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Agatha Raisin and the Day the Floods Came
M.C. Beaton Book Review

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Plot Summary of Agatha Raisin and the Day the Floods Came
"

St. Martin's, July 2002, 22.95, 224 pp.
ISBN 03122076070

Agatha Raisin is in a deep funk. The man she loved, cherished after and finally married is divorcing her to become a monk in a French monastery. Her good friend Sir Charles is no longer available to keep her company because he married a French woman who is pregnant with twins. Her spirits are lifted when she finds the body of a bride in a wedding gown floating down the river.

She decides that since the police ruled the case a homicide she would solve it before the authorities do. Helping her is her new neighbor, crime writer John Armitage. While interviewing individuals connected to the victim, Agatha discovers the dead woman was a cunning, cold and manipulative person who was black mailing some people. While trying to figure out who that someone is, two attempts are made on her life before she finally figures it out and by then it is almost too late.

Agatha Raisin, a cranky, crude and raunchy woman somehow (and this reviewer doesn't have a clue) manages to warm her way into the reader's heart and elicit their sympathy. The latest installment in this long running series is funny, breezy and very enjoyable. Though the heroine has not changed an iota from the first tale, M.C. Beaton has written another winner.

Harriet Klausner
"

Harriet Klausner, Resident Scholar

"Agatha Raisin finds herself still at loose ends and needs one more vacation to get away from her failed marriage and love affairs. She sees mystery in everything and in fact guesses at a murder that hasn't happen yet. Agatha is actually turning into a good detective and her courage and abilities prompt a former skeptic to consider urging her to go professional. Unfortuantely her low self-esteem gets in her way both personally and with her cases once more almost resulting in another murder - her own."
Eileen Regan, Resident Scholar

Review Analysis of Agatha Raisin and the Day the Floods Came
Our unique search engine provides a wealth of detail about books by breaking them down into many different literary elements, all of which are searchable (click here).
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot

Composition of Book
descript. of violence and chases - 10%
Planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 45%
Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 25%
How society works & physical descript. (people, objects, places) - 20%




Tone of story - Dry-cynical - very upbeat
How difficult to spot villain? - Difficult, but some clues given
Time/era of story: - present (2000-2010)
What % of story relates directly to the mystery, not the subplot? - 50% - 60%
Kind of investigator - amateur citizen investigator - skilled citizen investigator
Kid or adult book? - Adult or Young Adult Book
Any non-mystery subplot? - feelings towards family/friends
Crime Thriller Yes
Murder Mystery (killer unknown) Yes

Main Character
Gender - Female
Profession/status: - wealthy - retiree
Age: - 40's-50's
Is this an ordinary person caught up in events? Yes
How much violence does he/she use? - a little - just the right amount
Ethnicity/Race - British
How sensitive is this character? - middling sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor - Cynical sense of humor
Intelligence - Smarter than most other characters
Physique - average physique

Main Adversary
Identity: - Male - Female
Age: - 20's-30's
Profession/status: - mastermind
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in: - a little/some - a moderate amount
Motive of antagonist - revenge - money/treasure
How sensitive is this character? - hard edged
Intelligence - Smarter than most other characters
Physique - very athletic

Setting
Europe Yes
European country: - England/UK
Island? Yes
Island: - on vacation
Misc setting - resort/hotel

Style
Part of a series? Yes
Person - mostly 3rd
Accounts of torture and death? - generic/vague references to death/punishment - moderately detailed references to deaths
How many deaths? - 2 - 3-4
Sex Yes
What kind of sex: - vague references
Unusual forms of death - frozen
Unusual form of death? Yes
Amount of dialog - significantly more dialog than descript - roughly even amounts of descript and dialog
Most similar books to Agatha Raisin and the Day the Floods Came
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Irish Mist – A Nuala Anne McGrail Novel by Andrew Greeley
Maggie Needs an Alibi by Kasey Michaels
Killer Smile by Lisa Scottoline


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M.C. Beaton Resident Scholar Profiles

TOP SCHOLAR:
  
Stephanie  

SCHOLARS:
Maureen Evans  Eileen Regan  


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