In Prior's Wood

February 19, 2018
Malliet’s solid seventh Max Tudor mystery (after 2017’s Devil’s Breath) finds Max, a “dashing MI5 agent turned clergyman with a talent for solving crime,” hoping for a respite from crime-solving in the quintessential English town of Nether Monkslip. Of course, that wish is dashed after the bodies of a man and a woman turn up, the victims of an apparent suicide pact, in Prior’s Wood, which was the site of the disappearance of the local squire’s teenage daughter in Victorian times. Skeptical of things as they appear, Max and his friend on the force, Detective Chief Inspector Cotton, pursue the possibility of murder, which leads them to the household of Lord Duxter, a publisher who was knighted for his contributions to the arts and who founded a writers’ retreat in Nether Monkslip. There are some arch touches (as with a character baffled by the title of one of Malliet’s own books), but this whodunit should satisfy most cozy fans. Agent: Vicky Bijur, Vicky Bijur Literary.

February 15, 2018
Malliet continues her top-notch spy-turned-cleric Max Tudor series (after Devil's Breath, 2017) with a seventh intricately structured mystery. Midsomer-like Nether Monkslip has a low-density population that has seen an alarming spike in murders since Max became its vicar. He views this as an extraordinary coincidence, but his bishop seems to think that Providence has sent Max to deal with an outbreak of evil that requires pastoral intervention. If, indeed, there are otherworldly influences at work here, it is Malliet's ability to channel Agatha Christie. Miss Marple would have the time of her life helping Max unravel a series of deaths involving the village's elderly matriarch, the newly seated lord of the manor, his wife and her young lover, and the lover's librarian wife. Fold in an assortment of Jane Eyre references, tarot lore, and Max's Wiccan wife, and readers will find a tasty tale that doesn't disappoint. Perfect for fans of the wickedly funny cozy writers M. C. Beaton and Catriona McPherson, as well as devotees of Louise Penny who appreciate a redemptive ending.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)

November 15, 2017

Max Tudor may be vicar of St. Edwold's Church, but his MI5 training comes in handy. Here, the lady of the local manor house dies in a suicide pact with her young lover, and Lord Duxter seems perfectly content to continue with plans to open his house to a writers retreat. Next in the Agatha Award-winning series.

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