Читать онлайн «Agatha Raisin and the Perfect Paragon»

Agatha Raisin and the Perfect Paragon

Beaton, M. C.

Minotaur Books (2010)

Tags: General Fiction

General Fictionttt

After being nearly killed by both a hired hit man and her former secretary, Agatha Raisin could use some low-key cases. So when Robert Smedley walks through the door, determined to prove that his wife is cheating, Raisin Investigations immediately offers to help. Trouble is, Agatha hates divorce cases—especially when the client is as pompous as Smedley—but she has a business to run and she’s not about to turn away a paying customer. Unfortunately for Agatha, Mabel Smedley appears to be the perfect wife, young and pretty and a regular volunteer at church.

Although Smedley’s case doesn’t look promising, Agatha’s attentions are diverted when she stumbles across the body of missing teenager, Jessica Bradley. In a sudden gesture of kindness (and good public relations), Agatha offers to investigate Jessica’s death free of charge.

As Agatha juggles her two biggest cases, things are turned upside down when Robert Smedley is found poisoned in his office. The prime suspect, his sainted wife Mabel, immediately hires Agatha to find the real killer.

With the help of her old friend, Sir Charles Fraith, and some newly hired staff, Agatha Raisin sets off on another adventure solving crime in the English Cotswolds.

CRITICS HAIL AGATHA RAISIN AND M. C BEATON!

“Tourists are advised to watch their backs in the bucolic villages where M. C. Beaton sets her sly British mysteries … Outsiders always spell trouble for the societies Beaton observes with such cynical humor.

—The New York Times Book Review

“[Beaton’s] imperfect heroine is an absolute gem!”

—Publishers Weekly

“Beaton’s Agatha Raisin series just about defines the British cozy”

—Booklist

“Anyone interested in … intelligent, amusing reading will want to make the acquaintance of Mrs. Agatha Raisin. ”

—Atlanta Journal-Constitution

“Beaton has a winner in the irrepressible, romance-hungry Agatha. ”

—Chicago Sun-Times

“Few things in life are more satisfying than to discover a brand new Agatha Raisin mystery. ”

—Tampa Tribune Times

“The Raisin series brings the cozy tradition back to life. God bless the Queen!”

—Tulsa World

“The Miss Marple-like Raisin is a refreshingly sensible, wonderfully eccentric, thoroughly likable heroine … a must for cozy fans. ”

—Booklist

THE PERFECT PARAGON

“Though Agatha is still a bit of a piece of work, she is mellowing with age, and in this book even forgets to ‘gussy’ herself up once when she goes out. There’s a cliffhanger at the end … that is going to be interesting in the next book. ”

—Deadly Pleasures

“This is the latest perfectly precious prose problem from Beaton, Britain’s successor to Dame Agatha Christie. If you’ve never read an Agatha Raisin novel, it’s time to start, and you’ll have fifteen more of these confections awaiting you. Polish those off, and you still have a batch of Hamish Macbeth tales. All of them are cunningly plotted, beautifully written and more fun you can imagine. The Perfect Paragon is as perfect as all the others, and you won’t figure out whodunit until the final pages. ”