I am working on getting up-to-date on two of my favorite mystery series, Agatha Raisin and Hamish Macbeth, coincidentally or not by the same author, M.C. Beaton.  I picked these two up from the library and read them last night.    What I found interesting is that somehow both of them had strong references to fairies, just seems funny that I am in two different places in the series and happened to read books from both of them that had to do with fairies, in some respect back to back.

Agatha Raisin is one of my very favorite sleuths.  I love that you can’t keep her down.  She is always trying to solve her problems, even though sometimes in very ill advised ways.  In this book, she is trying to get over James, still, yet again and so decides to move away from her little cottage and move to a village, Fryfam, in Norfolk.  Of course, being Agatha once she arrives there is a murder in the sleepy little village which she has to solve.  Her loyal sidekick, Sir Charles Fraith assists again in the investigation.  Mrs. Bloxby is also regularly consulted about the  “James” situation and village goings on in Carsely.  The mystery is neatly resolved, although the good folks of Fryfam are not so happy with the resolution.  There is also another twist in the Agatha and James romance but you’ll have to read it to see.  In my opinion, you do need to read this series in order to appreciate the references to past events and the relationshp between Agatha and the other recurring characters, Mrs. Bloxby, Charles and James.

Death of a Kingfisher seems to me to be a darker outing in the Hamish Macbeth series.  There is still humor particularly in the relationship between Hamish and his constable, Dick, an incomparable game show contestant and trivia buff.  There is more than one crime occurring and many twists and turns on the way to the end.  Some truly disturbing, darker  characters are part of the cast.  Par for the course, Hamish is unlucky in love, or as Patty, the Millionaire Matchmaker, would say – “his picker is broken”.  This was not my favorite in the series but still a good read, that being perhaps Death of a Poison Pen or Death of a Cad, i can’t really choose, I really liked so many of this series.