It's hard to say goodbye to a beloved series when the author passes away as has M.C. Beaton. R.W. Green, her friend and fellow author, has picked up the mantle and attempted to carry on with the series with all the usual characters. He has written quite a good mystery in his second attempt and the book is worth reading for that alone.

It seems to me though that the writer has lost that ineffable something (snarkiness?) that made Agatha so amusing and special. For instance, remember when she'd dash to fix her make-up whenever a handsome male would cross her path? Gone! And how jealous she has been of Toni's youth and beauty? Now she's okay with being mistaken for mother and daughter. No more deep-seated inferiority complex rearing its ugly head. And now she and James have restarted their relationship with no hint of the friction that always drove them apart. It's as if all her relationships and most of her rough edges have been smoothed over. If you don't mind a toned-down Agatha who has even learned to get along with Charles' butler Gustav, I would recommend this well-written, intriguing mystery.

I received an arc of this new mystery from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Many thanks for the opportunity.

Agatha Raisin unwittingly stumbles upon a recently deceased body and the traumatized couple who found him first. While Inspector Wilkes is quick to dismiss the death of the Admiral as accidental poisoning--an alcoholic, he drank weedkiller that was in a rum bottle--Agatha suspects murder. Sure enough, she is soon drawn into the investigation while still working the cases her investigating firm was actually hired for.

In addition to her paid staff, she is assisted by James, her on-again/off-again lover (and once husband) and former colleague, Roy, while Sir Charles also tries to get back in her good graces.

Agatha Raisin books have long been favorites of mine, and author R. W. Green is doing a fantastic job of continuing the series after M. C. Beaton's death. Agatha is still her delightfully grumpy self but not quite as mean-spirited and she's also lost some of her desperation in pursuing men. And she stopped smoking! I would feel disloyal if I said he's made the series even better, but he really has. #DownTheHatch #NetGalley

As an avid fan of the tv series, I was excited to discover the books are just as vivacious and hilarious. I laughed out loud multiple times, in particular when Agatha is called to investigate giant smiling rats and short wizards in an old man’s garden.
This was a fitting finale for M. C. Beaton and a highly enjoyable read.

This has been one of my all time favourite series.
My understanding is that this is the first written solely by the new author.
It does have a different feel to the characters.
It is still a solid cozy but not my favourite.
I voluntarily reviewed an advance reader copy of this book.

Long time Agatha fans might quibble with RW Green and how he's changed the character a bit but should, on balance, be pleased to know she's still in fine form. I can't imagine confusing weedkiller for rum and drinking it and neither can Agatha when the Admiral, a much discussed and disliked gardener is found dead. Chief Inspector Wilkes and Agatha, as usual disagree about much but fans of this heroine (and genre) know she's going to be the one is correct. Someone at the garden club doesn't want Agatha investigating that's for sure but she's intrepid, as is Simon,, who is assaulted, No spoilers from me. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. Green's made Agatha a little smoother and less fractious and that's not a a bad thing. A good read.

🔍Good, cozy whodunit but Agatha is changed🌄

This whodunit set in the Cotswold villages and countryside has a variety of good cases to solve (especially fun was the mystery of the grinning rats🐁!) and all of the main characters from this long-running series reappear, but somehow Agatha the private detective has turned into a paragon and lost the character flaws that, for me, made her stand out from other detectives in the genre.

I've been devouring Agatha Raisin mysteries for years, drawn to them by the vain, often jealous, mature coquette heroine who kept rubbing people the wrong way and riling the police. It appears that that version of Agatha, so reliably the same in each book, has flown the coop and been replaced by a less self-absorbed version. And the men in her life have matured too!

I enjoyed the book and found it a quick and easy read with some unique twists and a good helping of danger. I just miss Agatha's weird antics and attempts to hold back the effects of time on her middle-aged body.

Thanks to Minotaur Books and NetGalley for sharing a complimentary advance copy of the book; this is my voluntary and honest opinion.

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was a really fun book. I enjoyed it a lot.

I applaud R.W. Green's attempt to keep the Agatha Raisin series going it just isn't the same. I enjoyed this story but Agatha is tamed down from previous books and not as interesting.

Down the Hatch does not disappoint. It's a fun read with obviously great, well-crafted characters that you can't help but fall in love with. The story makes you feel as if you are part of the scene investigating right there alongside them.

In this edition, we find Agatha Raisin back to her sleuthing ways. The body she finds has been poisoned and she is convinced no one would mistake weedkiller for rum. And so, begins the investigation.

Every book seems to get better than the last! Loved it.

I’ve read every Agatha Raisin novel and had mixed feelings when I heard a writer was taking over the series now that author M.C. Beaton has died. However, he has brought a maturity to Agatha that I appreciate as a long-time reader. Agatha snips at Toni but they don’t fall out over Agatha’s envy of Toni’s youth and beauty. Agatha finally seems to have sorted her love life (I hope). Everything just seems less angry and more jovial. The body count is lower than in many previous books. Agatha is still her insecure but powerfully competent self, but she’s also more reasonable and less likely to fly off the handle. She walks out on someone in anger, and then returns when she has a minute to think about it. Dare I say it, the whole book just seemed more - believable than many of the entries in the series. The new author has captured a kinder, more even Agatha – and I like it. This second book by R.W. Green is closer to the spirit of the original books than his first book, but also new and improved.

When I’ve been reading a lot of “issue” books and am anxious over the state of the world, it’s nice to slip into an Agatha Raisin book and be distracted for awhile. Keep ‘em coming.

I read an advance reader copy of Down the Hatch from Netgalley.

"Beloved New York Times bestseller M. C. Beaton's cranky, crafty Agatha Raisin - the star of her own hit T.V. series - is back on the case again in Down the Hatch.

Private detective Agatha Raisin, having recently taken up power-walking, is striding along a path in Mircester Park during her lunch break when she hears a cry for help. Rushing over, 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 man, who the coroner determines died by poisoning, was known as "the Admiral," a gardener notorious for his heavy drinking, and Chief Inspector Wilkes writes the death off as an accident caused by the consumption of weedkiller stored in a rum bottle. Agatha is not convinced that anyone would mistake weedkiller for rum but carries on with her work at Raisin Investigations, until she receives an anonymous tip that the Admiral’s death was no accident.

Local gossip points to the Swinburns themselves as the killers, spurred by a feud at the club where they, as well as the Admiral, were members. Distraught at this accusation, they turn to Agatha to clear their name, and she takes the case - despite the warnings of Chief Inspector Wilkes.

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, and then another attack occurs, it becomes clear that someone doesn’t want the case closed - and will stop at nothing to prevent Agatha from solving it."

The question I have is are we getting an author to continue Hamish Macbeth as well?

This is the 32nd in the series and the 2nd book written just by RW Green. RW Green worked with M.C. Beaton on her last few books and had her approval to continue the Agatha series. I find this series always delightful and this was a welcome new addition to the series. Albeit we will always miss the writings of M.C. Beaton I appreciate that she trusted her long time assistant to continue the series.

This is a new and improved Agatha striving for better health and taken on power walking and healthy eating, Gone are the cigarettes and heavy microwave meals . Agatha is determined to get in shape and lose weight. She is busy with her successful detective agency. and seems happy to have stopped chasing love . The new Agatha is focused on her health and improving herself overall.

When she finds a murder has occured while out on a walk Agatha and her detective agency are involved. This has the wonderful sarcasm and wit of the Agatha we love blended perfectly with a great sleuth and wonderful charcters. A welcome addition to the series.

Down the Hatch: An Agatha Raisin Mystery
by M. C. Beaton with R. W. Green

Agatha Raisin made her debut as a PR agent/amateur sleuth in Agatha Raisin and the Quiche of Death in 1992. That book was the first of M. C. Beaton’s 30 Agatha Raisin novels. Marion Chesney (Beaton’s real name) was a prolific author who wrote several series of books under her own name and a number of pen names.
Chesney’s Agatha Raisin books were classic cozies but she herself was perhaps more down to earth and practical about the business of writing and the relationship between author and readership than most since she, unlike many other authors, had reached out and identified another author to pick up the pen/typwriter after she was unable to carry on her work. R. W. Green took over writing the Raisin books with Hot to Trot which was finished before Chesney died and published in 2020.
Down the Hatch which will arrive in bookstores this October is Green’s second Raisin book. His writing style and plotting isn’t quite the same as Beaton’s but this reader (and many others) find his work to be quite similar to Beaton’s. Beaton will never write another Agatha Raisin book, but for those who want to follow Agatha stumble upon murders (as she seems fated always to do) to watch her ongoing relationship with James develop, watch her ever continuing battle with Detective Chief Inspector Wilkes, Green tells a good, one might even say, a cozy murder story.

This was the first book I’ve read in the long running Agatha Raisin series. In this installment Agatha discovers a man who has been poisoned while she is as out on a walk. The man, the Admiral, is not well liked which leads to many suspects. I enjoyed all the characters and this was a fun, quick read. I’m definitely compelled to read more of the back series now.

In this installment of the Agatha Raisin series, Agatha is hired by a local couple to clear their name and find the real murderer after they found a dead body on the local green. The story is filled with the usual supporting characters, wit and humor. However, this plot felt “flat” to me and didn’t have a lot of substance. I’m thrilled that R.W. Green has taken the reigns and continued this series. I look forward to the next installment.

This is the 32nd book in the long standing Agatha Raisin Mystery series set in the Cotswolds in England.The 1st 30 were written by Marion herself and the last 2 after her passing by RW Green, who has been selected by Marion to continue her series. I started the series in 1992 with the Quiche of Death and thus have been a fan for several decades.

I liked Mr Green's 2nd continuance of the series very much..The things I was picky about in his first go round seem better to me now.It could be that I was " too much in my head" knowing Marion was not the author as as the characters seem nearer to the established ones.

Besides several murders there are some humorous moments; Toni and Agatha get arrested while in a strip club, and who is Agatha having a romantic tryst with in the woods?

Long time fans such as myself as well as new fans will love the fact that the Agatha Raisin series will continue on.
A little more of Mrs Biloxy in the next book please.

A big thank you to NetGalley, St Martin 's Presa, Minotaur Books and the author for the opportunity to read and review this book. The book publishes on October 26, 2021

Unfortunately, giving the series another go didn't improve it in the slightest. Agatha is still a mean spirited, bitter, unlikable protagonist incapable of actually solving a case. She stumbles on the solution rather than actually reasoning anything out.

Mr Green does a good job continuing M C Beaton’s beloved Agatha Raisin series. In this second book since the author’s death, Green continues their collaboration. As usual, Agatha is tackling many mysteries at once, but it’s the murder of an old man who really gets her going. James, Charles, Toni and Roy are all back to assist, annoy or romance her. I enjoyed it!

A fairly good read but I expected more mystery and suspense. It’s my first time reading her work though so perhaps I need to read some of her past work in this series. I think I’m comparing it too much to the awesome TV series on Acorn TV. It started out too slow for me. It had a decent ending though so overall I’d say it’s a good cozy mystery for an entertaining quick read.

Book Review: Down the Hatch, by MC Beaton and RW Green
When private detective Agatha Raisin is out for a stroll, she hears a cry for help. She finds the source of the cries and discovers a dead man at the feet of a local couple. The man died as a result of poisoning.
The man, known locally as “The Admiral,” was not well liked and there are all sorts of potential clues about this who-dunnit strewn throughout the book.

It was an entertaining and quick read. The Agatha character was fun and charming. I enjoyed how the author portrayed her.

Down the hatch refers of course, to downing a cocktail – and it was a favorite expression of the now deceased Admiral (who it turns out wasn’t really an Admiral after all.) It seems the Admiral was always drinking – to excess – and making trouble for others at the local club of which he was a member and past President.

I thought the book had a good plot in terms of the mystery and how it unfolded. The characters were well developed and I liked the dialogue. Although it wasn’t a book I would recommend to others, as it just wasn’t my cup of tea, there are some that this book will appeal to enormously – especially as it portrays a recurring character (Agatha) who is in multiple novels.