DOWN THE HATCH: An Agatha Raisin Mystery

Nothing could be more relaxing or sedate than a quiet game of bowls on a pristine bowling green bathed in English sunshine in the Cotswolds - unless there's a dead body lying on the grass. Having recently taken up power-walking, Agatha Raisin Private Detective is striding along a path during her lunchbreak when she hears a cry for help. She finds an elderly couple Mr and Mrs Swinburne in the middle of the green, with the body of an old man lying at their feet. The man, who the coroner determines died by poisoning, was known as 'the Admiral', a gardener notorious for his heavy drinking. Chief Inspector Wilkes writes the death off as an accident caused by the consumption of weed killer stored in a rum bottle. Agatha is not convinced and then receives an anonymous tip that the Admiral's death was no accident. Local gossip points to the Swinburnes themselves as the killers, spurred by a feud at the club where they as well as the Admiral were members. They turn to Agatha to clear their name and she takes the case, despite the warnings of Chief Inspector Wilkes. When Agatha is run off the road, narrowly escaping with her life, another attack then occurs and it becomes clear that someone doesn't want the case closed. And Agatha's private life is no less turbulent when a past suitor reappears just as her ex-husband seems intent on rekindling their romance. 226pp.