
Please
welcome author Joan Leotta back to the blog today…
Killing
Time: An Agatha Raisin Mystery (Agatha Raisin Mysteries) Hardcover –
October 8, 2024
by M. C. Beaton (Author), R.W. Green (Author)
Review
By Joan Leotta
Yes,
M.C. Beaton, aka Marion Chesney, did leave this world for the next in 2019.
However, she wanted her two series protagonists, Agatha Raisin, and Hamish
MacBeth to continue to have adventures and
solve mysteries even after she would no longer be able to wield a pen.
To that end, late in her life, she invited R.W. Green to become the author of these
mystery series. She put Green through rigorous training in the ways and whiles of
her characters and her various plot techniques..
This
fourth Agatha Raisin installment by Green—Killing Time—shows he
has indeed mastered
the
elements readers expect while also developing the characters in directions true
to their Beaton-given nature, but with a bit of his own experience to further
enrich our entertainment and their arc.
Raisin
is an especially difficult character to write because she requires a delicate balance
of feisty, hard-nosed, irascible, yet with enough vulnerability to elicit
enough empathy from readers to make them care about what happens to her and even
cheer her on in her adventures.
This
entry into the canon takes Agatha temporarily out of the Cotswolds to Pollonsea
in Mallorca, for her to meet with her newest love interest, a retired cop
turned cruise line dance instructor, John Clarke. Never fear, Killing Time is stepped in Cotswold
lore and the hiatus at the sea is not a diversion, but also proves to be
another important strand in the unraveling of the mystery.
The
novel begins with an ordinary investigation into robberies in the area. Then,
ever susceptible to flattery, Agatha, in spite of a full schedule, is talked
into managing an area-wide festival for charity in support of an old friend’s winery venture. After deciding
that a charity auction would attract large spenders, Agatha approaches a
local antique dealer who takes Agatha to
an auction. At the auction Agatha falls in love—with a clock. After a viscous
bidding war, she purchases a gaudy antique
clock, paying far more than it’s evaluated
worth. Learning that the clock does not work, the dealer offers to take it to
his shop for her to have his brother, a clock savant of sorts to examine it for
her.
The
situation takes an urgent turn and the pace of the novel ramps up when that
same antique dealer is murdered, and her clock is the only thing missing from his
shop. In the usual wonderful way of these novels, Agatha, with the help of the ever-lovely
Toni and others from her Detective agency staff, finds connections between
various people, the clock, and other events in the area. In the midst of the
action, wanting to take a break from all
the stress, Agatha decamps for a brief jaunt to Mallorca to meet John, her new
love interest when his ship docks and he will have a few days off from his
dance instruction duties. However, upon landing there, her hopes for a
continuing and true romance with ex-cop John are shattered and she decamps to
the lovely Pollonsea in another part of the Island until it is time for her to
return home.
The
plot process and action along with some occasional petulance on Agatha’s part
are a delight as always. I reveled in
the descriptions of this new place in Mallorca as well as the usual entanglements
and hijinks and was totally captivated by the ending. And yes, the antique
timepiece at the center of the mystery becomes a character in itself—well done, Mr. Green!
All
of these threads are skillfully embroidered into the fabric of the tale with a
solution that covers all of the crimes, and the issues Agatha had with John. As
always, Agatha’s sharp mind is the needle that works out the solution from
these seemingly disparate threads.
Is
there a happy conclusion? Well, I will leave that for you to discover but I
will say this--future tension with her
old beau Charles this time leaves promising himself to try to win Agatha back
instead of the more often seen reverse situation.
In
short, this is fast -paced and fun read. I finished this installment on one
dismal afternoon and put it down with a smile. If you crave a mystery with a
side of smiles, seek out the Raisin Mysteries. Agatha plows ahead with all her
usual intelligence, cupidity, and bluster even after her creator’s demise. Although
I always enjoy a series in order, this book works as a single read so pick up Killing
Time if you have some time on your hands. Note well: if you possess a gaudy
antique clock, you might want to start researching its history.
Five
stars
Amazon
Associate Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/416SiKb
Joan
Leotta ©2025
Joan
Leotta plays with words on page and stage. Her poetry, essays, cnf, short
stories, and articles are widely published. Mysteries are favorite things to
read.. short and long.. and to write.