Agatha Raisin and the Wellspring of Death: An Agatha Raisin Mystery (Agatha Raisin Mysteries, 7)

The plot of this book focuses on a natural spring in the town of Ancombe. A water company wants to bottle it. Protests ensue. Agatha Raisin is roped into handling the PR for the water company. When a dead body is found by the spring, we know we are in for some amateur sleuthing by Agatha.Agatha’s relationship with her handsome neighbor James Lacy is at a low point. She even begins to lose her taste for detection because the people she interviews are so nasty and insulting.The parish council are not a pleasant group and naturally resent being treated like suspects. I had trouble keeping track of who was who on the council, which interfered some with my enjoyment of the story. But Agatha’s love life is amusing, and her emotional ups and downs are fun. I’m enjoying this series. It’s a bit silly but always entertaining.I think you must read this series in order to engage completely with the characters.

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.

In this Agatha is sad and depressed. She's feeling down in the aftermath of her visit to Cyprus. And takes on a account to get out of her head.A more sober and less happy go lucky version of Agatha in this book

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.

I am really enjoying this series of books. Picked up a hard backed book at a small library and was filling in some waiting time with a client. It turned out to be book 23 of 28. I immediately ordered book 23 on my Kindle Fire so that I could finish reading. Then went onto Amazon to pull info on this author and found the listing of all the books in the series. I am up to book 8 in the series. Very interesting and am learning about English country life.

Other reviewers have already stated my opinions on this book so I won't repeat. I found this series late in the game, started with the first book, and have just finished The Wellspring of Death. Mrs. Bloxby is my favorite secondary character and I look forward to every scene that includes her. I wish the author would use her more. I also like Sir Charles and am growing to like him even better in The Wizard of Evesham which I'm currently reading. I never hesitate to buy one of M.C. Beaton's books because she has earned my trust that I won't be disappointed. She satisfies my need for English cozies very well.

Agatha is a cute and compelling character and all her adventures are fun to read! M.C. Beaton has the ability to weave a narrative that has the reader feeling sympathy for the unlikely heroine (a 50-ish toughened city businesswoman who has retired to the genteel countryside) even while she is doing her best to annoy and disappoint everyone in her village...including the man she thinks she loves! Agatha bumbles, fibs and blusters her way into trouble and into your heart while solving the mysterious deaths that seem to happen in her wake.

Buying used audio books online is a roll of the dice; You pay your money and take your chances. Buying from the bookrookie was a winning transaction! I paid a reasonable price for tapes in exactly the condition promised and received them quickly and well packed. I'm writing this review because I needed to find the sellers' name now that I'm ready to buy the next book in my series. If the bookrookie has it, I'll buy from them without a second thought.

I loved Agatha Raisin when I first discovered her. The first few books are really addictive. The later storylines got even more ridiculous and even more silly. In the same vein as Hamish Macbeth, M C Beaton gets away with it because you, as a reader, become fond of the characters and so when another book is churned out, you instinctively hope that maybe something good has at long last happened to the main character and so your loyalty hasn't been in vain, unfortunately as with Hamish Macbeth this never happens and you get to the end of another book saddened that you cannot get that time you have just invested, back again.I love Agatha Raisin and some of the main characters but my advice is the same as I would give about smoking, don't start because its really hard to quit.

Agatha Raisin is the grumpy, vulnerable amateur sleuth in this series of books by MC Beaton. She is a retired PR expert, who in this book is lured back to represent a new water company.She lives in a cosy Cotswold village. Although in this book you find not all the villages are quite as friendly as hers. The neighbouring village of Ancombe, which is the location of the spring from which the water company plans to draw its water, seems to be full of very unfriendly characters. When a member of the Parish Council is found dead in the spring, Agatha sets out to investigate.Lots of the familiar characters from the earlier books reappear: Roy Silver, James, Mrs Bloxby and Bill Wong reappear.It is a fun series. A modern twist on the likes of Miss Marple, and very nice to have an ageing, middle aged heroine.This Audio version is read by Penelope Keith. Well what more can I say, her voice provides the perfect reassuring backdrop for the main narration. Then when she reads the voices you actually forget that it is just one actress speaking. For example, having read the books I had forgotten that only Bill Wong's father is Chinese, but listening to this tape it was very easy to distinguish his slightly "chinese" accent from his son and wife's "cotswold" ones.I listened to this over a number of days of my "Mum's Taxi" service. It would be just as good on a long journey or the daily commute, there are lots of convenient stopping points. Alternatively it would be a great present for an older relative or someone recovering from illness.

In the nearby village of Ancombe there is a spring which runs through a garden and then into a drinking fountain. When a company wants to bottle and sell the water the parish council members are divided about whether this is a good thing or a bad thing. Agatha Raisin is asked to do the PR for the company as she lives locally. When a member of the parish council is found dead in the spring things threaten to go pear shaped.Naturally Agatha feels the need to get involved in the investigation into the murder and wonders whether this will be an opportunity for her to get on better terms again with her neighbour James Lacey. This is an amusing mystery with Agatha bumbling around in her usual fashion and uncovering things which may be relevant without realising their significance.All the favourite series characters are here - Bill Wong whose love life is continually sabotaged by his parents; former colleague and friend, Roy Silver; the imperturbable and compassionate vicar's wife, Mrs Bloxby and the other villagers of Carsely. I found this entertaining and relaxing listening and Penelope Keith really does bring this audio book to life. It is her voice I hear when I read the books having listened to several of the audio books. The sound quality is excellent and this is light and easy listening.

Agatha Raison and the Wellspring of Death by M.C. BEATON6 CD's running time 5 hrs. 45minsAgatha Raison is not everyone's `cup of tea', but I enjoy the easy-going style and simplicity of the stories. They are fairly short and great for train rides, or when you are just not in the mood for a long, involved story.The Wellspring of Death tells of how the village is divided by a mineral water company requesting the rights to bottle part of its spring. Agatha comes out of retirement to handle the publicity for the company but, as usual in an Agatha Raison story, it's not long before a body is found.Although I felt the story line in this particular book was a little slow to start, it did gather pace. Agatha is her usual rude self with hang-ups about her appearance, but she has a certain charm about her which is especially endearing to the more mature reader. 4 out of 5 stars.

Yet another cosy mystery my M C Beaton staring Agatha Raisin. These are not heavy weight fiction at all, they really are meant just to pass the time with an entertaining little fiction. As in previous Agatha Raisin books, things just seem to fall into Agatha's lap in order to solve the mystery she has been presented with, but to be honest who would want to read or listen to a story where the answers aren't so neatly tied up. I shan't go into the actual story as this is explained in the synopsis, to say any more than this would give the game away.As usual my main complaint is with the accents, Penelope Keith is brilliant at certain accents but unfortunately is terrible at most of the accents in these books. Once you get over this and just listen to the words without trying to figure out where the person you're listening to comes from then it's very enjoyable.