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Bonnie Pinkwater Mystery #1
The Witch of Agnesi
A coven of witches, a teenage comic book magnate, a skinhead Neanderthal with violent propensities, an abusive father, an amorous science teacher, and a mistranslated medieval mathematics manuscript figure prominently in this new mystery set in modern-day Colorado.
340 pages, Paperback
First published August 1, 2006
24 people are currently reading
674 people want to read
About the author
Robert Spiller
16 books32 followersRobert Spiller lives in Colorado Springs with his wife Barbara. Napier's Bones is the fifth in the Bonnie Pinkwater adult cozy mystery series preceded by The Witch of Agnesi, A Calculated Demise, Irrational Numbers, and Radical Equations. A mathematics teacher for thirty-five years, Robert recently retired to write full time.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 46 reviews
November 13, 2011
This book suffered from a couple of marketing faults and one snag by the author that made it less popular than it has the potential to be. First off is the name, the name The Witch of Agnesi conjures up a paranormal tale of sorcery to most people. I suppose if you are a mathematician then it would conjure up the math problem the book and title are talking about but otherwise it doesn't work. The second marketing fault is that it was marketed to a young adult audience. I don't know if I would have, at age sixteenish, wanted to read a book about a fifty three year old math teacher no matter what she does. Had the book been marketed as a cozy mystery for adults I'm sure it would have had more popularity. The one thing the author did to turn me off was almost constantly disparage pagans. I understand that the point was for the author to explore the theme of prejudice and acceptance but the regularity with which the author does it is off putting. That aside I really did enjoy the book, it was easy to figure out but most mysteries are and it passed the time pleasantly. It gets a 3 out of 5.
September 16, 2011
I downloaded this when it was offered for free at BN a couple of weeks ago. The title intrigued me, and at first I believed it had a paranormal element. Someone claimed it was YA. I don’t quite agree with that. Yes, it felt like a YA mystery but the narrator was Bonnie Pinkwater, a 53 year old math teacher.
Missus P as her students call her a hoot. I loved her for her snarky thoughts, both when it came to students and police officers. But the main reason I loved her was the fact that she felt like a teacher that genuinely cared about her students.
The book starts with a murder, and soon Bonnie Pinkwater is hip deep trying to solve it. ( I felt for the cop, who happened to be one of her old students.) As she tries to solve murder mysteries, and dealing with upset parents, and equally upset students, she is also moving on after her husband’s death. I must admit that I felt lukewarm towards Armen. Oh, he was a nice character, but it took a long time before I realized that he was 50, I thought he was 40ish.
Still, this was a quaint mystery with a touch of romance. I liked the plot, it wasn’t fast moving but the twists took me by surprise.
Will I pick up the next one? Maybe. It depends on the price.
Missus P as her students call her a hoot. I loved her for her snarky thoughts, both when it came to students and police officers. But the main reason I loved her was the fact that she felt like a teacher that genuinely cared about her students.
The book starts with a murder, and soon Bonnie Pinkwater is hip deep trying to solve it. ( I felt for the cop, who happened to be one of her old students.) As she tries to solve murder mysteries, and dealing with upset parents, and equally upset students, she is also moving on after her husband’s death. I must admit that I felt lukewarm towards Armen. Oh, he was a nice character, but it took a long time before I realized that he was 50, I thought he was 40ish.
Still, this was a quaint mystery with a touch of romance. I liked the plot, it wasn’t fast moving but the twists took me by surprise.
Will I pick up the next one? Maybe. It depends on the price.
February 6, 2012
Overall, I enjoyed this book. I admit it was hard for me to get into it at first. It took me over a week of back and forth between this book and others to finally get into it enough to get past the first 10 pages. Like others, I thought this book might have more of a paranormal element due to the title. Honestly, I'm glad it didn't as I'm not a big fan of the paranormal. This was a nice cozy mystery and the plot was a nice one.
There were a couple of things that annoyed me while reading that a decent editor should have caught. The author went back and forth between saying Bonnie's husband died 18 months and 16 months ago. There were also some misuses of words such as "passed" instead of "past" and the like.
As far as plot points/writing style, there were a couple of things. First, there were times when I felt I was reading a sequel book as there were references to an earlier case. I also wondered how Bonnie's husband died. And the 3-day romance between Bonnie and Armen seemed rather quick. I would have liked for that to develop over time.
There were a couple of things that annoyed me while reading that a decent editor should have caught. The author went back and forth between saying Bonnie's husband died 18 months and 16 months ago. There were also some misuses of words such as "passed" instead of "past" and the like.
As far as plot points/writing style, there were a couple of things. First, there were times when I felt I was reading a sequel book as there were references to an earlier case. I also wondered how Bonnie's husband died. And the 3-day romance between Bonnie and Armen seemed rather quick. I would have liked for that to develop over time.
January 28, 2012
My thoughts...
A totally fun mystery series. I absolutely love it when the main character has a fierce and aggressive yet lovable personality with a penchant for putting herself
in places and situations where she does not belong!!!
Bonnie Pinkwater...main amateur sleuth and sharp tongued math teacher...is just such a person. In this first book of this series Bonnie's
math students are being killed!!!
Bonnie digs in to determine who is responsible. She is clever, sarcastic and fun!!! I loved this character.
She has quirky pets and a new man friend and annoys most people she comes in contact with...particularly former student police detectives.
Readers who love Lillian Jackson Braun books or the Goldie Bear books or the Alan Bradley series starring Flavia de Luce will love this series.
It was fun, really intense and very clever!!!
I loved it...I plan on reading the next two books in this series.
A totally fun mystery series. I absolutely love it when the main character has a fierce and aggressive yet lovable personality with a penchant for putting herself
in places and situations where she does not belong!!!
Bonnie Pinkwater...main amateur sleuth and sharp tongued math teacher...is just such a person. In this first book of this series Bonnie's
math students are being killed!!!
Bonnie digs in to determine who is responsible. She is clever, sarcastic and fun!!! I loved this character.
She has quirky pets and a new man friend and annoys most people she comes in contact with...particularly former student police detectives.
Readers who love Lillian Jackson Braun books or the Goldie Bear books or the Alan Bradley series starring Flavia de Luce will love this series.
It was fun, really intense and very clever!!!
I loved it...I plan on reading the next two books in this series.
February 11, 2012
This is a free book from Kindle and I have agreed to review it. I was not sure what to expect. I thought it was a paranormal YA mystery. The only part I got right was it being a mystery. I think it needs to be marketed differently in order to reach the proper audience. The main character is a 50 something Math teacher in a high school named Bonnie Pinkwater. She is a widow and you hear her sarcastic thoughts throughout the story. She gets involved in a murder investigation after one of her students disapears and then another is murdered. There is a slow building love interest with another teacher, an Irish-Armenian and one of the detectives is a former student of hers. The mystery is well developed, the characters are interesting and the story moves along relatively quickly. Bonnie is an interesting character, who annoyed me at the beginning of the story. But I began to enjoy her biting comments. Overall an enjoyable read and a good start to a series.
January 27, 2012
Bonnie Pinkwater is one cool teacher!
The book started a bit slowly but with enough to keep me reading and it didn't take long for me to get hooked! The banter between the characters, the way the plot unravels and the fact that I really didn't see the end coming, all of that makes this book a winner for me!
Looking forward to Missus Pinkwater's next adventure!
January 20, 2012
This book was awesome, I will admit that I had my doubts by the title, I really don't like stuff about witches but this really was a wonderful mystery. Very creative and you found yourself laughing to yourself as Mrs. Pinkwater talks to herself as she has incounters with family members of murder victims. She has a fun sense of humor. It just is a wonderful story, not real long but a lot in those pages. So if you get the chance to read this book please do so for it is a great book.
January 18, 2012
I really enjoyed this story. It was fast paced and easy read. I love to try and figure out "who-did-it" and came close.
I really enjoyed Bonnie. I like that she wasn't a young woman, but a middle aged school teacher. I liked seeing what she was really thinking as she was having a conversation. I also enjoyed the blossoming romance between her and Armen and the interaction between her and her pets!
I would recommend this book to everyone who enjoys a good detective story.
I really enjoyed Bonnie. I like that she wasn't a young woman, but a middle aged school teacher. I liked seeing what she was really thinking as she was having a conversation. I also enjoyed the blossoming romance between her and Armen and the interaction between her and her pets!
I would recommend this book to everyone who enjoys a good detective story.
September 23, 2014
The book was interesting, but I thought it was an odd chose to make two 60-year-olds the star of a book for teenagers. Ali or Jesse may have been better choices as main characters although I understand the author's choice of not using a teen to keep the suspense up.
October 6, 2011
Interesting book. I'm not sure it would appeal to young adults as much as it might to older people who like milder stories, though. Not bad at all, and also not riddled with the errors one normally finds in freebies. I won't seek out the others in the series, but will grab them if they are free.
January 25, 2012
Umm, all I can say about this book is it was not what I expected it to be. After looking at the title (not the description) I thought it would be a paranormal read, I found out I was really wrong. This book is a good read if you are into murder mysteries with a bit of romance on the side.
January 10, 2008
Nice, tight mystery with one-of-a-kind characters.
September 5, 2011
I enjoyed this one, kept me guessing and changing my theories. Will have to read the others in this series and see how they pan out.
September 7, 2011
I wasn't sure what to think with this book at first. Once I got going, it was a cute mystery unfolding.
I couldn't put it down.
I couldn't put it down.
January 18, 2012
Really enjoyed this one. Good story and I enjoyed the fact that the main character was an older woman. Will be reading more from this series.
January 10, 2012
A very nice cozy. It wasn't at all what I expected when I downloaded it, but it pleasantly surprised me none-the-less.
March 28, 2008
It was good, it made me think, but i got it right i knew who it was Yeah!
October 20, 2018
Really between 3 and 4 rating, as there were a few things that irked me. But then it is with a math teacher as main character!
April 14, 2020
Don't think I'll read more of this series. This one didn't grab me.
April 20, 2020
Very entertaining!
Want to read
July 19, 2020elibrary
November 29, 2023
Random thing I found on my Kindle - where it came from and how long it's been there, I have absolutely no idea. Quick read, decently entertaining, though I didn't greatly care for the protagonist.
December 16, 2025
My HS math teacher wrote these! Being from the area, I had to show some love and leave 5 ⭐️’s. The books were all a fun read.
April 28, 2015
When I first moved to Colorado, I was a student at the school that this author, Robert Spiller, was teaching at. While I did not have him personally, I remember him as being a wonderful teacher and never heard anything negative about him. I've been meaning to try his book series for years and finally decided to even though it is written for a younger age group than I am currently in.
Maybe I'm biased, maybe not, but one thing is for sure, I loved this book. When it first started, I wasn't sure what to think, It is written for a younger audience than me but I still wanted to give it a try and I am glad I did. After the start, the book picked up pace and became very engaging and riveting. I did not want to put it down, and stayed up well into the night in order to finish it. I loved the plot twists and that I could not predict what the ending would be. I loved the misdirection and suspense. While most mysteries become graphic, this one did not which was a welcome surprise. Everything was kept mild and instead relied on suspense and misdirection. A welcome change to the mysteries I normally read (i.e. James Patterson and Mary Higgins Clark, both of whom I love, but can both become graphic in their descriptions).
Even the description of the book is kept mysterious: A coven of witches, a teenage comic book magnate, a skinhead Neanderthal with violent propensities, an abusive father, an amorous science teacher, and a mistranslated medieval mathematics manuscript figure prominently in this new mystery set in modern-day Colorado.
I went into this book having no idea what to expect and ended very happy with the way it was written. I will definitely be reading the rest of the books in the series. 5/5 stars
Maybe I'm biased, maybe not, but one thing is for sure, I loved this book. When it first started, I wasn't sure what to think, It is written for a younger audience than me but I still wanted to give it a try and I am glad I did. After the start, the book picked up pace and became very engaging and riveting. I did not want to put it down, and stayed up well into the night in order to finish it. I loved the plot twists and that I could not predict what the ending would be. I loved the misdirection and suspense. While most mysteries become graphic, this one did not which was a welcome surprise. Everything was kept mild and instead relied on suspense and misdirection. A welcome change to the mysteries I normally read (i.e. James Patterson and Mary Higgins Clark, both of whom I love, but can both become graphic in their descriptions).
Even the description of the book is kept mysterious: A coven of witches, a teenage comic book magnate, a skinhead Neanderthal with violent propensities, an abusive father, an amorous science teacher, and a mistranslated medieval mathematics manuscript figure prominently in this new mystery set in modern-day Colorado.
I went into this book having no idea what to expect and ended very happy with the way it was written. I will definitely be reading the rest of the books in the series. 5/5 stars
August 2, 2013
Book #24 for 2013
DON'T READ THE BLURB! Seriously. It gives too much away and is slightly inaccurate. But read the book. The book is quite good.
This is another book I got as a gift for my mother (who used to be a math teacher), and I think she liked it, too. It's pretty clear that Bob drew on his experiences as a teacher. The kid characters seemed pretty realistic, as did their interactions. But I understand now why Bob was surprised that this book got marketed as YA. Yes, many of the characters are high-schoolers, but lots of them wind up as plot-fodder quite quickly, and the protagonist/sleuth is most definitely the 50-something teacher, Bonnie Pinkwater.
I liked Bonnie, for the most part. She did seem a little inconsistent at times, but who isn't? It wasn't what I'd call a distraction, and I liked that she certainly wasn't perfect.
I would have liked a little bit more connection between the plot and the Witch of Agnesi math problem itself. But the overall witchcraft theme running throughout the book was interesting, and as I think back on it, lots of little details dovetailed nicely. I really appreciate that sort of thing.
DON'T READ THE BLURB! Seriously. It gives too much away and is slightly inaccurate. But read the book. The book is quite good.
This is another book I got as a gift for my mother (who used to be a math teacher), and I think she liked it, too. It's pretty clear that Bob drew on his experiences as a teacher. The kid characters seemed pretty realistic, as did their interactions. But I understand now why Bob was surprised that this book got marketed as YA. Yes, many of the characters are high-schoolers, but lots of them wind up as plot-fodder quite quickly, and the protagonist/sleuth is most definitely the 50-something teacher, Bonnie Pinkwater.
I liked Bonnie, for the most part. She did seem a little inconsistent at times, but who isn't? It wasn't what I'd call a distraction, and I liked that she certainly wasn't perfect.
I would have liked a little bit more connection between the plot and the Witch of Agnesi math problem itself. But the overall witchcraft theme running throughout the book was interesting, and as I think back on it, lots of little details dovetailed nicely. I really appreciate that sort of thing.
March 1, 2014
This isn't normally a book I would like, seeing as how it had mathematical influences and all. But, I really liked it--and there wasn't enough math to fry my brain.
Bonnie Pinkwater is a respected teacher and academic coach, and when one of her students disappears on her watch, she can't just leave it to the local police. When the student turns up dead, Ms. Pinkwater knows she must rush to find the killer before another young person winds up dead. Add to the mix a witch coven, domestic and child abuse, and a science teacher/love interest, and you have all the ingredients for a really intriguing tale.
This was a great mystery read; one that kept my attention the whole way through, trying to guess the next turn of events. That is one thing I really liked about this book. I just couldn't predict what was going to happen next. It kept me zipping right through the pages. I loved that the main character (and detective) is a teacher, even if she does teach math! I've never read about a teacher detective before. Very unique! It was a mystery where the characters were more important than the crime. I also liked the humor in it, and the romance was a nice twist. I love it when aging teachers get their groove on.
Bonnie Pinkwater is a respected teacher and academic coach, and when one of her students disappears on her watch, she can't just leave it to the local police. When the student turns up dead, Ms. Pinkwater knows she must rush to find the killer before another young person winds up dead. Add to the mix a witch coven, domestic and child abuse, and a science teacher/love interest, and you have all the ingredients for a really intriguing tale.
This was a great mystery read; one that kept my attention the whole way through, trying to guess the next turn of events. That is one thing I really liked about this book. I just couldn't predict what was going to happen next. It kept me zipping right through the pages. I loved that the main character (and detective) is a teacher, even if she does teach math! I've never read about a teacher detective before. Very unique! It was a mystery where the characters were more important than the crime. I also liked the humor in it, and the romance was a nice twist. I love it when aging teachers get their groove on.
June 8, 2012
My biggest issue with this book is that it says it is for Grade 10 and up, so it is considered "young adult". I, personally, am not sure teenagers would be interesting in reading a book where Bonnie, the main character, is in her 50s. That being said, I myself really enjoyed reading it. First we meet Bonnie, a sarcastic math teacher who also mentors a small group of the smartest students who take part in an annual "Knowledge Bowl". At this event the story takes a turn when the smartest kid in school goes missing. From there, it's a rollercoaster while Bonnie, her new love interest Armen, and the police try to find out where the student went and who is responsible as other students end up dead.
This is one book I actually found myself drawn into. It's a who-dun-it that kept me guessing until the very end of the book. I'm not sure I would buy the other books in the series, but I would definitely recommend the first of the Bonnie Pinkwater series to anyone who enjoys a quick mystery to read.
This is one book I actually found myself drawn into. It's a who-dun-it that kept me guessing until the very end of the book. I'm not sure I would buy the other books in the series, but I would definitely recommend the first of the Bonnie Pinkwater series to anyone who enjoys a quick mystery to read.
July 26, 2016
Although i'm not a teenager and not in high school, i really enjoyed reading this book. The story was interesting with multiple twists and surprises. It is written well, clever, witty comments and all. I caught myself laughing out loud a few times. I understand there are other stories written about the main character, Bonnie and i'm intrigued to see what other trouble she manages to get herself into. I'm glad other reviewers recommended this book. Go ahead and read it!
March 12, 2013
Throughout the book they reference previous murder investigations and how the main characters know other characters. I was constantly wondering if there was a previous book in the series.
Also, while many characters were well developed, the main character remains undescribed for most of the story.
I don't think that I would buy the 2nd and 3rd books in the series.
Also, while many characters were well developed, the main character remains undescribed for most of the story.
I don't think that I would buy the 2nd and 3rd books in the series.
April 7, 2012
Normally, I am not a fan of mysteries. Their writing tends to be flat and predicable in my opinion, but not so with Robert Spiller’s beautifully crafted book. The writing is cleaver, funny, tense and unique! A great mystery in a unique location with an unexpected heroin.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 46 reviews