Crawl into the cozy of the Cotswalds with Agatha Raisin, who makes her debut as unorthodox heroine to the menopausal set. Taking a well earned early retirement to the village of Carsley, Agatha tries to adapt her presumptuous and pushy personality to the cozy and contentious community life. Aggressive Agatha is clueless in the deportment department, but determined to fit into her imagined idyllic retirement at any cost. And never imagines that the store bought quiche she enters into the village cooking contest will kill someone. Agatha's allure lies in her complete lack of tact and charm, her assertive aplomb, shrewd intellect, rude responses, and the little glimpses the reader is permitted of the human Agatha. The scenery is splendidly sketched, the cast of characters outrageous but somehow believable, and this middle aged mama's only complaint is that this book ends all too quickly - but hold on - this is a series, and more Agatha awaits.