Audiobook Review: Agatha Raisin and the Witch of Wyckhadden by M.C. Beaton

TITLE: Agatha Raisin and the Witch of Wyckhadden 

SERIES: Agatha Raisin, Book #9
AUTHOR: M.C. Beaton 

NARRATOR: Penelope Keith
PUBLISHER: AudioGO Ltd.
PUBLICATION DATE: July 2012

FORMAT: Unabridged audiobook, 6 hrs and 2 mins
GENRE: Mystery
ISBN: 9781482982848

There is nothing more depressing for a middle-aged lovelorn woman with bald patches on her head than to find herself in an English seaside resort out of season. Agatha Raisin, her hair falling out after a run-in with a hairdresser-cum-murderess from a previous investigation, travels to an old-fashioned hotel in order to repair the damage away from the neighbors in her all-too-cozy Cotswolds village. Unhappy about the slow results and prompted by the elderly residents of the resort, she consults the local witch for help. Agatha purchases a hair tonic (and a love potion, just in case!) and is soon sprouting hairs and capturing the fancy of the village police inspector. But the quiet town is stunned by the murder of the witch. Which one of the graying guests is capable of such a brutal crime? The brassy yet endearing Agatha won't stop until she finds the culprit — and, of course, a little love, too.

MY REVIEW: 

Poor Aggie! The vain woman decides to escape the Cotswolds to give her hair time to grow in, after having it ruined by a depilatory cream in the last mystery. Intrigued with the hotel gossip of a local woman or “witch” who sells potions and tonics, she pays her a visit to see whether she can whip up something to help her hair come along. In addition to the hair tonic, the unlucky-in-love Agatha also buys a love potion. When the witch is murdered, Agatha finds herself embroiled in yet another mystery. A local Wyckhadden police officer, Jimmy Jessop, becomes smitten with Agatha. Is that because of the love potion?

I miss the Carsley residents, like Bill Wong and Mrs. Bloxby, when Beaton takes us out of the Cotswolds. I really didn’t care very much for the old-timers at the hotel. The best part of the book, for me, was when Charles came to see Agatha. Overall, I didn’t enjoy this book as much as I have enjoyed others in the series but it was still a fun story.

It is the narrator that really makes the book and, in this case, Penelope Keith's perfect characterizations kept me enthralled throughout the story. I love her!!

MY RATING:

3 stars!! It was good, and I enjoyed it!

This book qualifies as:
#3 for my 2016 You Read How Many Books? Challenge
#3 for my 2016 Outdo Yourself Reading Challenge
#3 for my 2016 Women Challenge
#3 for my 2016 Prequel & Sequel Challenge
#3 for my Backlist Books Reading Challenge
#3 for my 2016 Audiobook Challenge
#3 for my 2016 I Love Libraries Reading Challenge
#2B for my The Reporter's Challenge 2016
#3 for my 2016 Full House Reading Challenge
#3 for my 2016 Lady Detectives Reading Challenge
#3 for my Cruisin' thru the Cozies Reading Challenge 2016
#3 for my Craving for Cozies Challenge 2016 

#9 for my M.C. Beaton Cozy Mystery Challenge

View all my reviews

Top Ten Books With Paranormal Settings

This is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. Each week, they post a new Top Ten list that one of their bloggers will answer. Everyone is welcome to join!

Today's list is Top Ten Books With X Setting. The setting that I am choosing is paranormal.

   

1. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by J.K. Rowling: Who wouldn't want to live at Hogwarts? The changing staircase is too cool, and I love all the secret passages and all the magical elements of the story.

2.The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe: I loved this book! When I was a kid, I would pretend that my closet led to Narnia just like the wardrobe did in the story. It would be so cool to be with animals that could talk and to see magical creatures like Mr. Tumnus, the faun.

3. Lover Eternal by J.R. Ward: It was this second book in the Black Dagger Brotherhood series that made me fall in love with those brothers. I'd love to live at the mansion with all those hot alpha males!!

  4. Cry Wolf by Patricia Briggs (Alpha and Omega Series): I love this urban fantasy series with werewolves and their strong females.

5. Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer (Twilight Series): It was the third book in the Twilight series, Eclipse, that was my favourite. I loved the Edward/Bella/Jacob triangle, and this was the book that made me root for Team Jacob! I love vamps and werewolves.

6.  Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor: An excerpt from my review: "I was completed transfixed by this world with magical portals and other-worldly creatures...Taylor has created a world that is so rich in detail that I felt as though I was part of the story." 

7. Shadow's Claim by Kresley Cole (The Dacians Series): This is the spin-off series of Cole's Immortals After Dark Series, which I still haven't read! Demons, sorceri, vamps, lykae, trolls - you name it, it's in there! Of course, there are also the hot alpha males!

8. Moon Called by Patricia Briggs (Mercedes Thompson Series): Another urban fantasy series featuring a kick-ass female with werewolves.

9. Written in Red by Anne Bishop (The Others Series): If you like urban fantasy, you are going to love this series! An excerpt from my review: "I was truly enchanted with Bishop’s world-building. She has woven together an amazing array of unearthly beings."

10. The Last Bastion of the Living by Rhiannon Frater: If you love zombies and kick-ass females, you simply must read this futuristic zombie series! 

So, what are your favourite books with paranormal settings? Please let me know in the comments, or leave me a link to your blog post if you are also participating in the meme!

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

This weekly meme is hosted by Kathryn at Book Date.

I'm reading:

TITLE: Scars

AUTHOR: Cheryl Rainfield

PUBLISHER: WestSide Books

PUBLICATION DATE: May 25, 2011

FORMAT: Paperback, 233 pages

GENRE: Young Adult, Realistic Fiction

ISBN: 9781934813577

Kendra, fifteen, hasn't felt safe since she began to recall devastating memories of childhood sexual abuse, especially because she still can't remember the most important detail-- her abuser's identity. Frightened, Kendra believes someone is always watching and following her, leaving menacing messages only she understands. If she lets her guard down even for a minute, it could cost Kendra her life. To relieve the pressure, Kendra cuts; aside from her brilliantly expressive artwork, it's her only way of coping. Since her own mother is too self-absorbed to hear her cries for help, Kendra finds support in others instead: from her therapist and her art teacher, from Sandy, the close family friend who encourages her artwork, and from Meghan, the classmate who's becoming a friend and maybe more. But the truth about Kendra's abuse is just waiting to explode, with startling unforeseen consequences. Scars is the unforgettable story of one girl's frightening path to the truth.

I'm still listening to:

TITLE: Shades of Earth

SERIES: Across the Universe, Book 3
AUTHOR: Beth Revis 

NARRATOR: Tara Carrozza
PUBLISHER: Penguin Audio

PUBLICATION DATE: January 15, 2013

AUDIO: 11 hrs, 8 mins

GENRE: Young Adult, Science Fiction/Dystopia

ISBN: 9781467651011

The final book in the trilogy by New York Times best-selling author Beth Revis!

Amy and Elder have finally left the oppressive walls of the spaceship Godspeed behind. They're ready to start life afresh - to build a home - on Centauri-Earth, the planet that Amy has traveled 25 trillion miles across the universe to experience. But this new Earth isn't the paradise that Amy had been hoping for. Amy and Elder must race to uncover who - or what - else is out there if they are to have any hope of saving their struggling colony and building a future together. But as each new discovery brings more danger, Amy and Elder will have to look inward to the very fabric of what makes them human on this, their most harrowing journey yet. Because if the colony collapses? Then everything they have sacrificed - friends, family, life on Earth - will have been meaningless.

What are you reading? Did you read either of these books and, if so, what did you think? Please let me know in the comments and, if you are also participating in this meme, leave me a link to your blog post so that I can stop by!

Audiobook Review: Agatha Raisin and the Wizard of Evesham by M.C. Beaton

TITLE: Agatha Raisin and the Wizard of Evesham 

SERIES: Agatha Raisin, Book #8
AUTHOR: M.C. Beaton 

NARRATOR: Penelope Keith
PUBLISHER: AudioGO Ltd.
PUBLICATION DATE: December 1, 2012

FORMAT: Unabridged audiobook, 5 hrs and 37 mins
GENRE: Mystery
ISBN: 9781482983784

He was a hairdresser to dye for....

The local ladies all deem Mr. John a wizard, so when Agatha Raisin finds a few grey hairs on her head - and the rinse she tries at home turns her hair purple - she makes a beeline for the handsome Evesham hairdresser. And as well as sorting out her hair it soon becomes clear the charming man also has designs on her heart - but their budding romance is cut short when Mr. John is fatally poisoned in his salon. Once again Agatha finds herself embroiled in a murder case. Was it one of Mr. John’s many lady clients, all of whom divulged to him their darkest secrets? It's time for Agatha to get to the root of this hair-raising mystery!

MY REVIEW: 

I really enjoyed the eighth installment of the Agatha Raisin series! Agatha tries to fix her gray hairs herself with a home-dye job but ends up making a bigger disaster when her hair turns purple! Mr. John is highly recommended, and he fawns all over Agatha and she just eats it up. It is too bad that their potential relationship is curtailed by his murder!               

I enjoyed this book so much more than the last one in the series, Agatha Raisin and the Wellspring of Death. I like Agatha better when she is with Charles and when James is absent, so perhaps that is the reason why I really liked this story.

The books in this series are always a fun read for me, and Penelope Keith is the perfect narrator. I find myself listening with an amused smile on my face as I listen to Agatha’s antics.

MY RATING:

4 stars!! It was really good, and you should put it on your TBR list!

This book qualifies as:
#2 for my 2016 You Read How Many Books? Challenge
#2 for my 2016 Outdo Yourself Reading Challenge
#2 for my 2016 Women Challenge
#2 for my 2016 Prequel & Sequel Challenge
#2 for my Backlist Books Reading Challenge
#2 for my 2016 Audiobook Challenge
#2 for my 2016 I Love Libraries Reading Challenge
#1 for my What's In A Name 2016 Challenge
#2A for my The Reporter's Challenge 2016
#2 for my 2016 Full House Reading Challenge
#1 for my What An Animal IX Reading Challenge 2016
#2 for my 2016 Alphabet Soup Reading Challenge
#2 for my 2016 A-Z Mystery Author Challenge
#2 for my 2016 Lady Detectives Reading Challenge
#2 for my Cruisin' thru the Cozies Reading Challenge 2016
#2 for my Craving for Cozies Challenge 2016 

#8 for my M.C. Beaton Cozy Mystery Challenge

View all my reviews

Audiobook Review: Agatha Raisin and the Wellspring of Death by M.C. Beaton

TITLE: Agatha Raisin and the Wellspring of Death 

SERIES: Agatha Raisin, Book #7
AUTHOR: M.C. Beaton 

NARRATOR: Penelope Keith
PUBLISHER: AudioGO Ltd.
PUBLICATION DATE: December 1, 2012

FORMAT: Unabridged audiobook, 5 hrs and 45 mins
GENRE: Mystery
ISBN: 9781482983777

Agatha Raisin's neighboring village of Ancombe is usually the epitome of quiet rural charm, but the arrival of a new mineral-water company - which intends to tap into the village spring - sends tempers flaring and divides the parish council into two stubborn camps. When Agatha, who happens to be the PR person for the water company, finds the council chairman murdered at the spring, tongues start wagging. Could one of the council members have silenced the chairman before he could cast the deciding vote? It is up to Agatha, still nursing a bruised heart from her broken engagement, to investigate the councilors, solve the crime - and promote the water company in the face of all this scandal.

MY REVIEW: 

The seventh book in the Agatha Raisin series brings us back to the Cotswolds. In the last book, I missed the villagers of Carsely because the book took place predominantly in Cypress. I was happy to be reunited with the familiar characters of Bill Wong, Mrs. Bloxby, and Roy Silver.

Agatha comes out of retirement to do some PR work for a water company, whose spring is in the village of nearby Ancombe. Not all the residents feel that bottling water from the local spring is a good idea and, when one of the council members is murdered, Agatha has her hands full with not only trying to save the company from negative publicity but also to save the day by trying to solve the murder! Agatha’s ego gets a little boost with the attention of a much younger lover.

For me, it seemed that there was a lot going on in this mystery. Perhaps, it was all the new characters from Ancombe. I didn’t love it like some of the past books in the series, although I was very pleased that it was back in the familiar surroundings of the Cotswolds but the mystery itself fell a little bit flat for me. I found myself very annoyed with James Lacey!

Penelope Keith, the narrator, is always a delight! I love what she brings to Agatha’s character: Her spunk and her attitude!

MY RATING:

3 stars!! It was good, and I enjoyed it!

This book qualifies as:
#1 for my 2016 You Read How Many Books? Challenge
#1 for my 2016 Outdo Yourself Reading Challenge
#1 for my 2016 European Reading Challenge
#1 for my 2016 Women Challenge
#1 for my 2016 Prequel & Sequel Challenge
#1 for my Backlist Books Reading Challenge
#1 for my 2016 Audiobook Challenge
#1 for my 2016 I Love Libraries Reading Challenge
#1A for my The Reporter's Challenge 2016
#1 for my 2016 Full House Reading Challenge
#1 for my 2016 Alphabet Soup Reading Challenge
#1 for my 2016 A-Z Mystery Author Challenge
#1 for my 2016 Lady Detectives Reading Challenge
#1 for my Cruisin' thru the Cozies Reading Challenge 2016
#1 for my Craving for Cozies Challenge 2016 

#7 for my M.C. Beaton Cozy Mystery Challenge

View all my reviews

Top Ten Books I Can't Believe I've Never Read

This is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. Each week, they post a new Top Ten list that one of their bloggers will answer. Everyone is welcome to join!

Today's list is a Top Ten Tuesday REWIND, where we get to go back and pick a topic that we missed over the years. I have chosen:

Top Ten Books I Can't Believe I've Never Read 
(originally featured on August 24, 2010)

   

1. The entire Harry Potter series: I read the first three books aloud to my children, and we had been reading Goblet of Fire but we got busy and then weren't reading it consistently and now it has fallen by the wayside! We need to start from the beginning.

2.The Complete Chronicles of Narnia: I have this box set from when I was a child. The box set is over 30 years old, and I have never read the entire series! I did start to read the series aloud to my children but, again, we picked up other books in the meantime and never got back to this series. This has been on my TBR pile for 30+ years, LOL!

3. The entire Lord of the Rings series: I read The Hobbit way back in grade school and loved it, but I have never read The Lord of the Rings series. I need to re-read The Hobbit and, again, I had started that as a read-aloud to my kids but we never finished it!

  

4. The Fifty Shades series: I actually won the first three e-books in the series in a giveaway way back when Ms. James was self-published and before she got signed. I very rarely read e-books, so I think that's why I haven't gotten around to them yet.

5. Wuthering Heights: I remember reading Jane Eyre in high school, but not this one!

6.  The Complete Little House on the Prairie series: I remember reading a couple of the books as a young girl, but I never did read the whole series. I actually did buy the box set for my kids, but we haven't read it! I even have the box set for The Rose Years series. I will have to go on a Laura Ingalls Wilder binge.

7. The Lovely Bones: I added this book to my "Want to Read" Goodreads shelf in 2011, and I still haven't read it!

8. The Complete Anne of Green Gables series: I am a Canadian, and I haven't read this series. Utterly shameful!!

9. Anything by Agatha Christie: This is the first book in the Hercule Poirot series. I love mysteries, and I have always wanted to read this series.

10. The Handmaid's Tale: Here's another classic by a Canadian author, which I have yet to read!

So, what books are on your "I Can't Believe I Never Read It" list? Please let me know in the comments, or leave me a link to your blog post if you are also participating in the meme!

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

This weekly meme is hosted by Kathryn at Book Date.

I'm listening to:

TITLE: Shades of Earth

SERIES: Across the Universe, Book 3
AUTHOR: Beth Revis 

NARRATOR: Tara Carrozza
PUBLISHER: Penguin Audio

PUBLICATION DATE: January 15, 2013

AUDIO: 11 hrs, 8 mins

GENRE: Young Adult, Science Fiction/Dystopia

ISBN: 9781467651011

The final book in the trilogy by New York Times best-selling author Beth Revis!

Amy and Elder have finally left the oppressive walls of the spaceship Godspeed behind. They're ready to start life afresh - to build a home - on Centauri-Earth, the planet that Amy has traveled 25 trillion miles across the universe to experience. But this new Earth isn't the paradise that Amy had been hoping for. Amy and Elder must race to uncover who - or what - else is out there if they are to have any hope of saving their struggling colony and building a future together. But as each new discovery brings more danger, Amy and Elder will have to look inward to the very fabric of what makes them human on this, their most harrowing journey yet. Because if the colony collapses? Then everything they have sacrificed - friends, family, life on Earth - will have been meaningless.

I have been putting off finishing this series for a long time! I loved the last installment, A Million Suns, and I am eager to see how it ends. 

What are you reading? Did you read this book and, if so, what did you think? Please let me know in the comments and, if you are also participating in this meme, leave me a link to your blog post so that I can stop by!

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

This weekly meme is hosted by Kathryn at Book Date.

I'm listening to:

TITLE: Gone Girl

AUTHOR: Gillian Flynn 

NARRATOR: Julia Whelan and Kirby Heyborne
PUBLISHER: Books On Tape

PUBLICATION DATE: June 5, 2012

AUDIO: 19 hrs, 11 mins

GENRE: Mysteries & Thrillers, Suspense

ISBN: 9780307990426

On a warm summer morning in North Carthage, Missouri, it is Nick and Amy Dunne's fifth wedding anniversary. Presents are being wrapped and reservations are being made when Nick's clever and beautiful wife disappears from their rented McMansion on the Mississippi River. Husband-of-the-Year Nick isn't doing himself any favors with cringe-worthy daydreams about the slope and shape of his wife's head, but passages from Amy's diary reveal the alpha-girl perfectionist could have put anyone dangerously on edge. Under mounting pressure from the police and the media--as well as Amy's fiercely doting parents--the town golden boy parades an endless series of lies, deceits, and inappropriate behavior. Nick is oddly evasive, and he's definitely bitter--but is he really a killer?

As the cops close in, every couple in town is soon wondering how well they know the one that they love. With his twin sister, Margo, at his side, Nick stands by his innocence. Trouble is, if Nick didn't do it, where is that beautiful wife? And what was in that silvery gift box hidden in the back of her bedroom closet?

I'm planning to watch the movie once I am finished the book!

What about you? Please let me know in the comments and, if you are also participating in this meme, leave me a link to your blog post so that I can stop by!

M.C. Beaton Cozy Mystery Challenge: Review Link-up

Hi, everyone!

This is the Review Link-up for the M.C. Beaton Cozy Mystery Challenge.

I will put a link to this Review Link-up on the Challenge Page.

If you are looking for the Challenge Sign-up post, click HERE.

Please enter your link in this format: 

Book Title (Your Name or Blog Name)

For example: Agatha Raisin and the Quiche of Death (Darlene's Book Nook)