Dishing the Dirt, by M.C. Beaton, Book Review

Sometimes when an author writes a long series of books with the same protagonist, the energy gradually fizzles out. Not in this case, not even after 25 books! M.C. Beaton is as wickedly funny as ever.  Anyone who has ever lived in an English village will recognise the ensemble of characters, the eligible bachelor who is mean to a fault, the nosey, bitchy older woman who loves to hurt people, the kindly put upon vicar’s wife, the siren who leaves men reeling in her wake… This satire on English village life demonstrates why Agatha Raisin is such a popular character.

Ashamed of her humble beginnings, Agatha works hard at covering up her past and conscious of her age, she works hard to cover that up too. Especially as she is looking for Mr Right. Being on the wrong side of fifty and having Charles, her mean but extremely eligible neighbour, pop up frequently at the wrong time, doesn’t make things easier for her. Alright, so he saves her life, but why does he have to be around when she is flirting with a gorgeous younger man or two? 

Sleuthing comes naturally to Agatha, and if she didn’t already own a detective agency I would suggest she start one up. The problem is when she herself gets accused of murder. How accommodating are the local police going to be when investigating someone who frequently gets under their skin?  And what happens when the murderer starts gunning for Agatha too?

The Agatha Raisin books are currently being turned into a TV series on Sky. ‘Dishing the Dirt’ was published by Constable in paperback on April 7^th 2016, priced £7.99.

Indiana Brown