officially started and he's in there doing Algebra as I type this. I love virtual school!

The book I read over the last 2 weeks is: Agatha Raisin and The Haunted House, by M.C. Beaton.

This was my first Agatha Raisin, as well as M.C. Beaton book. I am a HUGE fan of mysteries and one of my favorites is Agatha Christie. Her Miss Marple character is top of the heap for me. Agatha Raisin is what I would call Miss Marple-like. Although I started in the middle of the series, (the library had only this tome available on the virtual shelf) I will likely go back and read the series from the start. Agatha Raisin is a middle-aged professional woman who, at the time of book #14, had been married several times (unsuccessfully), had recently sold her Public Relations firm in London and now resides in a small village elsewhere in England. From my reading I discovered that she is a terrible cook and that everyone knows it. Needless to say, I can relate to Agatha Raisin. I am middle-aged, professional, married and have a cooking history. Additionally, I love to research and uncover answers. It's central to what I do as a problem solver and is the basis of all good detective work.

In this story, Agatha starts out trying to solve a mystery: Who is 'haunting' an old lady's cottage? But the woman at the heart of the mystery is hated by everyone. Ultimately there is a murder to solve and Agatha then falls into her element. She teams up with her handsome new neighbor for this mystery and there are clearly recurring characters all through the book. I love a series where I can get to know central characters and I really enjoyed this book. I went back and read some information from Wikipedia on the character and learned that in the first book Agatha is 53 years old, but that the author is aging her as the series moves along. There are 24 books in the Agatha Raisin series and I will likely read or at least attempt to read them all. The author, M.C. Beaton also writes several other series:

Hamish Macbeth Series

Edwardian Murder Mysteries Series

The Travelling Matchmaker Series

The Six Sisters Series

School for Manners Series

The House for the Season Series

The book, Agatha Raisin and the Haunted House, by M.C. Beaton, is well written, nothing too heavy and just an enjoyable read on the front porch. Now, go read a book!