Agatha's First Case

An Agatha Raisin Short Story

By: M. C. Beaton

Narrated by: Alison Larkin

Length: 1 hr and 9 mins

Publisher's summary

At age 26 Agatha Raisin has already come a long way. She has clawed her way up since leaving the Birmingham slum where she was born. She's lost her Birmingham accent, run away from her drunken husband, and found a job at a public relations office as a secretary. Then her boss asks Agatha to go to the home of Sir Bryce Teller to tell him that he is soon to be arrested for the murder of his wife and that the agency no longer wants to represent him.

Teller, impressed with the pugnacious Agatha, asks her to handle PR for him and even offers her an office and tells her she can hire a staff. Certainly the best thing Agatha can do for her first client is to find out who really murdered his wife and clear his name. And with her wits and gumption, Agatha sets out to do just that.

New York Times best-selling author M. C. Beaton's character Agatha Raisin is beloved by millions, and this brand-new short story takes us back to where it all began with Agatha's first case.

©2015 M. C. Beaton (P)2015 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Setting up for the series

This book was a quick little romp into the life of Agatha Raisin. You are introduced to her, her method, some of her personal background, etc. It was short and sweet setting up the series to come. I'll be moving on to book one.

Got me hooked - ready for the next one

This story was great, and it totally got me hooked to where I will definitely be listening to the rest of the series. Yes, it short but that just made it a great tease for the series and got you a sense of Agatha is. She is strong but I love when she discusses her internal fears but doesn’t let them stop her. It is a great mystery and the for a short story the author gave you plenty of suspects.

I think my biggest issue was with the portrayal of the police in the story. I don’t like when authors portray them as incompetent and rude. I prefer my stories to be where the hero/heroine work in the realm that the police just can’t get to but in this one that are just stupid and single minded.

The only issue with the narrator I have is I felt the story was in the past, but the language was so modern. This is totally my issue as a Texan if I hear a British accent, I immediately picture an older/past era and not a modern telling. LOL

cute

Fills in some details in a short engaging story. Can be read at anytime in the series.

Enjoyable escape

Great Saturday morning escape while I worked. Would like to hear more by this author and narrator.

I love the show but books are better!

I really loved the book. it gives a better picture of Agatha then the tv series. I recommend it to crime novel enthusiast.

Funny

It was a funny story, if kind of short.I love the narration , I can't wait to read more. The way she switched voices was hilarious.

A fun little novella.

I enjoyed Agatha's bumbling success. I look forward to more in the series. I can see plenty of possibilities.

Quite the beginning

The impression given by the rest of the books is that Agatha started all on her own. According to this she was started by a businessman?
She could not really claim “fighting to the top” by herself.
I thought the author had not written this. A disappointment

Glamorous

It's not true to the book version. but it is true to the tv series.

Cute fun mystery

I had seen the TV program. It was good to read the whole beginning. A different twist from usual mysteries.