Featured Author - June 2011 - M.C. Beaton

[Robin]

I'm so glad M.C. Beaton is our author this month. My library has tons of her books. I just checked out Love, Lies and Liquor (isn't that a great title?) and Death of a Charming Man.

[Ellen]

I finished which I loved. It read like the best of (my favorite) Christie. I found it unexpectedly moving. I'm now in the middle of which is hilarious so far.

I don't know if I posted, but a few days ago, I also read her which is one of my most favorite so far.

Until I read the next one (Nag). I think my favorite Hamish Macbeth is always going to be whichever one I just read!

[Jennifer]

I've read all the Hamish books yet published and all but Busy Body of Agatha but she's next up in my audio pile. Good choice for author and happy birthday briansgirl!

[Ellen]

Jennifer, which was your favorite Agatha? I'm waiting for from the library but I'm wondering what I should read after that? Is there a particularly good one or should I just go in order?

[Melodie]

I've never read this author as I don't usually care much for British mysteries. Decided to see what I could get on PBS and the first one that came up was , so I have a copy of it on the way. We'll see if I like it any better than others I've read!

[Jennifer]

And let me help you out here as a half-assed birthday gift:


1. The Quiche of Death
2. The Vicious Vet
3. Agatha Raisin and the Potted Gardener
4. Agatha Raisin and the Walkers of Dembley
5. Agatha Raisin and the Murderous Marriage
6. Agatha Raisin and the Terrible Tourist
7. Agatha Raisin and the Wellspring of Death
8. Agatha Raisin and the Wizard of Evesham
9. Agatha Raisin and the Witch of Wyckhadden
10. Agatha Raisin and the Fairies of Fryfam
11. Agatha Raisin and the Love from Hell
12. Agatha Raisin and the Day the Floods Came
13. Agatha Raisin and the Case of the Curious Curate
14. Agatha Raisin and the Haunted House
15. The Deadly Dance
16. The Perfect Paragon
17. Love, Lies and Liquor
18. Kissing Christmas Goodbye
19. A Spoonful of Poison
20. There Goes the Bride
21. Busy Body
22. Agatha Raisin as the Pig Turns

[Jennifer]

Ellie wrote: "Jennifer, which was your favorite Agatha? I'm waiting for from the library but I'm wondering what I should read aft..."

I want to say i liked "walkers" but that's partly because i think the whole idea that an ancient walking path has to be maintained uninterrupted by law as long as someone walks it once a year, and that there are groups that devote themselves to doing this, so compelling. Also it took a few books for agatha to really grow on me and that's about when it hit. :-)

[Ellen]

I appreciate that Jennifer-I usually don't "fall in love" with a series with one book & the first in a series is not usually my favorite.

That being said, I also find the walking path a compelling concept, something like the songlines.

But which book title is that? I don't see one with the word "walkers" in it or did I miss it?

[Ellen]

Never mind-I just saw the Walkers of Dembley.

My carelessness!

[Jennifer]

I should have put the whole title in. Sorry! :-(

[Ellen]

:) I can hardly wait to get it: I'm desperately trying to show some minimal restraint in my book-buying! But I may not be able to hold out for long. Beaton and "walkers"!

[Jennifer]

"minimal restraint" is about the aptest description I can think of -- unless you want to default right down to "no restraint." The beatons were the perfect example-- they had a bunch of them on audio at the library so I thought I'd get a lot of good free reads. Which I did. But of course I had to go buy all the ones the library didn't have-- so, so much for restraint and free reads. Sigh.

[Ellen]

There you go! Maybe I need to look up what the word "restraint" means.

Or maybe what I would require is enforced restraint!

[ஐ Katya (Book Queen)ஐ, Cozy Mysteries Group Owner]

Jennifer wrote: "And let me help you out here as a half-assed birthday gift:..."

Thanks Jennifer. I just havn't had time to link to all of those.

[Jennifer]

ஐ Briansgirl "Book Sale Queen"ஐ wrote: "Jennifer wrote: "And let me help you out here as a half-assed birthday gift:..."

Thanks Jennifer. I just havn't had time to link to all of those."
No biggie. No reason you should be taking all the weight! :-)

[[deleted user]]

I just downloaded Death of a Macho Man to my Kindle.

Being an avid horse racing fan, and with the last leg of the American Triple Crown being run Saturday with one of the participants name Mucho Macho Man, I thought this book would be perfect, lol!

[Robin]

Elizabeth wrote: "I just downloaded Death of a Macho Man to my Kindle.

Being an avid horse racing fan, and with the last leg of the American Triple Crown being run Saturday with one of the participa..."

I love your reasoning behind this, Elizabeth! M.C. Beaton has written so many "Death of" books, we could easily tie our choices to current events.

[Susie]

I'm actually caught up with Hamish and Agatha, and I'm just waiting patiently for the next book(s) in the series ;)

[Katherine]

I'm enjoying The Quiche of Death--i see what you mean --no recipes since Mrs Raisin is no cook! LOL

[Katherine]

Finished Quiche of Death! I hope Bill Wong continues as a character. Is romance with the Army guy neighbor in the offing? And what's with that vicar and his wife? I think I'm hooked! LOL

[Sue]

I'm afraid I didn't enjoy Death of a Hussy as much as I thought I would. I remember liking a Hamish I read a couple of years ago, though, so I'm not giving up on the series.

[Mary X]

I love MC Beaton. I want to move to Lochdubh and marry Hamish.

I'm up to Death of a Dustman.

I've read all the AGatha RAisin books. Hamish is my favorite though.

[❂ Murder by Death]

I'm about midway through Death of a Gossip and I gotta say it's not hooking me. But first books rarely do.

[Ellen]

I finally found a used copy of -having already read 4 or 5 in the series. I love the series; I rarely love first books in series. I'm curious as to how I'll like this one.

[Robin]

Mary wrote: "I love MC Beaton. I want to move to Lochdubh and marry Hamish."

You can marry him, Mary, but don't try to change him.

[Liz]

Hmmm, I think I've read just about all of her Historical series & loved them. But I tried the first couple Agatha Raisins & didn't care for them. Maybe I'll have to give her another try or maybe a Hamish Macbeth.

[❂ Murder by Death]

Just finished . I thought this book was just ok, really. I was impatient with the POV of Alice - who I thought was TSTL. I would have like the story more if more time was spent from the POV of Hamish as I found him to be a likeable and intriguing character. Don't know that I'll read any more.

[Ellen]

Jennifer E. wrote: "Just finished . I thought this book was just ok, really. I was impatient with the POV of Alice - who I thought was TSTL. I would have like the story more if more..."

Jennifer, I've read 5 or 6 books in the series, & so far, Gossip is the only one I've felt dragged.

One reason I often don't start with the first book of a series is that it often is the weakest.

[Katherine]

Ellie wrote: "Jennifer E. wrote: "Just finished . I thought this book was just ok, really. I was impatient with the POV of Alice - who I thought was TSTL. I would have like th..."

TSTL???? What does that mean? Maybe I'd know if I'd read the book? LOL

[Melodie]

Katherine wrote: "Ellie wrote: "Jennifer E. wrote: "Just finished . I thought this book was just ok, really. I was impatient with the POV of Alice - who I thought was TSTL. I woul..."

TSTL = too stupid to live

[Ellen]

Luckily, Hamish is much more central in Beaton's other books in the series.

[[deleted user]]

I finished Death of a Macho Man this morning. I'm off work today. I was disappointed. I remember liking other Hamish books, but I just felt like this one went on way too long! Only gave it 2 stars.

[Suzanne]

I had never read M.C. Beaton before, and just finished The Quiche of Death. I really enjoyed it, and am very glad this author was picked for the month. I agree with Kari, I think Agatha says/thinks many things we would all like to express!

[Mary X]

I have a love-hate relationship with Agatha. I want to smack her upside the head sometimes. But I can't stop reading about her exploits.

[Bobbi]

Oh, my favourite cozy author! So glad you chose her. I love, especially, the Agatha Raisin series. When I first read Quiche of Death, years ago, Agatha was such a refreshing change from all the goody-goodies in cozy novels. I like Hamish stories, too, but not quite as much. I didn't know about all the other series. What a prolific author!

[KarenF]

I finished The Quiche of Death yesterday. Yet another series I don't know why I waited so long to read. I have a vast fondness for prickly female characters so Agatha was right up my alley. I can see where she'd be tiresome in quantity so I'll take a little break before reading the next one. But I really enjoyed this, especially for a first in a series which sometimes can be a little weak.

[Jennifer]

Just started Busy Body , which is the only book yet published in either Beaton series that I have not yet read.

[❂ Murder by Death]

Ellie wrote: "Luckily, Hamish is much more central in Beaton's other books in the series."

Ellie - thanks for the heads up on Hamish. The rest of the Borders stores here in Australia are closing down, so I'll wait until the markdowns become drastic enough to make the books affordable, and I'll check out a few others in the series. Otherwise, I'm coming home for a couple of weeks in July and I'll hit a few UBS and see if I can find a couple and give them a go. :)

[Ellen]

I hope you like the books when you can get them. It seems so odd to me that it should be so hard to get books in Australia. What will happen when there's no more Borders? Do you have Barnes & Noble or do you have to ship everything in?

[Hannah]

Jennifer E. wrote: "Ellie - thanks for the heads up on Hamish. The rest of the Borders stores here in Australia are closing down, so I'll wait until the markdowns become drastic enough to make the books affordable..."

Jennifer, you couldn't find them in your local libraries either? Mine only seem to have a few Hamish books in the teens/twenties and the odd Agatha Raisin. Borders Online is having a 30% off Queen's Birthday sale though, and it's free shipping.

Ellie - I'm not Jennifer, but there's no B&N here in Australia. The only big chain store left is Dymocks, I think, and there aren't too many of them around. Their selection is very small anyway, unless you manage to find one of the megastores (I think there's one in the city).

[Ellen]

Is there a big untapped market in Australia waiting to be fed? Or are there not enough readers? Either way, it must be difficult. I'm too spoiled for words.

[Hannah]

The market's definitely there. I think it's mainly a matter of pricing, particularly when you look at how quickly the closing Borders stores cleaned out once the discounts got to about 50-60% off. Even taking into account that stores here buy the UK editions, it still shouldn't translate to paperbacks at AUD$18-24 RRP. 20-something dollars for your average fantasy/sci-fi novel is simply not affordable.

[Ellen]

I'm so happy you chose Beaton for featured author: I'm sorry I forgot to say thank you. And thank you for running one of the best groups I belong to. Always something interesting & fun. I love checking in. Thanks for all your hard work.

I started reading M.C. Beaton a few months ago-thanks to this group, of course! :-)

[❂ Murder by Death]

I think I'd call Australia an "underserved" market as opposed to an untapped one - there are many bookstores within walking distance to me - Dymocks, Readings, Angus and Robertson, not to mention independents and used bookstores. But the problem is, as Hannah said, the price. To buy a brand new mass-market paperback here is to pay over 21.00USD. Hardcovers, if you can find them (they are less popular here) start at a minimum of 42USD. Used books are still more expensive than brand new versions in either UK or USA. Either booksellers here have huge costs we aren't aware of, or they just don't get it. So every single person I know who buys books buys them online, overseas. I don't think I could live here happily without AbeBooks and Book Depository.

[Mary X]

Have you looked into Bookmooch.com?

[Hannah]

Mary - I use Bookmooch, and while I love it, it's often hard to get books you really want to read. Almost all of my wishlisted books are only available from the US. With the increased international shipping prices, no one wants to send to Australia.

Bookmooch has also changed their policies lately so that it costs you 3 points to mooch an international book. So now, not only do people not want to send me books, they don't want to mooch from me either. No new points coming in = no points to mooch, since it costs me 3 points to mooch one book. The Bookmooch admin commented that lack of points should just encourage people to place more books in their inventory, but he doesn't seem to realize that Australians are also limited to sending only thinner books. Light books under 2cm thick costs about $4.50 to send internationally. Any book thicker than 2cm costs about $9.50.

[❂ Murder by Death]

Kari - when I use Abe I use it to find cheap books - 1.00 range plus I have the chance to compare shipping costs of all the vendors - the range of shipping prices is astounding. When I find a vendor I use more than once, I'll go straight to their site in future.

Mary - I've looked at Bookmooch but they never have the books I want. And from what Hannah mentions above - it doesn't seem to be that great for Aussies anymore. :(

[Kimmie]

In honor of our featured author I listened to and on audiobook. Agatha is always enjoyable. Lady Rose and Captain Harry are a fun mix and a great period read.
-Kimmie

[ஐ Katya (Book Queen)ஐ, Cozy Mysteries Group Owner]

Ellie wrote: "I'm so happy you chose Beaton for featured author: I'm sorry I forgot to say thank you. And thank you for running one of the best groups I belong to. Always something interesting & fun. I love chec..."

You're welcome. :)

[ஐ Katya (Book Queen)ஐ, Cozy Mysteries Group Owner]

Kari wrote: "You should not be buying books from ABE. You can usually buy them cheaper on other sites. All the booksellers I know me included mark up our books 20-25% on ABE to offset the high commission and l..."

Perhaps ABE books has a good deal on overseas postage that would offset the price of the books. I know postage can cost as much as the price of the book, depending on where they buy it from to ship overseas.