Top critical review
3.0 out of 5 starsPlodding murder mystery
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 4 February 2023
Stories about sleuthing clerics are nothing new, Father Brown being perhaps the best known. But one written by an actual Church of England vicar – albeit one who is a former Communard and a regular on radio and TV panel shows – is a bit different.
Canon Daniel Clements wants to bring the parish of Champton St Mary up to date by installing a toilet at the back of the church. Members of the congregation, in particular the powerful Flower Guild, are opposed. Perhaps an unlikely background to murder but still…
The story plays out in a sort of timeless Middle England, although the cultural references place it firmly in the 1980s. Champton may not be St Mary Mead but there’s more than a hint of Miss Marple here in the depiction of the undercurrents and rivalries of village life.
The writing is quite good with some nice descriptive passages but the pace is doggedly pedestrian. You’re about a third of the way in before anyone gets killed and even as you approach the denouement it continues at a steady plod. There are a lot of rather two-dimensional characters many of whom don’t bring much, if anything, to the plot. In fact Daniel’s dogs are more fully rounded than some of the human players. It doesn’t really work well as a whodunnit either as there are few hints at the identity of the killer.
I was looking forward to reading this but I have to say it left me rather disappointed. It’s hard to escape the conclusion that if it didn’t have a celebrity name attached it might have struggled to find a publisher.