Audiobook Review: The Tragedy of Marsdon Manor by Agatha Christie

Hercule Poirot is asked to investigate the death of a heavily-insured country squire whose estate is in financial ruin. The man is deemed to have committed suicide, which would negate his insurance policy. Upon investigating Poirot is certain that the case is murder, and goes about trying to prove his theory.

Another Agatha Christie short story. Oh how I enjoy them!! Poirot is his crafty, cocky self in this one as he tries to frame the murderer. In fact he is very dramatic about it all, which suits Poirot's personality to a tea.

I listened on audio, and I would highly recommend it. The high drama in this short story is certainly suited to the audio.

Audiobook Review: Agatha Raisin and the Vicious Vet by M.C. Beaton

Agatha Raisin is back in the village of Carsely, after spending a holiday abroad. She's determined to snag the heart of neighbor, James Lacey. However when James doesn't return her advances, Agatha catches the eye of the new vet, Paul Bladen. However before a romance can truly begin, Paul Bladen, turns up dead. Despite it being ruled as an accident, Agatha is certain that it is murder, and drags James Lacey along to help investigate. Agatha hopes to not only make James fall in love with her, but solve the murder too!

Oh Agatha, how I love thee! You are spunky, speak your mind and are behaving like a boy-crazy middled aged woman! It's impossible not to like Agatha with her zest for life. This time she has romance on the mind as she chases vet, Paul Bladen, and retired Colonel, James Lacey. Of course when it doesn't go her way she stamps her feet and becomes more determined.

This series has such a great colorful cast of characters, and it was great to see many of them returning in the second book. I would have liked to have seen more of the Carsely Ladies Society, but I'm sure they will be popping up in the next book too.

This audiobook flew by in a torrent of enjoyable goings on in the village, as Agatha and James try to solve the murder. Before I knew it the murder was solved and the audio was finished, leaving me wanting to grab the next one.

The first book in this series was narrated by Penelope Keith, and this second one was narrated by Diana Bishop. I really wished they hadn't changed narrators. Where Penelope was great and expressed all the color of the characters of Carsely, Diana fell flat for me. At times I had a hard time distinguishing the voices and it was really the story that pulled me through to the end of the book, with no help from the narrator. If you are a cozy mystery fan, this is a such a great series and I intend to continue on. The next in the series is narrated by Penelope Keith, and I can't wait!

Audiobook Review: Agatha Rarisin and the Potted Gardener by M.C. Beaton

I'm a very fickle reader. I rarely read more than a couple of books in a series before moving onto another series. I switch my series a lot. However, I've now listened to three Agatha Raisin books almost back-to-back. This is a clear indicator that I'm loving this series so much!

In the third book in the series Agatha Raisin has returned from a holiday abroad to find that her neighbour, James Lacey, is dating newcomber, Mary Fortune. Mary seems to be perfect - a great baker, a fantastic gardener and everyone is talking about her. Not only has she stolen James from her (even though James and Agatha have not dated - yet!) and she is now the center of attention from all the villagers in Carsely. However, when Mary turns up dead it would seem that not everyone is Mary's biggest fan. James and Agatha join forces again to try and solve the mystery.

Agatha, Agatha, Agatha! She talks her mind, and has no problem swearing and saying "crap". Her emotions certainly go through through the ringer in this book. She has such strong affections for James and it breaks my heart that he doesn't return her affections. Instead he almost flaunts Mary in her face. Poor Agatha!! Because of his relationship with Mary, I almost despised James in this book. He wants Agatha as a friend, Mary as a lover and yet he seems excited by the fact that he knows that Agatha adores him. It will be interesting to see whether I like James in the next book.

This series is so perfect for me. There is village gossip, murder and the fabulous Agatha and I absolutely can't get enough of her!

I was so thrilled that Penelope Keith was back to narrate in this third book. She is by far the best narrator of this series. Her delivery is flawless and I can't ever imagine anyone else voicing the impetuous Agatha. I absolutely can't wait for the next book in this series.

Audiobook Review: Death of a Snob by M.C. Beaton

It's the holiday season, and Hamish Macbeth is heading to the Happy Wanderer, a scottish health farm. The owner, Jane Weatherby, is worried that someone is plotting to kill her and invites Hamish for the holidays to investigate. At the Happy Wanderer Hamish discovers an eclectic group of Jane's friends, none of which would seem to want Jane dead. However, when one of the guests is killed instead, Hamish wonders if it was a case of mistaken identity or whether the snobby, mean woman, Heather, was the intended victim.

I really enjoy the Hamish Macbeth mysteries. They have a beautiful English-Scottish flair to them, and Hamish, as the bumbling police officer is simply adorable. Death of a Snob had a nice holiday setting, and even though it's March I was getting into quite the holiday spirit listening to this one.

I found it interesting, that in Death of a Snob, Priscilla gets to meet Hamish's parents. In the previous books there has been a on-off flirtation between Priscilla and Hamish. While there is no relationship between them, I liked that Priscilla got to meet Hamish's family while Hamish was away. Hamish comes from a big family, and the complete opposite of Priscilla's fancy yet small family and I think she definitely looks at Hamish a different way after spending time with the Macbeths.

The mystery in this one was good and for those us that like mysteries involving authors then you will definitely enjoy the author angle here.

Shaun Grindell voices Hamish Macbeth and he does a superb job on the accents. I love all the Scottish and English and even an American accent! I plan to listen to the rest of the books in this series as audiobooks because this one was that enjoyable. The audiobook is short at just over 4 hours but I think it would be perfect for a car trip! Definitely a good series to discover on audio.