The Dead Ringer
An Agatha Raisin Mystery
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4.1 • 86 Ratings
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
New York Times bestseller M. C. Beaton's cranky, crafty Agatha Raisin—now the star of a hit T.V. show—is back on the case again in The Dead Ringer.
The idyllic Cotswolds village of Thirk Magna is best known for the medieval church of St. Ethelred and its bells, which are the pride and glory of the whole community.
As the bell-ringers get ready for the visit of the dashing Bishop Peter Salver-Hinkley, the whole village is thrown into a frenzy. Meanwhile, Agatha convinces one of the bell-ringers, the charming lawyer Julian Brody, to hire her to investigate the mystery of the Bishop’s ex-fiancée: a local heiress, Jennifer Toynby, who went missing years ago and whose body was never found...
Meanwhile, the bodies in the village just keep on piling up: the corpse of Larry Jensen, a local policeman, is discovered in the crypt. Millicent Dupin, one of a pair of bell-ringing identical twins, is murdered near the church. And Terry Fletcher, a journalist and (briefly) Agatha’s lover, is found dead in her sitting room! Agatha widens her investigation and very soon her main suspect is the handsome Bishop himself. But could he really be behind this series of violent killings, or is it someone who wants to bring him—and his reputation—down?
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In Beaton's disjointed, implausible 28th Agatha Raisin mystery (after 2017's The Witches' Tree), the visit of charismatic Anglican bishop Peter Salver-Hinkley to the Cotswolds village of Thirk Magna sets hearts aflutter, including those of the female bell ringers of the Norman church of St. Ethelred. But local investigator Agatha, initially dazzled by the bishop, begins to question why the well-off women romanced by him tend to disappear or, in the case of bell ringer Millicent Dupin, wind up dead. In the course of Agatha's inquiries, she encounters a clergyman who abuses his wife, a lawyer in love with the battered spouse, a shifty Scottish waiter, and a thuggish associate of the bishop. The killing of Agatha's latest flame and the kidnapping of her cats add further complications. Only the most diehard fans will appreciate the ongoing soap opera of Agatha's love life.)
Customer Reviews
Dead Ringer
M. C. Beaton never disappoints. From the moment I started and until I finished I couldn’t put it down. Love, love Agatha Raisin.