THERE GOES THE BRIDE: An Agatha Raisin Mystery
M. C. Beaton
Minotaur Books
Mystery
ISBN: 9780312387006
Detective Agatha Raisin is fit to be tied. Her ex-husband, James Lacey, is getting married to Felicity Bross-Tilkington, a rich, young, beautiful blonde. While Agatha is over him (or so she tells herself), she is none too eager to attend the wedding. But staying away will make it look like she's still pining for James, so attend she will.
Happily, though, Agatha has several friends and colleagues to accompany her and provide much-needed support, so she sets out from her cozy village in the English Cotswolds and heads to Sussex. The pre-wedding party is a fiasco, but the wedding is murder --- literally. Felicity is found dead before she can make it down the aisle, setting off a police investigation that places Agatha and James as prime suspects.
Fate is on their side, though, and both Agatha and James are able to prove their whereabouts at the time of the murder. As to be expected, Agatha is hired (by the bride’s mother) to investigate Felicity’s untimely demise. But the bride's father is none too keen to have her poking her nose into the affair --- and neither are the local police. Still, Agatha is not one to let that stop her; she and her team of detectives are soon on the case.
As they begin to dig into dirty details of the bride's life, they find that she wasn't quite the innocent young thing she pretended to be. While she refused her husband-to-be sex before marriage, she apparently didn’t have such qualms with other men. As it turns out, Felicity Bross-Tilkington was quite the little vixen when she wanted to be. The word “insatiable” springs to mind.
With this new information coming to light, it doesn't take long for the list of suspects to grow: a mysterious Frenchman, a surly security guard, a gang of young stalkers, and two men to whom she was previously engaged. Are one of these men the guilty party? And another question: why do the Bross-Tilkingtons have so much security? What are they afraid of? Theft? Enemies? Intruders? Agatha manages to get herself into one scrape after another as she crashes around like a bull in a china shop trying to solve the murder and answer these questions --- and avoid becoming the next victim.
One of the best parts of this novel is Beaton’s rich cast of characters: there’s Toni, her blonde, attractive junior detective; Sir Charles, who pops in and out of her life at his convenience but who always seems to help Agatha when she needs it most; James, her ex, who treats her more like a buddy than a former wife; Roy, her former business associate who escapes London to seek Agatha’s help with his professional problems; Bill Wong, the policeman who both admires and chastises Agatha as needed; and dependable and caring Mrs. Bloxby, the vicar’s wife. The relationships are strong and intricate, and they add a lot of fun to each successive novel.
As a longtime fan of M. C. Beaton --- and Agatha Raisin in particular --- I have to say that THERE GOES THE BRIDE really is one of the most fun novels in the series. As always, there are the expected twists, turns and close calls as Agatha plunges ever forward to solve the crime. In addition, Beaton includes priceless moments regarding Agatha’s personal life --- laugh-out-loud moments that only a character like Agatha can engender. Pick this one up now! You won’t be disappointed.
--- Reviewed by Amie Taylor
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