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Canon Daniel Clement finds a body in the church as he reads the evening prayers.

Apart from a vague feeling that his 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 the solution wasn't very satisfactory. I'll read the next one but I'm not sure if I'll continue after that.

This wasn't very good.

There is almost zero sleuthing. Stuff just seems to unfold around Canon Clement without him taking even a cursory interest.

If you can get through the infodumping at the beginning, and you're a hard-core cosy fan, you might enjoy it for a bit, but ultimately this was a damp squib for me.

Throw in some casual references to animals being killed that tonally jar, and the 2 star rating is cemented.

Meh on toast.

⭐️⭐️

This is one of the four books I am currently reading, and now that I got Covid again, I have the time to read them all.

This was such a great read. I loved the characters and the writing style. I‘m hoping there‘s more books to come

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.

This has potential but it needs a seriously good edit, including chopping many of the unnecessary characters. It‘s trying to fit into the Richard Osman type but misses the mark with very little character development beyond the rector. Spoiler in comments…

The murder finally happens on page 100. I am massively losing track of the fifty or so characters who have been introduced so far. The premise is so good, captures English country village life (and politics!) in the 80s well. But, really, 100 pages to get to the murder? I was getting ready to give up.

I'm obviously on a cosy crime kick. This one is a fun mash up of stately home/village green murder mystery with the Church of England liturgy, informed by the author's experience as an Anglican parish priest.

I feel a bit awkward reading this book right next to Mum because I'm on Chapter 2 and it's literally all been sex so far 😶😆

She is, however, distracted by her own newest book: a cosy by the Reverend Richard Coles... She's taking notes so she doesn't lose track of who's who 🙃

Hope she finishes it soon as I'm in the queue to read it afterwards!

A murder mystery set in the 1980s, written by an actual vicar and former pop star. This is a lot of fun - and if you‘ve ever been involved in parish life or parish committees there are some lovely touches for you.