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

In the Wellspring of Death, Agatha and James investigate separately, only coming together now and again for the usual misunderstandings and lack of communication regarding their relationship. I don't mind the on-and-off nature of their "love",it makes the stories interesting. Agatha may be insecure, but she's sure enough of herself to love a man who at least is intelligent, mature, handsome, etc. She could do a lot worse than James Lacey, though I prefer Sir Charles, myself.

Agatha Raisin is not promiscuous. In fact, she suffers marked guilt each time she has sex with any man besides her "true" love, James Lacey. But come on, give the woman a break! She's come a long way from her crappy beginnings. Doesn't she deserve a little fun? Agatha is a bright, go-getter with a soft heart beneath the rough exterior, and I cherish the character for both her realism, and her strength of spirit.

In the Wellspring of Death, Agatha and James investigate separately, only coming together now and again for the usual misunderstandings and lack of communication regarding their relationship. I don't mind the on-and-off nature of their "love",it makes the stories interesting. Agatha may be insecure, but she's sure enough of herself to love a man who at least is intelligent, mature, handsome, etc. She could do a lot worse than James Lacey, though I prefer Sir Charles, myself.

Agatha Raisin is not promiscuous. In fact, she suffers marked guilt each time she has sex with any man besides her "true" love, James Lacey. But come on, give the woman a break! She's come a long way from her crappy beginnings. Doesn't she deserve a little fun? Agatha is a bright, go-getter with a soft heart beneath the rough exterior, and I cherish the character for both her realism, and her strength of spirit.

The village of Ancombe is in an uproar. A mineral water company has requested the right to bottle part of its spring every day. Part of the town thinks this is just what their economy needs, but the other part doesn't want the increase of people this would bring. Agatha Raisin agrees to come out of retirement to handle the public relations for the company. But then a body is found. What side of the issue was the victim on? Will this help or hurt Agatha's new job? And can she find the killer before the launch of the label is ruined?
This book was my introduction to Agatha and her friends. While she is a gruff woman with some vices I don't like, I found myself liking the character. The sub-plots in her personal life seemed a bit immature, but I found them funny and the insecurity they brought out made me like the character. My only real complaint was the plot. While it did eventually pick up speed, much of the first half seemed slow to me, with not much advancement in the story. But once things got moving, I was hooked and completely surprised by the ending.
This won't be my last case with Ms. Raisin. I look forward to catching up on the back-story of this lovable crank and seeing where she goes from here.

In this 7th book in the Agatha Raisin series, Agatha is asked to come out of retirement to help a local firm promote its spring water, bottled from a historic village spring. The parish council members are divided on whether to agree to the deal, and one of the members soon turns up dead...in the spring! Agatha must put a spin on this P.R. disaster, and in the process once again steps in to blunder her way to solving the case.
The Agatha Raisin series is one of my favorite cozy mystery series on the market, and I have enjoyed the character development of Agatha throughout the series. I like that Agatha was able to use some of her P.R. skills in this book, and the fact that the premise to the case was fresh and interesting. After reading several books in the series I began to wonder how Ms. Beaton would develop new cases for Agatha since it would be odd to have a village where everyone went around killing one another. (Who would want to live there?) However, I think that each case Agatha stumbles across (she always happens to be in the wrong place at the wrong time!) is entertaining and somewhat believable. Agatha is a rich character that is not at all what she seems on the outside, and I believe that it takes several books to get to know the true goodness of this character. If you enjoy cozy mysteries, you will find that this series is a humorous delight.
The first book in the series is "Agatha Raisin and the Quiche of Death". Enjoy!

This is a good Agatha Raisin story. I found myself enjoying it immensely. Of course it helped that James Lacey was not in it as much as he is in some of the other stories. I don't like him and I wish Agatha would forget him and get on with her own life. Agatha's a mix of city sophisitication and small town vulnerability and that is what makes her so appealing.
In this book Agatha is working freelance on public relations for a new spring water company in a neighbouring village. The commercialization of the spring has opened up a Pandora's box of bad feelings in the village and results in two murders (in true Agatha fashion). In this one though we see a mosltly solo Agatha working on solving the mystery. At the very end she is joined by her village friends to unmask the killer.

This is a good addition to the Agatha Raisin series. The most interesting thing here, without giving much away, is that this novel has a surprisingly active ending, and Mrs. Bloxby, a truly enjoyable and human character throughout all of this series, grows and reveals a great deal of courage and willingness to put herself in danger.

The mystery itself was fine, but Agatha really grated on my nerves. I understand she's self conscious sometimes, but she overcompensates by lashing out and being rude to people who didn't even provoke her. And what in the world does she see in James Lacey? (and vice versa, what does he see in her?) They are suspicious of each other, insult each other, yet it's supposed to be a love story. I didn't get it.

I prefer M.C. Beaton's Hamish MacBeth series instead.

I usually give Agatha Raisin mysteries 5 stars but I didn't like this one quite as well. It didn't hold my interest so that I could hardly put it down like the others do. What I enjoy most about these mysteries I guess is Agatha's interaction with her friends. I'm amused but understanding of her willingness to get drunk and fall into bed with almost any handsome man. She waited too long for love and now she is trying like mad to find it. In doing so she makes a lot of mistakes and this is what I like about her. She is so human. I wasn't too surprised at who the guilty party was but thought the story was a bit more dark than usual. But, if you are reading the series, don't leave this one out.

In this seventh book of this contemporary cozy mystery series, the indomitable Agatha Raisin is still trying to meld into village life in the Cotswalds. It is still slow going, as she sometimes just doesn't quite get it that a London outsider such as herself may never be a perfect fit for quiet village life.

In this book, Agatha volunteers to handle the publicity for bottled water from a village spring, a venture that proves to be somewhat controversial, as some of the villagers are totally against this new enterprise, fearing that it could change their peaceful way of life. Tempers run high, and Agnes finds herself with a potential public relations disaster, when a body turns up in those same spring waters.

Agatha is engaging as she tries to discover just who is up to no good. Of course, the on-again, off-again love of her life and neighbor, James Lacey, goes his separate way in his investigatory efforts, as they are off-again, Agatha, as always looking for love in all the wrong places, ends up with a brief romantic fling that she quickly regrets. Moreover, her investigatory efforts land her in a bit of a pickle, and her best friend, Mrs. Bloxy, steps up to home plate and comes to the rescue, when Agatha finds herself caught between a rock and a hard place.

As with all cozy mysteries, the mystery is secondary to the evolvement of the recurring characters and the ordinary discourse of life that binds them. As always, the dialogue is laced with humor and moves the plot along at a brisk pace, and the book is peppered with a host of interesting, quirky characters that entertain the reader. This is a highly addictive series that makes the reader race off to get the next volume.

I enjoyed this one a bit more than the last. The Agatha Raisin books tend to be a hit or miss with me, but the Wellspring of Death kept my interest.

I do recommend that these books be read in order since the true plot, no matter what murder Agatha encounters, is really about the on again / off again relationship between Agatha and James.

Agatha returns to Cotswold after her broken engagement to James, when she is approached to do the Public Relations work for the Ancombe Water Company who is trying to negotiate with the local council regarding bottling water from the village spring. Not everyone is in agreement with this idea and when Robert Struthers, who has not yet cast his vote on this decision, is found dead, snoopy Agatha just can't let a good murder or two go unsolved.

With her usual cast of cohorts, she sets out to find out what is at the bottom of this. It doesn't hurt that a much younger man is interested in Agatha, its just what she needs to get James to pay attention, or so she thinks, since Agatha does have a tendency to misread the intentions of some men.

The Agatha Raisin Series always seems to entertain me. Sometimes the plot lines drag a bit, but Agatha is always a source of entertainment and giggles. For being an independent worldly type, Agatha sure does have a problem with day in and day out relationships, not to mention her never ending bad choices when it comes to James.