Free Agatha Raisin Companion by MC Beaton Page A

at tending to the flock than her bad-tempered
husband, Alf
    Here are just a few of the words of wisdom from the great lady:
    On their first meeting: ‘You struck me as a lady who had never known any real love or affection. You seem to carry a weight of loneliness about with you.’ Quiche of Death.
    ‘No wonder the churches are empty. I find that people who go to clairvoyants and fortune-tellers lack spirituality.’ Fairies of
     Fryfam.
    ‘I have always wondered why it is when someone says something cruel or offensive, they immediately cover it up by saying “It was only a joke. Can’t you
     take a joke?” ’ To Roy after he insulted Agatha and then backtracked in Walkers of Dembley.
    After Agatha sleeps with Guy Freemont on their second date Agatha asks her friend, ‘Does that shock you?’
    ‘No dear, but it probably shocks you. Women of our generation never got used to casual sex,’ replies Mrs Bloxby. Wellspring of Death.
    ‘I have observed goodness in people as well as evil. There is a bit of the divine spirit in all of us.’ Wellspring of Death.
    Men do not like needy women. Believe me, they can smell needy across two continents.’ Day the Floods Came.

    ‘Remember that the person you love when you are eighteen is not the person you would love when you are, say, twenty-five.’ Mrs
     B’s advice to Toni in Spoonful of Poison.
    ‘Beauty is a dangerous thing. It can slow character formation because people are always willing to credit the beautiful with character attributes they do not
     have.’ Curious Curate.
    ‘When confronted with someone who appears to be in a perpetual state of outrage, it is tempting for other people to wind them up. Besides, I have always found the
     most vociferous of guardians of morality on matters of sex are those who aren’t getting any. Some tea?’ To nosy-parker Mrs Anstruther-Jones in Day the Floods Came.
    On James:
    ‘Mrs Bloxby sipped her drink and looked at the flames in the hearth. She knew that Agatha had two obsessions. One was James Lacey and the other was danger. She
     wondered how long Agatha would last before she started stirring things up again.’ Love, Lies and Liquor.
    ‘Do you think you’re doing the right thing? I mean, men do not like to be pursued.’ As Agatha leaves for Cyprus in Terrible
     Tourist.
    ‘I have doubts about James Lacey He always struck me as being a rather cold, self-contained man.’ Terrible Tourist.
    ‘He’s nice enough, I grant you, but when it comes to women he’s cold and selfish.’ Fairies of Fryfam.
    ‘You’re letting someone live rent-free in your head.’ Fairies of Fryfam.

     

    ‘She did not realize that the root of the problem was that she was obsessive when it came to men. Agatha was addicted to falling in love. While she was obsessive about
some man, she could dream. But now, with no current obsession, when she lay down in bed at night, there seemed to be a black hole left in her head, around the edge of which swirled nagging, petty
little worries.’ Perfect Paragon.
    Agatha is never happy unless she has a man to be miserable about. Her passion borders on obsession, and the very absence of a romantic target makes her more depressed than when she is
lovelorn.
    Although James Lacey is the object of her most enduring fixation, there have been many passing fancies to temporarily distract her from the main prize.
    James Lacey
    James is the true love of her life. Agatha imagined she wouldnever experience grand passion until the tall, dark, handsome stranger arrived in
Carsely and bought the house next door to her. ‘Until she had set eyes on James Lacey, she would have sworn that all her hormones had laid down and died. She felt excited, like a schoolgirl
on her first date.’
    Handsome enough to ‘strike any middle-aged woman all of a heap’, the ex-army-officer-turned-author is over six feet tall, with blue eyes and black hair, fashionably cut, and only
slightly tinged with grey.
    Their initial