I am a huge M.C. Beaton fan (her Hamish MacBeth series is one of my favorites), and was so saddened by her death in 2019. This is the first book I've read since R.W. Green stepped into her shoes.

I am pleased to report that I found Devil's Delight to be, well - delightful! Reading this felt just light reading the other books in this series. These are cozy mysteries set in a small village in the Cotswolds, focusing on the characters as well as the mystery.

Devil's Delight is not heavy reading, but (at least for me) is a fun outing with old friends. You don't have to have read all of the previous books in this series (which I haven't) to enjoy this one.

I have been reading Agatha Raisin from the beginning. I have read all of Marion Chesney and her MC Beaton books as well (Hamish Macbeth remains my favorite) I was sad at her passing and wondered if Green would continue writing the series, and he has. I believe he is improving in following her style, and he has not made Agatha much more sympathetic. She is still vain and insecure, but still smart and intuitive.
The familiar cast of characters is comforting and the mysteries always solved. Sometimes outlandish to be sure, and sometimes spending too much time on her looks, Agatha still pleases the reader who can put up with her ways. Thank you netgalley for my eARC for my honest review. I will continue to read the series as long as it continues as I love the life the characters lead in the Cotswalds.

I liked this one. I’m a big mystery fan and lover of Murder She Wrote and I felt like this fit the bill for me for a fun mystery novel. Granted I haven’t read the rest of the Agatha Raisin stories so I don’t have much to compare it to. If you’re looking for a fun mystery to break up the monotony that reading can sometimes bring, check this one out.

Thanks St Martin’s Press and Netgalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review

Agatha Raisin has to solve a new murder. She gets in a lot of trouble this time. But with the help of her friends everything works out.

Devil's Delight
by M.C. Beaton, R.W. Green
Pub Date: December 13, 2022
Minotaur

Thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the ARC of this book.Beloved New York Times bestseller M.C. Beaton's cranky, crafty Agatha Raisin—the star of her own hit T.V. series—is back on the case again in Devil's Delight. R.W. Green is doing a fantastic job continuing M.C. Beaton's legacy!
Devil's Delight was a fun read. I have read several books in this series. Agatha Raison is the main character along with the characters from the other books. The new characters add to the story. Agatha is quite a character who is very much into her looks and her desire to find a man.
4 stars

I thought it was ok. The title and cover looked fun and I wanted to add a mystery story into my mix. To be honest I didn’t feel like there was much mystery. It was a lot more about Agatha’s escapades and men. I would be interested to maybe read another Agatha Raisin mystery if it came across to me!

I really tried to get into this book, but about a quarter of the way through it still hadn’t caught my interest at all so I decided not to finish it. I don’t think it’s a bad story, I just think the writing style is not for me. It’s been pages and pages of information that I don’t really care about, and we have barely even gotten to talking about the murder that the book centers around. I will not post this review on any social media sites, because I do not think it’s fair of me to rate it and give it negative feedback in the public eye when j didn’t finish it. However, I will still review it for Netgalley and give my honest opinion. Thank you for the ARC and I am excited to review more in the future.

I've been with Agatha since the beginning and I'm enjoying the fresh life being breathed into the series by R. W. Green. The books are still madcap, but more reasonably so than the last few titles written by M.C. Beaton. Fewer dead bodies. More humor. In this book, I knew as soon as the walk-in freezers were mentioned that they were going to come into play. (Watch out, Agatha!) These books follow a script but they are the ultimate in comfort food in book form. I'll keep reading.

I read an advance reader copy from Netgalley.

This is the 33rd book in the long standing Agatha Raisin Mystery series set in the Cotswolds in England.The 1st 30 were written by Marion herself and the last 3 after her passing by R.W. Green, who has been selected by Marion to continue her series. I started the series in 1992 with the Quiche of Death and thus have been a fan for several decades

Agatha and Toni are traveling to Bill Wong's wedding and come across a man who is nude. This meeting leads them to getting involved in a naturist club, and of course solving a murder. There are also several inquiries taking place by Agatha's Detective Agency employees.

While our favourite characters where there, i.e., James, Charles, Toni, Patrick and Mrs Bloxby . "Snakes and Bastards", microwaved meals, an eye for men and her 2 beloved cats also included, I feel something was not quite M.C. Beaton's Agatha. Something deeper was missing in this book regarding how Agatha's core qualities were expressed.( my analytical mind at work.) That behind said, I still enjoyed the read and it was a good mystery. There were several situations that really made me chuckle. Also I am happy that the series continues.

A big thank you to NetGalley,St Martin's Press, Minotaur Books and the author for the opportunity to read and review this book. The book publishes on December 13, 2022.



I

Devil's Delight is the 33rd book in the long-running Agatha Raisin series beloved by mystery fans, but with some slight differences in tone now that the series creator has passed away. Main character Agatha Raisin is back for another madcap mystery to solve, this time at a nudist camp. A little slow to start, but fans of the series will find a lot to love here.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book!

Agatha Raisin is a free-spirited and elegant woman in her 50ties who runs a private detective agency in the Cotswolds village of Carsely. She is on a new case, and this time the case literally bumped into her. While driving with her assistant Toni to a wedding, a naked man suddenly dashed in front of them. He explained that he had just found a dead body near the edge of woods where the Mircester Naturist Club was about to have its summer picnic.

This is book #33 in the M.C. Beaton series, but the first one I read. I've been a fan of the Agatha Raisin TV series, and when I learned that the episodes have been based on books, I jumped into reading the latest one. This one is written by a different writer, R. W. Green, because the original author of the series died. As in the series, for me, the character of Agatha is the main force pulling me in. She is spunky, energetic, well-dressed, and always involved romantically with one (or more) male characters. This time a handsome Giovanni is her primary crush, but there is also a policeman, John, in the wings, the old friend Sir Charles, and her one-time husband, James.

The new case is interesting, with its nudist club background and the additional drug dealing case. Twice Agatha finds herself in a life-threatening situation, and there is more than one murder. I was slightly disappointed that the murderer's identity was revealed relatively early, and there was not much suspension. However, it was an enjoyable mystery, and I may try another one – again, mainly for the series' main character. As portrayed in her TV series, Agatha Raisin is charming, intelligent, and just as much fun on paper as on screen.

I have read all of the Agatha Raisin books and this one is pretty slow to get going. Very unlike the others but I've keep at it and it's turned out to be another fun read.

The main character Agatha Raisin owns and runs a private detective agency. Agatha and friend Toni are driving down the road on their way to a wonderful friends wedding. All of a sudden they see a naked man running towards them in the road screaming that he has found a dead body.
What a way to start a story! Since Agatha Raisisn is known for being a very good private detective she decides to tackle the mystery. As the story progresses Agatha finds that the dead body in question is at a naturist compound which as you may assume everyone there favors not wearing any clothes at all.
Humor and mysteries abound which involves disappearing bodies, playful role playing in the nude, witchcraft and even a strange drug that alters personalities. Stir all that together in Devils Delight by M.C. Beaton with RW Green And you’ve got a very delightful read!

Agatha Raisin is on the case again, this time it involves an ice cream truck war, a nudist camp and Satanic rituals and of course, various possible romantic interests for Agatha all taking place in her beloved Cotswolds. Is the story line believable? It seems more like a mash up of television crime shows than a well crafted mystery with the victim and the perpetrators easily identified. The only guess that the reader will need to do is to figure out exactly whom Agatha will choose as her partner in life. Details of the countryside, the locals and the food transport the reader to Agatha's world but this effort is not as top-notch as it could have been. Fun for those who are Agatha Raisin fans but not for those who want a murder mystery that they want to try and solve themselves before the big reveal.

Another solid cozy mystery from R W Green who wrote several books with MC Beaton and continues writing the series after her death. I feel he does a very good job writing in her style and prefer my Agatha a bit less snarky than the MC Beaton version. In the Devil's Delight Agatha and side kick Toni discover a dead body at a local Cotswold nudist nature camp. And in that vein the mystery rolls on. It is always a pleasure to spend time with Agatha Raison.

Agatha Raisin lives on, thanks to R.W. Green, following M.C. Beaton's death.

Agatha is still as feisty as ever, still investigating, still searching for the right man. She and Toni are on their way to Bill Wong's wedding when they are flagged down by a naked man, who swears there was a dead body placed on a large rock. Going into a naturist club, the man leads them to the rock, and lo and behold, there is no body. Agatha's curiosity is aroused and she, along with the local police force, resolves to investigate the possible murder. She and her firm are also investigating a drug deal at a private school,and a theft at an ice cream factory. Are these all separate crimes, or is there something connecting them all?

James and Charles and the vicar's wife are all in this story. Toni and Agatha find themselves visiting the naturist club, au natural, and Agatha finds herself in a chilling situation.

Not quite M.C. Beaton, but not a bad continuation of the series.

Since the passing of M.C. Beaton the quality of this series has gone down hill very rapidly. The storyline and writing are both poor.

As a long standing fan of the original Agatha Raison books, I am still disappointed by the new books written since Marion Benton’s death. This most recent one, however, is better than the previous two. The writing is more descriptive but the main character is still lacking in the fully developed character that is Agatha Raisin. And finally, subplot of the nudist club was more silly than intriguing.

This is an unusual cozy in that the sleuth is actually a detective—a 72-year-old woman who runs her own agency with a staff and offices, and everything. Most cozies utilize amateurs but Agatha Raisin is no amateur.

I usually love M.C. Beaton, but this one just didn’t grab me. There were some humorous points (“Maybe you should have looked at his face, Toni. Then you’d recognize him with his clothes on.”), but there were also some twinges (description of an overweight woman as using her dress for a field tarp). I wasn’t in love with Agatha either. She seemed overly concerned with her looks and which man she would be with next—and there were a lot to choose from.

The mystery itself was pretty straightforward as I guessed the “perp” pretty much from the beginning. But all the things going on did keep me reading to a satisfying ending.

Recommendation: If you’re invested in the Agatha Raisin series, then yes, pick this one up. But I don’t recommend starting with this one. There’s just too much background on Agatha and friends that you’ll be missing—and maybe that’s why I didn’t care much for her. This was the first one I read so I didn’t know where she was coming from. Still, a decent read with a satisfying ending.

Disclaimer: Thanks to Netgalley and Simon&Schuster for providing this ARC. I received a final and/or advanced reader copy of this book with the hope that I will leave my unbiased opinion. I was not required to leave a review, positive or otherwise, and my opinions are just that… My Opinions. I am posting this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising”

I must confess. While I have watched Agatha Raisin in the television series, I had never read one of the books. So, when I saw that the latest book was available for review, I decided to take the plunge.

I wasn't disappointed. The books are even better than the television series.. I suppose that shouldn't be a surprised. We are all often disappointed when a movie version of a book is produced. But that is usually because we have formed an impression based on a book that plays out differently in the movie. But having seen the television series first, I had conceived an impression of Agatha Raisin, the hilarious detective. The book added a new perspective and took my visualization even further.

In this new book, Agatha is forced to "bare all" to solve a murder that takes place in the local naturalist group (read that as nudist colony). Her love life is still in shambles. But her deductive skills are as sharp as ever. In all, a great book.