M. C. Beaton. Agatha Raisin and the Love from Hell (2001)

     M. C. Beaton. Agatha Raisin and the Love from Hell (2001) Agatha and James have married (I missed the book(s) in which this happened), but they are not as compatible as they thought they might be. James takes up with a local hoyden, is attacked by person(s) unknown, and disappears. A few days later, the hoyden turns up very dead, and both James and Agatha are the obvious suspects. The tale focuses on Agatha’s attempts to clear her name by finding the murderer, with the help of Sir Charles Fraith. They succeed of course, but not without the usual near-death experience that Agatha suffers in every case. James and Agatha agree to a divorce, so we will see her as a single middle-aged woman in future. I suspect these aspects of the story relate to M C Beaton’s own life, but whether as reflections or variations is impossible to tell. Better plotted than others, somewhat more characterisation, too, but still basically fluff. ** (2004)