Agatha Raisin and the Wellspring of Death (Agatha Raisin Mysteries, No. 7) - Softcover

M C Beaton

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1845293193 ISBN 13: 9781845293192

Publisher: Robinson Publishing, 2006

Synopsis

Agatha Raisin's neighbouring 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 just happens to be handling the PR for the water company, finds the council chairman murdered at the basin of the spring, tongues start wagging. Could one of the council members have polished off the chairman before he could cast the deciding vote? Poor Agatha, still nursing a bruised heart from one of her unsuccessful romantic encounters, must get cracking, investigate the councillors and solve the crime.

About this title

Review

Agatha Raisin, the crusty, yet perversely self-conscious Londoner who has resettled in the ostensible calm of a Cotswold village stars in her seventh adventure by M.C. Beaton. In this episode, Agatha has agreed to come out of retirement to manage the publicity for the launch of water bottled from a village spring--much to the chagrin of some of her neighbors. Worried that the commodification of at least part of the village's charm might wreak havoc on their peaceful existence, some of the community try to stop it once and for all. Still, killing off a member of the village council and leaving the corpse in the spring itself seems a little extreme, especially as it makes Agatha's paying job a bit more difficult. Believing that a dead body might destroy the chances for a successful campaign to market her product, Agatha begins an investigation into who might have wanted the victim dead.

Agatha Raisin continues to be an engaging and slightly puzzling heroine in The Wellspring of Death. She careens around the Cotswolds asking impertinent questions regarding the personal lives of her neighbors, all the while wondering why so many of them are unpleasant to her. She manages to muddle her own romantic affairs to such an extent that she finds herself in bed with her young and handsome employer--to the dismay of her former fiancée. Yet, in spite of all this, she engages in the occasional humorous assessment of what life among charming façades and lovely vistas is really like (crowded shopping in too small stores) and has a peculiarly British obsession with class and accent. There is much to appreciate here and little that is daunting or dismal. --K.A. Crouch

From the Publisher

4 1.5-hour cassettes

Edition details

• Publisher: Robinson Publishing
• Publication date: 2006
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1845293193
• ISBN 13: 9781845293192
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 420