The Potted Gardener book review

Agatha Raisin and the Potted Gardener by M.C. Beaton
Series: Agatha Raisin #3
Published by Minotaur Books on July 15, 1994
Pages: 256
Goodreads

Never say die. That's the philosophy Agatha Raisin clings to when she comes home to cozy Carsely and finds a new woman ensconced in the affections of her attractive bachelor neighbor, James Lacey.
The beautiful newcomer, Mary Fortune, is superior in every way, especially when it comes to gardening. And Agatha, that rose with many thorns, hasn't a green thumb to her name. With garden Open Day approaching, she longs for a nice juicy murder to remind James of her genius for investigation.
And sure enough, a series of destructive assaults on the finest gardens is followed by an appalling murder. Agatha seizes the moment and immediately starts yanking up village secrets by their roots and digging up all the dirt on the victim. Problem is, Agatha has an awkward secret of her own . . .

The Potted Gardener is the third book in the Agatha Raisin series and I have to say I loved this one, it was such a great read with a really unique murder scene. Plus the motivation for it all seemed so trivial but perfectly understandable. I just love the stories that run through all of these books and this one was no different. I don’t know how Agatha does it but with every book, she becomes more and more lovable and I end up rooting for her more! I think this series will end up and remain one of my guilty pleasures.

So the series follows the main character Agatha Raisin, who is this retired PR professional and I have come to love her. You root for her even when you start to cringe for her decisions and start hope that everything ends up working out the best. You also kinda want to invite her round to your house for tea for a chat. She’s such a lovely so realistic woman that you can’t help but care for her even when she’s making stupid mistakes. If I’m honest I don’t really bother with any of the other characters in the novel because they all feel a little bit like background noise, which usually I would hate but for these books, it seems to make perfect sense and I quite enjoy it.

I love this series and The Potted Gardener might just be my favourite of the ones that I have read. I loved the murder scene and how well it was written and described. I think what this book and this series do well is bizarre, it really pushes the boundaries of why murders happened in weird and wonderful ways. I have read a lot of murder mysteries and they all work around the same motives and these books do the same but the reasoning behind them is a little more on the comedic side, they always make sense but they make me laugh and then cry!

The only worst bits for me with these books would be the dynamic between Agatha and James. I have said this in previous reviews but I wish she wouldn’t put so much of her own self-worth into what he thinks of her. We start to see a little bit more of her separating herself out from him in The Potted Gardener but I just didn’t think it went far enough. It feels like with this book series there is this weird will they won’t they but it doesn’t feel natural or healthy. I would love this series WAY more if they just scrapped that element completely!

This series is still one of my absolute favourites, I love reading them when I’m in the mood for something lighter and more of a quick read. I think the best thing about these books is that although they are shorter you don’t sacrifice any of the good plot or the good characters. The Potted Gardener does all of this and I loved watching all the funny quirky things that Agatha Raisin gets up to and the unique murder. This book has renewed my love for this series.

I love this series, I love Agatha! Have you got a guilty pleasure read? What is it? Let me know!