More from M.C. Beaton

     My thumb really hurts today.  I've been plowing through a book and both thumbs are sore.  How cool is that?  It's not, I just need to invent a thumb thimble or something to cover the tip with so my thumbs don't get raw. 

     M.C. Beaton, author of Death of a "insert Noun",  I discovered has a new series.  Well, it's new to me as I hadn't read them or heard of them yet.  Having slurped up every last Hamish MacBeth story, I mourned at Borders in front of the Mystery/Thriller B. section.  Until...I found that M.C. Beaton has another series written in a very similar style.  The Agatha Raisin novels are every bit as delightful at the Hamish MacBeth ones.  I am in love with them!  

     This series stars middle aged Agatha Raisin who sold her successful P.R. company in London and took early retirement in a small village  a little North.  She is abrasive and rude and somehow forgivably so.  (I just made up that word.  I hope you like it.)  Agatha is surrounded by an enterouge of terribly funny characters including an Asian Policeman, a possibly gay ex-employee, her sometimes drop-in sexual excursion-the younger, Sir Charles Fraith, and the ever lady-like Vicar's wife, Mrs. Bloxby.  I might add that Mrs. Bloxby is a surprising treat as on occasion, she does things completely out of character that make you laugh out-loud.

     Some of the Characters grow and others remain their idiotic selves,such as Agatha's love interest and eternal crush, James Lacey,  but that is all part of the fun in reading one of these amusing tales.  One begins to expect people to show up and/or disappear and yet, the suspense of the mystery itself never fades.  They are page turners, every one and I dare you to try to fall asleep while reading one. In addition to the trials and tribulations of murder and mayhem, Agatha is in the midst of middle age and not confronting it.  

If you have not discovered these little gems, run, don't walk,  to  your nearest bookseller and pick one up.  It's a lifetime of entertainment for those of you who enjoy mysteries and light reading.