The Vicious Vet

Product Details

Synopsis

Beloved author M.C. Beaton has delighted readers and fans alike with her Agatha Raisin mysteries. Now here is the second novel in the series that started it all…

A PURR-FECT CRIME IN THE COTSWOLDS
Former London PR agent, Agatha Raisin still hasn’t adjusted to village life where the only prospect for a hot evening out is a meeting of the Ladies Society. And since her overtures toward James Lacey—the retired military man next door—have failed, Agatha jumps at the chance to visit the new vet, who’s single and good-looking. Although Agatha’s tabby hasn’t a thing wrong with him, Hodge endures having a thermometer shoved up his bum in the name of romance. Unfortunately his sacrifice is all for naught when the vet is soon found dead next to a high-strung horse.

The police call the vet’s demise a freak accident, but Agatha convinces the hard-to-get James Lacey, who’s also bored in the Cotswolds, that playing amateur detective might be fun. Unfortunately, just like curiosity killed the cat, Agatha’s inept snooping is soon a motivation for murder...

“Anyone interested in a few hours’ worth of intelligent, amusing reading will want to make the acquaintance of Mrs. Agatha Raisin.”
—The Cleveland Plain Dealer

“I simply love mysteries that have all the requirements necessary to make them great—the characters, the action, the plots, and that thing we call humanity. Beaton has them all in
spades.”
--Tulsa World

Annotation

From the creator of the popular Hamish MacBeth mysteries comes a new series, starring Agatha Raisin--an irascible but endearing sleuth in a small English town. The new vet has taken a shine to Agatha, but before romance can bloom, he accidentally kills himself.

Publishers Weekly

The author of the estimable Hamish Macbeth mysteries falters with this second story (after Agatha Raisin and the Quiche of Death ) to feature London PR executive Agatha Raisin, who has recently retired in the Cotswolds. When handsome veterinarian Paul Bladen dies from a drug injection intended for a horse, Agatha decides it was murder and calls on her bachelor neighbor James Lacey to help investigate. Although her friend, Detective Sgt. Bill Wong, believes the death was an accident and cautions her against overdramatizing life in their village, Agatha proceeds . She discovers an angry former client of the vet whose cat had died at his hands and claims she has information about Bladen. But when Agatha shows up for their meeting, the woman is dead; another accident, suggest the police as Agatha cries murder once more. Pursuing men and clues with abandon, Agatha finally ferrets out the murderer but loses her male quarry in the process. Stretching for charm, Beaton here unexpectedly scants characterization and plot--both of which are amply supplied in Constable Macbeth's Scottish Highland adventures. (Aug.)

Biography

M.C. BEATON is the author of the Agatha Raisin mystery series, the Hamish Macbeth series, and an Edwardian mystery series written as Marion Chesney. She currently divides her time between Paris and the English Cotswolds.