Down the Hatch - Agatha Raisin, Bk 32 Author:M. C. Beaton, R. W. Green Private detective Agatha Raisin -- having recently taken up power walking -- is striding along a path in Mircester Park when she hears a cry for help. She finds an elderly couple, Mr. and Mrs. Swinburn, in the middle of the green -- with the body of an old man lying at their feet. — The deceased was known as "the Admiral," a garden... more »er notorious for his heay drinking. Chief Inspector Wilkes writes the death off as an acccident caused by the consumption of weed killer stored in a rum bottle. Agatha is not convinced that anyone would mistake weed killer for rum, and her suspicions deepen when she receives an anonymous tip that the Admiral's death was no accident.
Local gossip points to the Swinburns as the killers, spurred by a feud at the club where they and the Admiral were members.Distraught at this accusation, they turn to Agatha to clear their name, and she takes the case -- despite Inspector Wilke's warnings to stay away. Agatha encounters one suspicious character after another, becoming further enmeshed in the Admiral's own dark and shady past. And when she's run off the road, narrowly escaping with her life, it beomes clear that someone will stop at nothing to prevent Agatha from solving the case.« less