“What makes you think I’ll let you do that?” Agatha was trembling but defiant.
“Because,” Carver gave her an ugly smile, “you can’t stop me. You’re only a woman.”
“Maybe I’m not as weak as you think!” Agatha’s voice was a potent mix of fear and anger.
“Oh yeah?” Carver taunted. “What you gonna do? Hit me with your handbag?”
“I could…” Agatha offered as her best defence.
“Go on, then.” Carver laughed, slapping his free hand against his barrel chest. “Give it your best shot!”
Agatha swung her handbag and hit him not in the chest but in the forehead, the handbag making contact with a sound like a mallet hitting wood. Carver staggered sideways, stunned, blood pouring from a wide gash above his left eye.
“What…?” he mumbled, confused, but Agatha had also moved, sidestepping away from the cliff and delivering another hammer blow from her handbag that landed square on Carver’s chin. He groaned and stumbled to his right, dazed, changing places with Agatha and James as if in some bizarre dance ritual.
Carver wiped blood from his eyes to see Agatha, her handbag burst open, haul a house brick from inside it. She stared straight at him and shrugged to let him know that she had never intended to play fair. James snatched the brick from her and hurled it at Carver with all his might. Carver’s momentary look of fear turned to a sneer when his free hand caught the brick against his chest, its momentum forcing only a slight backward step. He threw the brick over the cliff and gave his head a shake, clearing his senses to refocus on Agatha and James.
“And that’s the best you got?” he sneered, slashing the knife from left to right and lunging forward. As he did so, his feet seemed to lose their grip, and a panicked look shot across his face. There was a brief tearing, scraping sound and the grass beneath his boots sagged, sank and vanished, the cliff edge crumbling beneath him. Arms flailing, he fought to find solid ground, desperately trying to swim through the air, horror widening his eyes. Then he disappeared.
Agatha and James stepped back, away from the cliff. Unable to contain herself, Agatha threw herself flat on the ground and began crawling forward, determined to take a look over the edge. James grabbed her ankles to haul her back, but not before she had peered down on Carver’s broken body, splayed and bloodied on the unforgiving rocks far below.
James held her tight and she let out a long sob, the tension and terror bringing tears to her eyes. Then she pulled away from him, looking off towards the Seven Sisters, inland across the golf course and then back along the path to Seaford.
“There’s no one else around,” she sniffed, accepting a handkerchief that James produced from a pocket. “No one saw a thing.”
“No one,” James agreed, “and accidents sometimes happen here. People have been known to wander too close to the edge, to fall over and—”
“And,” Agatha sprang to her feet, grabbing James’s hand, “we have a ferry to catch. Come on, James—I’ve never felt more like getting lost in France.”
Also by M. C. Beaton
AGATHA RAISIN
Beating About the Bush: An Agatha Raisin Mystery
The Dead Ringer: An Agatha Raisin Mystery
The Witches’ Tree: An Agatha Raisin Mystery
Pushing Up Daisies: An Agatha Raisin Mystery
Dishing the Dirt: An Agatha Raisin Mystery
The Blood of an Englishman: An Agatha Raisin Mystery
Something Borrowed, Someone Dead: An Agatha Raisin Mystery
Hiss and Hers: An Agatha Raisin Mystery
As the Pig Turns: An Agatha Raisin Mystery
There Goes the Bride: An Agatha Raisin Mystery
A Spoonful of Poison: An Agatha Raisin Mystery
Kissing Christmas Goodbye: An Agatha Raisin Mystery
Love, Lies and Liquor: An Agatha Raisin Mystery
The Perfect Paragon: An Agatha Raisin Mystery
The Deadly Dance: An Agatha Raisin Mystery
Agatha Raisin and the Haunted House
Agatha Raisin and the Case of the Curious Curate
Agatha Raisin and the Day the Floods Came
Agatha Raisin and the Love from Hell
Agatha Raisin and the Fairies of Fryfram
Agatha Raisin and the Witch of Wyckhadden
Agatha Raisin and the Wizard of Evesham
Agatha Raisin and the Wellspring of Death
Agatha Raisin and the Terrible Tourist
Agatha Raisin and the Murderous Marriage
The Walkers of Dembley: An Agatha Raisin Mystery
The Potted Gardener: An Agatha Raisin Mystery
The Vicious Vet: An Agatha Raisin Mystery
The Quiche of Death: An Agatha Raisin Mystery
The Skeleton in the Closet
EDWARDIAN MYSTERY SERIES
Our Lady of Pain
Sick of Shadows
Hasty Death
About the Author
M. C. BEATON (1936–2019), hailed as the “Queen of Crime” by The Globe and Mail, was the author of the New York Times and USA Today bestselling Agatha Raisin novels—the basis for the hit series on Acorn TV and public television—as well as the Hamish Macbeth series and the Edwardian Murder Mysteries featuring Lady Rose Summer. Born in Scotland, Beaton started her career writing historical romances under several pseudonyms as well as her maiden name, Marion Chesney. You can sign up for email updates here.
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Contents
Title Page
Copyright Notice
Dedication
Foreword
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
About the Author
Copyright
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
First published in the United States by Minotaur Books, an imprint of St. Martin’s Publishing Group
DOWN THE HATCH. Copyright © 2021 by M. C. Beaton Ltd. All rights reserved. For information, address St. Martin’s Publishing Group, 120 Broadway, New York, NY 10271.
www.minotaurbooks.com
Cover design by Rowen Davis and David Baldeosingh Rostein
Cover images: pavillion © Volushka/Shutterstock.com; poison © Martial Red/Shutterstock.com; landscape © Ardea-studio/ Shutterstock.com
The Library of Congress has cataloged the print edition as follows:
Names: Beaton, M. C., author. | Green, R.W. (Novelist), author.
Title: Down the hatch / M.C. Beaton; with R.W. Green.
Description: First U.S. edition. | New York: Minotaur Books, 2021. | Series: Agatha Raisin mysteries; 32 | Identifiers: LCCN 2021029253 |
ISBN 9781250816139 (hardcover) | ISBN 9781250816146 (ebook)
Subjects: LCGFT: Detective and mystery fiction. | Novels.
Classification: LCC PR6053.H4535 D69 2021 | DDC 823/.914—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021029253
eISBN 9781250816146
Our ebooks may be purchased in bulk for promotional, educational, or business use. Please contact the Macmillan Corporate and Premium Sales Department at 1-800-221-7945, extension 5442, or by email at [email protected]
Originally published in the United Kingdom by Constable Books
First U.S. Edition: 2021