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Murder Before Evensong by Richard Coles
Dec. 1st, 2022 11:17 pmThe Blurb On The Back:
Canon Daniel Clement is Rector of Champton. He has been there for eight years, living at the rectory alongside his widowed mother - opinionated, fearless, occasionally annoying Audrey - and his two dachshunds, Cosmo and Hilda.
When Daniel announces a plan to install a lavatory in the church, the parish is suddenly (and unexpectedly) divided: as lines are drawn, long-buried secrets come dangerously close to destroying the apparent calm of the village.
And then Anthony Bowness - cousin to Bernard de Flores, patron of Champton - is found dead at the back of the church, stabbed in the neck with a pair of secateurs.
As the police move in and the bodies start piling up, Daniel is the only one who can try and keep his fractured community together … and catch a killer.
( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )
The Verdict:
Richard Coles’s debut crime novel (the first in a series) is more interested in the impact of a murder on a close-knit community and in the main character’s thoughts on murder and evil than in actually investigating whodunnit. At the same time, it is not immediately clear when this book is set and there are inconsistencies in the time line but if you can get past that, I think Coles has something interesting to offer and I would read the sequel.
Canon Daniel Clement is Rector of Champton. He has been there for eight years, living at the rectory alongside his widowed mother - opinionated, fearless, occasionally annoying Audrey - and his two dachshunds, Cosmo and Hilda.
When Daniel announces a plan to install a lavatory in the church, the parish is suddenly (and unexpectedly) divided: as lines are drawn, long-buried secrets come dangerously close to destroying the apparent calm of the village.
And then Anthony Bowness - cousin to Bernard de Flores, patron of Champton - is found dead at the back of the church, stabbed in the neck with a pair of secateurs.
As the police move in and the bodies start piling up, Daniel is the only one who can try and keep his fractured community together … and catch a killer.
( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )
The Verdict:
Richard Coles’s debut crime novel (the first in a series) is more interested in the impact of a murder on a close-knit community and in the main character’s thoughts on murder and evil than in actually investigating whodunnit. At the same time, it is not immediately clear when this book is set and there are inconsistencies in the time line but if you can get past that, I think Coles has something interesting to offer and I would read the sequel.
