Thanks to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press and Minotaur Books for this free advance copy in return for an honest review.
One must wonder if after 30 books Agatha Raisin will become a bit tired and stale. This 31st book co-authored by Beaton and Rod Greene proves that there still is a lot of spunk left in Agatha!
For her fans, Agatha has always combined humor, sarcasm, a frustrating love life, as well as some endearing friends. What makes this book fun for me is that as a devotee of Agatha Raisin, I have followed her antics and mysteries on the AcornTV series and I can truly see Ashley Jensen and the cast having an absolute blast in this book.
As with all of these books, they take place in and around the Cotswolds, and this time the events surround Agatha’s friend and, sometimes love interest, Sir Charles Fraith. Much to Agatha’s horror, Sir Charles has moved on and is ready to marry one Mary Brown-Field. Is it for love or is it money? Something Charles has little of these days. Mary and her family are part of the horse-crowd. Yes, show jumping, dressage and the entire toot-toot wealthy snob set.
Mary and Agatha are not exactly friends, but nonetheless she crashes both the wedding, as well as a Versailles themed masquerade ball. And, in typical Agatha fashion she gets into a bit of a tussle with the now Lady Mary. Thrown out of both events, Agatha gets pulled in when a murder occurs shortly after this confrontation.
She now has to investigate the Charles Fraith Murder case and there are just a host of suspects, as well as many hilarious predicaments that only Agatha could get herself involved with, and which always show the pluck that Agatha uses to extricate herself, as well as to eventually in her unconventional way to solve the case.
Returning in this book are her loyal friends and employees that are as much a part of the series as Agatha herself. Along the way her Investigating firm gets involved with a mysterious pooper, a poltergeist, a cheating husband, and more. Some of these are just pure fun, and some actually are involved with the murder!
Lady Mary has a host of enemies, many of whom are part of that show-jumping world, and many of her enemies have good reason to want her dead. As Agatha sorts out the clues she takes a side trip to Bordeaux, France for an equestrian event and there almost falls head over heels for a wealthy French aristocrat and winemaker.
“Hot to Trot” is another fun entry in the Agatha Raisin series. When you sit down with this book, as with all of the Agatha Raisin books, you are surrounded by the epitome of both a cozy mystery and a welcomed friend. Originally posted at mysteryandsuspence.com
