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The town of Bellminister must deal with the politics and campaigning of a by-election. Their representative in Parliament died so they have to find a replacement. Lord Granby, the largest landowner of the area, already has a candidate in mind but he allows the men of the party to decide who they would support and if they want to run. They will meet again to determine who they will back as a party. Granby is hoping that they will ultimately pick the same person he has in mind. Unfortunately this does not happen. Many of the members believe that the position should go to them. In addition, the Whigs believe that this is the perfect opportunity to bring one of their own into this election and the town. Reverend Tuckworth attempts to stay out of the situation as much as possible. He does not want to get involved in politics and dirty tricks. But when one of the campaign activities results in murder, Tuckworth has no choice but to help. THE DEVIL'S GAME moves at a slow pace. Some of this is due to its very nature -- that of a village cozy -- and some of it is due to the topic. To those not enthusiastic about political scheming and election practices, the beginning of this book is rather slow. Once the high jinks begin, the pace picks up a bit. Even with the additional action, this book still moves at a leisurely pace that is outside the readers' sphere of influence. THE DEVIL'S GAME is a much stronger book than THE DEVIL'S ACRE, which I have also reviewed. The characters and character interactions are much tighter. In addition, the characters have more depth and attention is paid to other characters beyond Reverend Tuckworth. While he is the protagonist, he is continually dealing with one-dimensional characters. As these secondary characters gain depth, they enhance Tuckworth's own distinctiveness. Unlike THE DEVIL'S ACRE, this book is set in Tuckworth's home. By placing him in a familiar setting, it is possible to see how he deals with and responses to daily problems. While traveling to a different location can show a lot about a character, it does limit the readers' ability to judge whether something is a permanent character trait or just the result of circumstance. THE DEVIL'S GAME is the third book to feature Reverend Tuckworth. The previous two books are THE DEVIL IN BELLMINISTER and THE DEVIL'S ACRE.
Reviewed by Sarah Dudley, September 2005
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