This latest installment in the Agatha Raisin series brings Agatha eye-to-eye with the most adorable animal ever: the quokka. Seriously, these creatures are the cutest. They are a small type of wallaby about the size of a cat with a brown face, rounded ears, and what looks like the sweetest smile in the animal kingdom. How and why quokkas are part of the story is just one of many mysteries in Down the Hatch. Retired public relations guru and private detective Agatha is hired to work on a number of cases, including a suspected poisoning, workers' compensation fraud, a potential organized crime ring, a hit and run, and lots more. If there's trouble, it will find Agatha.
For those who are new to Agatha Raisin and for those who are longtime readers, Agatha is in no particular order consistently grumpy, smart, looking for love, a loyal friend, beautifully dressed, meticulously groomed, nobody's fool, and an overall force to be reckoned with. I love that a high-powered and high-profile PR person from London decided to retire and start up a secondary career in a totally different community with a countryside cottage-y vibe. The regular cast of characters working with Agatha at the detective agency, as well as neighbors, friends and former colleagues add comic relief and a genuine feeling of comradery and community.
This is the second posthumous Agatha Raisin Mystery written by M.C. Beaton with R.W. Green and it's perfectly cozy with all the Cotswolds charm and murder readers have come to expect. The two authors worked together to plot Agatha Raisin in what I consider to be the perfect transition plan before M.C. Beaton's death two years ago. Every detail, every nuance, it's all been practiced and approved and described in great detail in the prologue of the 2020 Agatha Raisin Mystery Hot to Trot. I am hopeful the legacy will continue for many more mysteries to come.