kw: book reviews, series reviews, mysteries
Just prior to beginning the NEBULA awards book I'm reviewing (piecemeal), I read an "Agatha Raisin" mystery by M. C. Beaton. It reminded me why it's been so long since I read one before (the first time). Beaton is a fine, facile writer, and is well-regarded with good reason. But this protagonist, Ms Raisin is a rather unpleasant person: blunt, rude, and moody. She's all-too-prone to falling in love, with nearly any man she meets. There is more dramatic tension in the books from this tendency, than there is from the detective work. She solves crimes by dint of persistence alone, being quite without talent. Maybe that makes her a sympathetic character to many of us. We can't all be a know-it-all like Holmes, Wolfe, or Poirot.
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