Agatha and the Ex's Wedding
Review of the Blackstone Audio Inc. audiobook edition (September 2009) of the original St. Martin's Press Minotaur hardcover (September 2009)

There Goes the Bride finds Agatha faced with having to attend the wedding of her ex, James Lacey. The bride is murdered though before the ceremony and Agatha becomes one of the suspects along with James. Meanwhile Agatha falls for a suave Frenchman named Sylvan Dubois. The case becomes somewhat of a never ending cycle as Agatha is under threat from the villain and their allies for an extended time.

I'm continuing to enjoy the fun of these cozies which are somewhat different from the TV-series which I saw first. Agatha is definitely more cranky in the books, but it is her human faults that make us accept her. Young detective Toni Gilmour continues here in this book #20 (in the TV series she was brought in at the beginning of Season 3, but as the niece of the housekeeper Simpson). Sir Charles is much more of a recurring character and occasional love interest than he is in the screen adaptation and his cheap and chintzy manners are played up quite a bit.

The narration of this book #20 marks the return of the series regular reader Penelope Keith after Wanda MacCaddon narrated the previous 2 books. MacCaddon was fine in the role but gave a much more restrained performance than Keith does in the other voices e.g. the exaggerated vocal mannerisms of Roy and Sir Charles.

Most (28 of 32) of the Agatha Raisin audiobooks are free on Audible Plus. A continuation series Book 32 Down the Hatch is yet to be released, and is expected to be published in October 2021. Down the Hatch is apparently entirely written by continuation writer R.W. Green whereas #31 Hot to Trot was a collaboration with M.C. Beaton.

Trivia and No Link
There Goes the Bride has been adapted for the currently ongoing Agatha Raisin TV series (2016-). It is currently scheduled to be broadcast as Episode 4 in the upcoming Series 4 later in 2021/early in 2022. There is no trailer yet available. ( )

Beaton again bangs on about the impending ban on smoking. She really is such a dinosaur on this front. Otherwise this book seemed unfocused and lurched from one story line to another. Agatha seems in the verge of depression most of the time but her friends/acquaintances rally around her. ( )

Fun weekend read. Lively characters. Good momentum. ( )

I thought this one would never end! I have enjoyed listening to all of the previous Agatha Raisin books read by Donada Peters, this is the first read by Penelope Keith, and it just isn't the same. Keith's voice is rather bland and her accents not very good. I will keep listening (as they are still light little mysteries that don't take a lot of concentration), but I'm not sure for how much longer.

As for the story it is a typical Agatha Raisin but it seems to jump around a lot (much more than her prior books). So between the jumping around the different reader I have to say I just wasn't as entertained by this one. ( )

It's hard not to like Agatha Raisin. She doesn't do everything perfect, she sometimes needs help putting the clues together, and her private life is a social wreck. I think most readers could be both annoyed with her brusque attitude and at the same time relate to her far from perfect characterization. As far as coziness goes, this is one of my favorite series, and I would have given this installment a rating higher than 3 stars if it weren't for the fact that after 20-something books the plot line is getting a little redundant. How many times can Agatha fall in love with the wrong man? Still worth the read, though. ( )