Agatha Raisin and The Quiche of Death
Book 1
Davina Porter is a one man show. Every character has their own distinctive voice.In the Agatha Raisin series you know exactly who is speaking. Agatha Raisin, is shallow, man crazy, and self absorbed, and has intermittent bouts of self doubt. Davina Porter captures the personality of Agatha with her expressive and melodic voice. You might almost forget that you're listening to an audio book and not laying on the sofa listening to a play on the t.v. Both her series "Death of A" and the "Agatha Raisin" are easy to read cozy mysteries. I love them all.
Ms. Porter, exactly expresses the bold and obnoxious Agatha Raisin and smoothly changes to the voice of Mrs.Bloxby the vicars wife. Without a hitch she flows right into Agatha's love interest James Lacey giving him a touch of masculine rasping and peevish disposition that he always expresses when around Agatha. What a pleasure it is to listen to Davina Porter. Davina Porter also reads under the name of Nadia May. She's fabulous no matter what name she uses.
Agatha Raisin and the Quiche of Death is the 1st. book in this series. Cantankerous Agatha retired early from her advertising agency. Agatha always dreamed of moving to the Cotswolds and living a quiet a peaceful life in her retirement years. She buys a cottage in Carsely and sets out to be accepted and make friends. The Quiche of Death is the beginning of her adventures or misadventures in pursuing her dreams. Agatha is so outspoken and aggressive and will stop at nothing to win or be ahead of the pack that she is forever finding herself in one scrape after another.
When she finds out the next big event in Carsely is a baking contest she asks her friend and ex-employee Roy to bring a quiche with him from a posh London bakery when he comes to visit. She thinks she is sure to win the baking contest with it. Instead it turns into a murder. Our victim is the judge for the event, Cummings-Browne. When he falls over dead after eating Agatha's swanky quiche everyone thinks it was just some bizarre accident. Not Agatha, whose tenuous reputation is on the line, she has to discover who the murder is, or be accused herself.
Somehow, you can't help liking Agatha and feeling some sympathy for her. You will find yourself laughing out loud fairly often with the quips and wisecracks. I own and love the entire series. Easily one of the funniest cozy mysteries out there. Beaton in a few well chosen words sets a quick visual picture. She manages to pack a wallop of meaning, information, and atmosphere, giving even secondary characters a voice of an easily imagined person. She uses weather to round out the ambiance and set the time of year.
The Agatha Raisin series has been re-recorded with narrator Penelope Keith, who also does a fine narration. I've had my collection for a number of years so I do not know if the ones done by Davina Porter are still available. I personally prefer Porters rendition but I'm sure you will enjoy Ms. Keith's version just as well. For me Agatha Raisin is always going to be Davina Porter. A true superstar in the field of narrators.
M. C. Beaton
Narrator: Davina Porter
Audio Book
Audio Book
6 hours 26 minutes
 |
| Narrator Davina Porter |
Davina Porter is a one man show. Every character has their own distinctive voice.In the Agatha Raisin series you know exactly who is speaking. Agatha Raisin, is shallow, man crazy, and self absorbed, and has intermittent bouts of self doubt. Davina Porter captures the personality of Agatha with her expressive and melodic voice. You might almost forget that you're listening to an audio book and not laying on the sofa listening to a play on the t.v. Both her series "Death of A" and the "Agatha Raisin" are easy to read cozy mysteries. I love them all.
Ms. Porter, exactly expresses the bold and obnoxious Agatha Raisin and smoothly changes to the voice of Mrs.Bloxby the vicars wife. Without a hitch she flows right into Agatha's love interest James Lacey giving him a touch of masculine rasping and peevish disposition that he always expresses when around Agatha. What a pleasure it is to listen to Davina Porter. Davina Porter also reads under the name of Nadia May. She's fabulous no matter what name she uses.
Agatha Raisin and the Quiche of Death is the 1st. book in this series. Cantankerous Agatha retired early from her advertising agency. Agatha always dreamed of moving to the Cotswolds and living a quiet a peaceful life in her retirement years. She buys a cottage in Carsely and sets out to be accepted and make friends. The Quiche of Death is the beginning of her adventures or misadventures in pursuing her dreams. Agatha is so outspoken and aggressive and will stop at nothing to win or be ahead of the pack that she is forever finding herself in one scrape after another.
When she finds out the next big event in Carsely is a baking contest she asks her friend and ex-employee Roy to bring a quiche with him from a posh London bakery when he comes to visit. She thinks she is sure to win the baking contest with it. Instead it turns into a murder. Our victim is the judge for the event, Cummings-Browne. When he falls over dead after eating Agatha's swanky quiche everyone thinks it was just some bizarre accident. Not Agatha, whose tenuous reputation is on the line, she has to discover who the murder is, or be accused herself.
 |
| The Quiche of Death |
The Agatha Raisin series has been re-recorded with narrator Penelope Keith, who also does a fine narration. I've had my collection for a number of years so I do not know if the ones done by Davina Porter are still available. I personally prefer Porters rendition but I'm sure you will enjoy Ms. Keith's version just as well. For me Agatha Raisin is always going to be Davina Porter. A true superstar in the field of narrators.
 |
| Author M. C. Beaton |
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