|
[ Home ]
[ About | Reviews | Search | Submit ]
Father Max Tudor of the obscure village of Nether Monkslip is finding bliss in life now that he and his wife Awena have welcomed their son Owen into the world. His bishop has even allowed him to employ a curate, the bright Destiny Chatsworth, to help shoulder his ever-expanding spiritual work in Nether Monkslip and the surrounding areas. Now that all those murder investigations are behind him, Max's greatest challenges are finding common parenting ground with Awena's new age inclinations; and convincing difficult Lord Bayer Baaden-Boomethistle of Totleigh Hall, a local manor house of considerable prestige, to allow the village church to hold the annual duck race fundraiser on the estate. Or so he thinks.
It's not long before Max finds himself embroiled in yet another murder investigation, when a leisurely walk around the grounds of Totleigh Hall ends in his finding the lord of the house decapitated. Local DCI Cotton is relieved to be able to rely on his favorite MI5 agent-turned-Vicar for assistance in the investigation; but the resulting media attention leads Max's bishop to tell his Father Brown imitator that he may have to be reassigned to another vicarage if he keeps spending as much time finding murders as he does tending to the spiritual needs of Nether Monkslip.
The fifth in the series, THE HAUNTED SEASON, continues the seasonal titular tradition of the series and takes place almost exactly a year after the first in the series (2011's WICKED AUTUMN), and reveals considerable growth in Malliet's writing. There is still a stray pop culture reference here and there (the Sarah Palin reference, not the series' first, feels more at home in 2010 than in 2015) that instantly dates any book, but Max and his village have been developed in a genuine sort of way. A throwback to the golden age mysteries, but never guilty of being kitsch or overly cute, THE HAUNTED SEASON is an unabashed traditional mystery, with a healthy helping of wit and at times, a literate style. In an effort to avoid "Cabot Cove syndrome," Malliet has wisely alternated the series between murders committed in the village and those that require Max to travel beyond its boundaries; but it's nice to be back in Nether Monkslip with its colorful cast of characters.
The crime is particularly grisly here (no undetectable poisons) and that coincides with the presentation of increasingly serious situations for Max, both on the home and murder-investigation fronts. It's a shame that Totleigh Hall is more on the outskirts of the village than an integral part of it; which makes the return to Nether Monkslip perhaps a little less sweet than it might have been. Like the other entries in the series, THE HAUNTED SEASON is reminiscent in some ways of a lighter P.D. James or Louise Penny in the sense that the past is never truly the past and as a result the story carries more weight than readers may expect from a village cozy. Particularly refreshing is the introduction of curate Destiny Chatsworth; she is not only a breath of fresh air, but is a complex and imperfect female character that avoids clichés and the extremes that so often dominate supporting female characters.
By the end of THE HAUNTED SEASON, our Father Max finds himself at a spiritual and professional crossroads, and the reader has to question whether we have seen the last of the vicar, at least in the capacity of the leader of Nether Monkslip's religious community. While the title and cover art may promise spooky thrills, readers looking for a thrilling Halloween read might be slightly disappointed; but readers looking for a smart, witty throwback to the mysteries of the golden age are in for a delight.
§ Ben Neal is a librarian who likes to fancy himself an amateur writer, humorist, detective, and coffee connoisseur in his spare time. He can be reached at beneneal@indiana.edu.
Reviewed by Ben Neal, June 2015
This book has more than one review. Click here to show all.
[ Top ]
QUICK SEARCH:
Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)
[ About | Reviews | Search | Submit ]
[ Home ]
| 
