I am sad to say that I abandoned this latest Agatha Raisin mystery after just a few chapters. I love Agatha's abrasive personality and all of her neighbors and colleagues in the Cotswolds, especially Mrs. Bloxby, but I could not get past the image of Agatha realizing that the pig roasting on the spit at a local fete was actually human. Local cop Gary Beech, who has had run-ins with many locals, including Agatha, is not well-loved in the area and his tattoo looks very similar to that on the "pig's" haunch. His incredibly beautiful ex-wife Amy hires Agatha to investigate her former husband's disappearance.
I think that Beaton has a wonderful cast of characters with Agatha, Roy, Charles Fraith, the Bloxbys, and the many and sundry other people who live in the area surrrounding the village of Carsley, where Agatha has settled since taking early retirement. I wish, however, that Beaton would slow down and fill in a few more details. I have to admit that her writing style in this particular series, which is very different from the laid-back practicality of her Hamish MacBeth series, does match Agatha's personality, which is an acquired taste. Agatha's jealousy and tendency to leap to negative conclusions and run roughshod over people and events that hold neither interest nor advantage for her is offset by her loyalty and lovesickness, but I would enjoy a more developed sense of the relationships between the various characters in the series. Obviously, I would also prefer a different plot than the one she offers in this novel. If you read the whole thing please feel free to comment and let me know how you liked it!
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