Darlene's Book Nook: #Audiobook #Review: 3 out of 5 stars for Dishing the Dirt by M.C. Beaton @mc

Wednesday, March 21, 2018

#Audiobook #Review: 3 out of 5 stars for Dishing the Dirt by M.C. Beaton @mc_beaton ‏@BlackstoneAudio ‏

TITLE: Dishing the Dirt

SERIES: Agatha Raisin, Book #26
AUTHOR: M.C. Beaton

NARRATOR: Alison Larkin
PUBLISHER: Blackstone Audio

PUBLICATION DATE: September 15, 2015

FORMAT: Unabridged audiobook
LENGTH: 6 hrs and 58 mins

GENRE: Mystery/Cozy Mystery

ASIN: B014LHVV6O

New York Times best-selling author M. C. Beaton's beloved Agatha Raisin is back and finds that she must prove her own innocence when a local therapist turns up dead. When therapist Jill Davent moved to the village of Carsely, Agatha Raisin was not a fan. Not only was this therapist romancing Agatha's ex-husband, she dug up details of Agatha's not-too-glamorous origins. Jill also counsels a woman, Gwen Simple, that Agatha firmly believes assisted her son in some grisly murders, although there is no proof. Not one to keep her feelings to herself, Agatha tells anyone who will listen that Jill is a charlatan and better off dead. Agatha can only sigh with relief when the therapist takes an office in Mircester.

When Agatha learns that Jill had hired a private detective to investigate her background, she barges into Jill's office and gives her a piece of her mind, yelling, "I could kill you!" So when Jill is found strangled to death in her office two days later, Agatha becomes the prime suspect. But Agatha, along with her team of private detectives, is determined to prove her innocence and find the real culprit. This time Agatha must use her skills to save her own skin. With Dishing the Dirt, M. C. Beaton proves that "once you meet Agatha Raisin, you'll keep coming back" (New York Journal of Books).

MY REVIEW:

The Agatha Raisin series is a bit formulaic, but I still enjoy it.

As usual, Agatha makes a threat against someone and then they wind up dead and she has to find the murderer to clear her name.

Agatha proves, as well, that she is kind-hearted despite her sometimes abrasive personality. First of all, when Agatha finds out that the vicar is not planning to do anything special for his wife's birthday, she prints flyers and goes door to door leaving them in people's mailboxes to remind them of Mrs. Bloxby's birthday. Then the vicar takes all the credit when all the flowers and gifts come pouring in! When her housekeeper is about to lose her house because the bank is threatening to foreclose, Agatha buys the home and tells Doris that she will have her will amended so that Doris can live out her days there without any worries. Agatha even smooths things over with Roy's boss for him, and he doesn't even thank her! I think Agatha gives more then she gets.

I've said it before and I'll say it again: I miss Penelope Keith! When I think of Agatha Raisin, it is Keith who embodies her personality. I have not enjoyed the books in this series as much as I used to, since Larkin has taken over the narration. I'm not saying that Larkin is a bad narrator, because that's not it at all. She just isn't Penelope Keith! Agatha sounds more whiney with Larkin's narration, and she never sounded that way at all with Keith. Also, Larkin's inconsistent pronunciation of Carsley (half the time, she mispronounces it and says CARL-SEE) irritates me. Here is a sample of the narration:

MY RATING: