Rather to my surprise this was a lot of fun. It won't win any prizes for literary merit or for its crime plotline. But it made me smile and the nostalgia for the 1980s was so enjoyable. The plot is vague and I sometimes got lost in who was who but I enjoyed it enough to read any more if I see them. ( )

Canon Daniel Clement finds a body in the church as he reads the evening prayers. But why would anyone want to kill a harmless soul like Baron De Floures's estate archivist?

Apart from a vague feeling that Daniel's age didn't really match up with what we were told about his childhood, I didn't really catch on till quite far into the book that it was actually set in the late 1980s. I liked the setting, the characters, and the humour but didn't really think the solution was very satisfactory. I'll read the next one but I'm not sure if I'll continue after that. ( )

Disappointing ( )

Calling this a mystery book is a big leap of advertising. The plot is so thin you could write it on the back of a postage stamp. There is murder but there are no clues ot evidence of the Canon actually instigating. There are so many holes and problems with this book. ( )

I received an advance copy via NetGalley.

Set in 1980s rural England, this mystery stays fairly cozy with little profanity and no focus on gore as it primarily follows Reverend Daniel as he investigates a murder within his flock. The book very much has the vibe and pace of a TV murder mystery. Everything begins with the smash-bang drama of Daniel proposing the old church be renovated to include a loo. The fact that he mentions such crude bodily needs offends many, but more than that there is the terrible suggestion of change. In a village where the losses of two world wars are still fresh and long-dead residents are regarded as familiar, such a thing is intolerable. Then when one person is killed, soon followed by another, the mystery slowly escalates with several red herrings, deep confessions, and unearthed old secrets. I was left uncertain of how I liked it through the middle because the pace was terribly slow, but the big reveals at the end heightened my overall opinion. Throughout, I was impressed by the authentic feel to life in a rectory, and I was delighted to find the author is himself a rector! No wonder it felt genuine. ( )