koprivan's review against another edition
4.0
Great sense of atmosphere. Delicious hero, perhaps a bit too Poirot-ish (though he knows it). Would like more about DCI Cotton.
Also, you gotta love a series that keeps referencing a book called Wherefore Nether Monkslip?. Srsly.
Also, you gotta love a series that keeps referencing a book called Wherefore Nether Monkslip?. Srsly.
lorimichelekelley's review against another edition
3.0
Audible version: I get why a lot of reviewers didn't like this one with Max not at home and that at the end, Max gathers everyone in the room like Poirot, but rather than identifying the culprit, he accuses everyone one or two at a time with some idea he'd cooked up and then said, "No, I know you didn't do it." And that took a looooong time. And people are not wrong in saying Awena is far too perfect. Here's a quote that isn't unusual, "And then there was Awena, the bride herself, resplendent as all the meteors of heaven on a clear night, in a foamy ashes of roses dress she had made herself." gag me. But I can't help it. I loved the rest of it. I love Max and the humor. And I love that it took place in a monastery with nuns and all the handiwork and caring of gardens and sheep, and in this case, making fruit cake. If you didn't have to be religious, I'd probably be a nun. I'm so in love with these books, I just might go right on to the next one!
dcm7918's review against another edition
emotional
informative
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
henrismum's review against another edition
challenging
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Audiobook (All of my entries on The Story Graph are audiobooks.)
#4 in series (I started reading this series in May 2022 and I have been committed to this series since December 2022.)
Comparison to others in series:Not as good About the same Better
This book dragged a bit. The content could have been reduced by at least 2 hours. Still, it was a good mystery and I love seeing the development of Max's relationship.
The narrator was Michael Page. He has a lovely voice for Max and the gang.
#4 in series (I started reading this series in May 2022 and I have been committed to this series since December 2022.)
Comparison to others in series:
This book dragged a bit. The content could have been reduced by at least 2 hours. Still, it was a good mystery and I love seeing the development of Max's relationship.
The narrator was Michael Page. He has a lovely voice for Max and the gang.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Confinement, Grief, and Murder
quietjenn's review against another edition
3.0
I feel like I could (and, essentially do) write the same basic review for each book in this series. Plot variations exist, sure but the issues - both good and bad - are so consistent from book to book. These are literate cozies, but they are also super wordy, overwritten and trying-to-hard cozies. Max is appealing, if a bit too unbelievably perfect. And his romance with the local witchy woman is incredibly distracting and annoying. Like, I wanted to roll my eyes and say "ugh" practically every time Arwena was brought up and at one point I actually found myself thinking, "Oh, maybe she'll be killed off - that would be interesting." But, no. They are a perfect golden couple whom everyone adores. So boring.
At least most of the mystery took place at a nunnery and the sisters had some interesting things going on. Too bad it took at least a hundred pages of extraneous, plodding details to get to the heart of things. Which, Max conviently and easily figures out just by stumbling upon a secret just moments after he was thinking about it. Ugh.
And yet, at the core there is something interesting enough that I will probably read the next, despite frustrations.
At least most of the mystery took place at a nunnery and the sisters had some interesting things going on. Too bad it took at least a hundred pages of extraneous, plodding details to get to the heart of things. Which, Max conviently and easily figures out just by stumbling upon a secret just moments after he was thinking about it. Ugh.
And yet, at the core there is something interesting enough that I will probably read the next, despite frustrations.
nonna7's review against another edition
4.0
This is the third Father Max Tudor mystery. We met him in "Wicket Autumn", got to know him better in "A Fatal Winter," and watched him fall in love and solve another mystery in "A Pagan Spring." Now it is a hot summer - much hotter than most of Britain has been accustomed to. Max is anxiously looking forward to his marriage to Awena, who is, ironically, a practicing pagan. She has insisted on a "handfasting" as opposed to a church wedding. She is also VERY pregnant. Max is also anxious about impending fatherhood.
Max's background is an interesting one. He is a former MI-5 agent who left that occupation after his partner was killed in front of him. The killer has never been caught, but Max has flashbacks and dreams. After leaving MI-5, he wandered around and discovered a vocation. Now he has recently become a parish priest. He is, of course, extremely good looking - some might even say dashing. DI Cotton has become one of his friends and often calls on Max for advice although it annoys him that Max holds back until the end in a rather Hercule Poirot fashion.
The bishop also has grown to like and trust Max and, in this book, has called him in to do some investigative work into the goings on at a local convent, the Handmaidens of St. Lucy. It is a very old order with ties to a French order but had managed to escape the ravages of Henry VIII. They are a contemplative order that has developed a fine business in pottery, weaving, natural soaps and cosmetics, but they are the most well known for their fruitcake. When a despicable but wealthy member of the House of Lords and who is also a patron of the abby falls ill after eating some of the fruit cake, the Bishop wants to know why. There is also the question of where the money that was raised for a guesthouse and other improvements went.
This is an entertaining mystery within a mystery done with a light touch, but without the silliness in which some writers indulge. Malliet's prose is clean with a touch of irony and a great deal of wit. If you haven't read the previous ones, read them first. She also has three previous books that are no part of a series and are excellent as well.
Max's background is an interesting one. He is a former MI-5 agent who left that occupation after his partner was killed in front of him. The killer has never been caught, but Max has flashbacks and dreams. After leaving MI-5, he wandered around and discovered a vocation. Now he has recently become a parish priest. He is, of course, extremely good looking - some might even say dashing. DI Cotton has become one of his friends and often calls on Max for advice although it annoys him that Max holds back until the end in a rather Hercule Poirot fashion.
The bishop also has grown to like and trust Max and, in this book, has called him in to do some investigative work into the goings on at a local convent, the Handmaidens of St. Lucy. It is a very old order with ties to a French order but had managed to escape the ravages of Henry VIII. They are a contemplative order that has developed a fine business in pottery, weaving, natural soaps and cosmetics, but they are the most well known for their fruitcake. When a despicable but wealthy member of the House of Lords and who is also a patron of the abby falls ill after eating some of the fruit cake, the Bishop wants to know why. There is also the question of where the money that was raised for a guesthouse and other improvements went.
This is an entertaining mystery within a mystery done with a light touch, but without the silliness in which some writers indulge. Malliet's prose is clean with a touch of irony and a great deal of wit. If you haven't read the previous ones, read them first. She also has three previous books that are no part of a series and are excellent as well.
gawronma's review against another edition
3.0
Not as good as the third book. It was a little slow in places. However it was still a good mystery.
verityw's review against another edition
2.0
This definitely isn't my favourite of the series. I liked a lot of the premise and the idea behind it, but in the actual reading it felt very slow and I struggled with it. The solution at the end was somewhat unexpected and a bit left-field bonkers, but I was willing to roll with it. Not enough Awena and I'm still not sure about the way they're resolving the religious conflict in that relationship.
And in this more than any other in the series I noticed the Americanisms - lots of "fall" for autumn - and also, strangely "Rover" for Land Rover, which is particularly odd because Rover is a brand in it's own right over here and no one with a Land Rover would want it confused with a Rover. Farmers call them Landys. There were a few other moments but i can't bring them to mind right now.
I'll probably still read the next one if I can lay my hands on it.
And in this more than any other in the series I noticed the Americanisms - lots of "fall" for autumn - and also, strangely "Rover" for Land Rover, which is particularly odd because Rover is a brand in it's own right over here and no one with a Land Rover would want it confused with a Rover. Farmers call them Landys. There were a few other moments but i can't bring them to mind right now.
I'll probably still read the next one if I can lay my hands on it.
cmcgowan76's review against another edition
3.0
Somewhat intriguing, but not quite as interesting as the others in the series.
carolsnotebook's review against another edition
2.0
The solution is just too complicated. The relationships are all screwy and parts hinge on an event 20 years in the past that barely gets a passing mention. It feels unfair; there’s no way the reader could have figured out what was going on. Between treasure hunts, revenge, dying confessions, there was just too much. And the scene where you gather everyone together to point out the killer was long.
I would have like this one so much more if the solution had been different or the lead up to it had been better.
You can see my whole review at Carol's Notebook.
I would have like this one so much more if the solution had been different or the lead up to it had been better.
You can see my whole review at Carol's Notebook.