Description
The first novel in The Reverend Richard Coles’ Canon Clement mystery series.
Canon Daniel Clement is Rector of Champton. He has been there for eight years, living at the Rectory alongside his widowed mother – opinionated, fearless, ever-so-slightly annoying Audrey – and his two dachshunds, Cosmo and Hilda. When Daniel announces a plan to install a lavatory in 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 Floures, patron of Champton – is found dead at the back of the church, stabbed in the neck with a pair of secateurs. As the police moves 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.
‘Britain’s favourite vicar might be hanging up the dog collar, but in Murder Before Evensong he proves to be the unlikely heir to Barbara Pym. Like all the best cosy mysteries, this is comforting but not anodyne. And the style suits the content perfectly: wonderfully feline when it comes to jokes, but moving easily to unselfconscious wisdom when required’ Daily Telegraph
‘I’ve been waiting for a novel with vicars, rude old ladies, murder and sausage dogs … et voila!’ Dawn French
‘Whodunnit fans can give praise and rejoice’ Ian Rankin
‘A warm funny joy from start to finish’ Sarah Millican
‘You’ll want to take a front row pew in Champton while this delicious series unfolds’ Janice Hallett
‘An absolute joy from cover to cover – funny, clever and wonderfully plotted. Praise be!’ Adam Kay
‘Murder Before Evensong has all the elements that make up a classic detective story: a pitch-perfect setting, a genuine puzzle, a gruesome murder (or more) and engaging characters. I enjoyed it very much’ Philip Pullman
‘Champton joins St Mary Mead and Midsomer in the great atlas of fictional English villages where the crimes are as dastardly as the residents delightful. Only Richard Coles could pull this off so joyfully and with such style’ Damian Barr
