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  • Agatha Raisin in Down the Hatch

  • By: M. C. Beaton
  • Narrated by: Penelope Keith
  • Length: 6 hrs and 54 mins
  • 4.6 out of 5 stars (397 ratings)
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Agatha Raisin in Down the Hatch

By: M. C. Beaton
Narrated by: Penelope Keith
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Summary

Nothing could be more relaxing or sedate than a quiet game of bowls on a pristine bowling green bathed in the sunshine of an English summer's afternoon in the Cotswolds - unless there's a dead body lying on the grass.

Agatha Raisin becomes embroiled in a turmoil of jealousy and lies when the tranquillity of her local bowls club explodes into a storm of accusation and intrigue - and murder. Her private life is no less turbulent when a past suitor reappears just as her ex-husband seems intent on rekindling their romance, and her close friend, Bill Wong, is in danger of losing the woman he loves.

Events take an even darker turn when Agatha realises that, in pursuing the bowling green killer, she is putting her own life in danger....

©2021 M. C. Beaton (P)2021 Hachette Audio UK

Critic reviews

"Every new Agatha Raisin escapade is a total joy." (Ashley Jensen)

"No wonder she's been crowned Queen of Cosy Crime." (Mail on Sunday)

"The detective novels of M C Beaton have reached cult status." (The Times)

What listeners say about Agatha Raisin in Down the Hatch

Average customer ratings
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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Fabulous and Easy listening

I was deeply saddened when M.C.Beaton died.
I have enjoyed the Agatha Raisin series enormously.

As a writer M.C.Beaton has a prolific library of published work and I hoped there would be some "books in progress" left.
Thanks to the collaboration between M.C.Beaton and R.W.Green, Agatha Raisin has continued to shine .
In my humble opinion there is no other Actor, Vocal talent or person that encapsulates the true depths of Agatha Raisin to perfection than the truly wonderful and very talented Penelope Keith as always amazing narration .

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11 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

From Bowling Greens to Quokkas!

Really enjoyed listening to this last book in the series. As always Penelope Keith draws you into the story and her reading of the various characters adds enormously to the enjoyment. If this is actually the last book of Agatha Raisin the reader shouldn’t be disappointed as all the loose ends are tied up neatly. Well nearly all........

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6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Anti-climactic

You can tell the author has changed.
The characters have become nicer and argue less. Roy is less selfish, Agatha likes Simon more and Toni is less guarded about her love life around Agatha. That doesn’t really bother me though. It’s nice for them to get along sometimes.

What did bother me was the non-dramatic solution to the murder mystery. Usually, there’s a final brush with death or a twist where the killer escapes and then comes back for revenge. But in this one, Agatha solves the case and successfully confronts the murderer with evidence and witnesses….the end. I was left thinking, ‘Oh…was that really it?’ because I kept expecting a plot twist that never came.

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

A Tad Below The Mark, but only a tad..

I'm glad that Agatha Raisin is still detecting and although the last book was reassuringly good this one dips a bit. It needs more humour, some of the usual absurd situations were still there but they felt a bit arbitrary, a bit empty. Like painting by numbers with some of the pieces left uncoloured.
If you like Agatha Raisin you'll enjoy this but if you're new to her, please start with an earlier book.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars

The jury is out on RW Green?

Having spent my summer of 2021 hooked on the Penelope Keith's reading of the Agatha Raisin novels, & ending up listening to them all twice after I had missed out a Christmas story, thanks to Audible's dodgy numbering system, I was either in a good place to judge RW Green's handling of Agatha Raisin, or an over-invested fan of the sadly deceased MC Beaton in grief?! I am not sure which!🙈

But.....

I don't feel RW Green can write Agatha's thoughts as well MC Beaton, & at times it feels like he has copied out cliches from women's magazines. This could well be prejudice on my part as I must admit that I just don't like a male writer writing 'my' Agatha.

Worse still, he seems to have pressed reset on the whole Agatha-Charles storyline, & re-written James as a sympathetic, chatty character, which is just plain wrong. At times it feels like James is saying Charles' lines. This is very annoying if you have spent hours listening to MC Beaton's slow build up of the intimacy growing between Agatha & Charles. Agatha was over James?! I just wish MC Beaton had wrapped things up before her death.

Obviously, RW Green is not MC Beaton, & tends to write with comic book tone at times, with a somewhat heavier handed set piece feel of certain scenes.

On a practical note, the chapter listings are all wrong as Audible list include RW Green's introductions in their numbering system.

I think I will continue to buy these Audible as I have loved Penelope Keith since childhood, but it is going to take more for me to be won over by RW Green's handling of the Agatha Raisin series!

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Agatha Raisin in Down the Hatch

Love the story and the continued life of Agatha Raisin,, I have looked forward to this book for many months and have enjoyed it immensely, I am looking forward to the next chapter Agatha Raisins life and the Detective Agency and the continuing story of the Cotswold village. Well done loved every minute.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

A final? Great story

I am so sad to hear of the loss of M C Beaton, she was an incredible lady. I will also miss her wonderful books. It will be a lot lesser world without her.

This book is a typical Agatha Raisin book, with all the excitement that goes with it. Will she get back together with James? Who knows.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

Dreadful

Unlike other Agatha Raisin books, - almost unrecogniseable characters, doesn't seem authentic - couldn't even finish it, tried - but too awful. - don't buy!

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Another great story

Another wonderful performance by Penelope Keith as she reads the latest Agatha Raisin escapade. I felt MC Beaton has given us the old Agatha back but that she has also grown up at last. The story had a few unexpected twists and was thoroughly enjoyable. Definitely a good addition to the series. Lovely introduction about MC Beaton added. I do hope this isn’t the last although we’ve sadly lost the author.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Another lovely Agatha story

Lovely story, bit slow in parts and not quite as fun as previous book but still a good yarn.

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