Book Review: Agatha Raisin and the Fairies of Fryfam by M. C. Beaton (2000)
Synopsis: Depressed and still pining for James Lacey, Agatha Raisin randomly chooses the small village of Fryfam and rents a cottage to get away. She quickly begins to regret the decision, especially when she sees mysterious lights in her garden at night and items inside her rented home go missing. It isn't long, however, before she and her friend/sometimes lover Sir Charles Fraith wind up investigating another murder. This time, Agatha is one of the suspects.
Review: As is the case most years, I am using my remaining vacation time to take the last two weeks of the year off from my day job. I knew I would need some books to read and picked out Agatha Raisin and the Fairies of Fryfam at my local library.
While I am admittedly beginning to warm up to Agatha Raisin a bit, this book wasn't one of my favorites.
My biggest problem with the book, and many other books in the series, is Agatha's obsession with James. It's just something that seems forced, especially since she's a character who is usually independent and stubborn. On top of it, in the case of this book, there seemed to be nearly as much dedicated to that destined-to-be-doomed relationship than the mystery itself.
In comparison, the Agatha/Charles pairing is much more intriguing. They also wouldn't work as a couple, but he seems to at least care for her. If you're going to spend time on an on again/off again romance, that should be the one that gets the focus.
As for that mystery, it was intriguing but also not something I thought was overly imaginative. It wasn't overly difficult to figure out who was responsible for killing Tolly Trumpington-James, and it was almost a bit insulting nobody, including Agatha, once considered that person might have an accomplice when she was ruled out with an iron-clad alibi.
In fact, while Agatha technically solved the case, it was less about detective work and much more about the killer(s) seemingly wanting to be caught for no apparent reason. What kind of killer voluntarily confesses to a crime when they aren't an official suspect and there's no evidence that proves they are a murderer?
Even the mystery surrounding the "fairies" wasn't anywhere near as interesting as it should/could have been. It's brought to a firm conclusion (again, with no help from Agatha) and ultimately has almost nothing to do with the main mystery. Even the last-second attempt to create doubt about the fairies being just a hoax didn't save that.
Final Opinion: I haven't given up on Agatha Raisin yet, especially with the surprise wedding at the end of this book. However, this mystery is one that didn't make that decision to continue reading any easier.
My Grade: C
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Here are some reviews of other books by M. C. Beaton:
Book Review: The Skeleton in the Closet by M. C. Beaton (2001)
Book Review: Death of a Traveling Man by M. C. Beaton (1993)
Book Review: Agatha Raisin and the Wellspring of Death by M. C. Beaton (1998)
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