A Spoonful of Poison (Agatha Raisin Series #19) » (Bargain)

M. C. Beaton has been hailed as “the new Queen of Crime” (The Globe and Mail). Born in Scotland, she currently divides her time between Paris and a village in the English Cotswolds, where she writes mysteries featuring Agatha Raisin and Hamish Macbeth, as well as an Edwardian detective series published under the name Marion Chesney. A Spoonful of Poison, along with her other novels Death of a Dreamer and Love, Lies and Liquor, were all New York Times bestsellers, and she was chosen as the British Guest of Honor for Bouchercon 2006.

THIS TIME, SHE’S GOT HERSELF IN A JAM

Agatha Raisin’s detective agency has become so successful that now all she wants is some R&R. But as soon as she cuts back her hours, Agatha remembers that when she has too much quality time, she doesn’t know what to do with it. So it doesn’t take much for the vicar of a nearby village to persuade her to help publicize the church fête—especially when the fair’s organizer, George Selby, happens to be a gorgeous widower. Problem is: Several of the offerings in the jam-tasting booth turn out to be poisoned…and the festive family event soon becomes a murder scene. Now Agatha must uncover the truth behind the jam tampering and expose the nasty secrets lurking in the seemingly innocent village—all while falling for handsome George, who may just have some secrets of his own.

Publishers Weekly

When elderly Mrs. Andrews blithely jumps to her death off the tower of Saint Odo the Severe during a church charity event in the Cotswolds village of Comfrey Magna, LSD-laced jam proves to be the cause in bestseller Beaton's saucy 19th Agatha Raisin mystery (after 2007's Kissing Christmas Goodbye). Agatha joins the local authorities in the investigation, which focuses on the six women who contributed jam to the church fete, including wealthy Sybilla Triast-Perkins. Agatha and Toni Gilmour, her young detective-in-training, soon find unmasking the lethal jam poisoner complicated by Sybilla's sudden suicide and a murder connected to the theft of the fete's proceeds. Beaton's sly humor enhances the cozy-style plotting, while updates on Agatha's and Toni's respective romantic travails are delightful as ever. The open-ended resolution points to more madcap mayhem to come. (Oct.)

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