Canon Daniel Clement was a likeable main character but I couldn’t quite see him as a solver of murders. As always in this type of novel, there were a host of other characters from the nearby Lord of the Manor to the women who run the flower arranging. The most memorable of these was probably Audrey, Canon Clements mother who definitely has her own opinions about what is going on and misses nothing. Most of the other characters were sadly, pretty forgettable. Devotees of Midsomer Murders and Agatha Christie’s Miss Marple stories will feel most at home here’ Murder Before Evensong is a gentle and humorous read.
The characters and the setting are all an absolute joy. That points the way to the second volume: threatened pastoral reorganisation has been staved off only temporarily, we sense, and the author hints that it will be resurrected, with murderous consequences. I can hardly wait. I was really looking forward to reading this book. I like the author, Richard Coles and am always on the look out for a new crime series so this book based around the Rector of a small English village sounded perfect. It was a bit disappointing though.

Oh dear, obviously I read a completely different book to all the celebrities who have written glowing endorsements of this book. First, when exactly was this book set, I'm sure if I could be bothered to piece together the clues I could work it out, late 1980s/early 1990s? There is no indication (that I can see) as to when it is set, which is hugely discombobulating to the reader who imagines it must be present day.When Daniel announces a plan to install a lavatory in church, the parish is suddenly (and unexpectedly) divided: as lines are drawn, long-buried secrets come dangerously close to destroying the apparent calm of the village.

I relished looking forward to reading this one; it was everything I hoped – an utter delight from beginning to end! I feel fairly confident that I will as the characters grow on me the novels will continue to improve. MANY clergy, in full retreat from a life of remorseless professional benignity, acquire a taste for murder of the fictional variety. Richard Coles ( Feature, 17 June) has relinquished parish ministry to write a murder mystery — the first in a trilogy — featuring an involuntary clerical sleuth, Canon Daniel Clement, AKC, Rector of the rural parish of Champton St Mary.Author Richard Coles is well known in the UK for being a previous member of The Communards and also for appearing on many television shows as a witty and companionable guest, so I was keen to read his first mystery and I was delighted that I found it a really enjoyable read. But between a family of idle aristocrats, embittered clam frogs and the son of a punk-looking Lord, he has a good range of suspects. Canon Daniel Clement is Rector of Champton. He has been there for eight years, living at the Rectory alongside his widowed mother – opinionated, fearless, ever-so-slightly annoying Audrey – and his two dachshunds, Cosmo and Hilda. English villages are notorious havens for murderers – think of all the untimely deaths to have taken place across the county of Midsomer or in Agatha Raisin’s new home of Carsely in the Cotswolds. Now, with a nod to its most famous predecessor, Miss Marple’s home of St Mary Mead, the quintessentially English village of Champton joins the fray. “Two murders… in as many weeks. That must surely be way above the odds for an English country village, even St Mary Mead. What on earth is going on?” says the daughter of one of the victims. I’m pretty sure I read most of this book without actually reading it, because I couldn’t bother. Most of the story is about the daily occurrences of the parish and there is no crime investigation. Sure, murders do happen, but, contrary to what I thought, this is not a story where the vicar, rectory, or whatever, investigates them. He just stays there, doing what he normally does, until the last chapters of the book, where he has a certain, I don’t know, realisation?, and he knows exactly who the murderer is. And I can assure you it is nearly impossible to guess in this instance. It could be anyone from this cast of indistinguishable characters, or no one, because there doesn’t seem to be any discernible motive.

Eventually Daniel rose from his stall, the dogs uncurling from his feet, and walked them down the aisle to where he had discovered Anthony's body. The crime scene had been cleaned by the specialist team; they had done such an excellent job that an ghouls in search of bloodstains would have to use their imagination. They would, of course, and the murders would enter local folklore, generate tales of dogs refusing to go into church, or birds no longer singing in the trees around the bath house." This is very much a cosy mystery, with the central character, Canon Daniel Clement, Rector of Champton St Mary, with echoes of St Mary Mead, and a cast of characters which includes the Big House and Lord de Floures, as well as Daniel’s widowed mother and his actor brother. This is set within living memory of the Second World War, (from television shows mentioned, I put it at the early Eighties, but I may be wrong,) and the village housed many of the Free French, who have left their mark behind. As detailed as a lot was, some other aspects could’ve done with more elaboration. Midway through this book Eurovision with Celine Dion was mentioned. It was only then that I recalled a podcast with Richard Coles, where he explained his book was set in the 80’s. This is not mentioned anywhere, neither in the book itself nor the blurb. What’s the point of a historic setting if this isn’t mentioned anywhere? Canon Daniel Clement is Rector of Champton, a small village with its own stately home owned by Bernard de Floures. The most exciting thing to happen in Champton is the argument as to whether the church should install a lavatory or a buttery for the flower arrangers, then Bernard de Floures' alcoholic cousin is found by Daniel, murdered in one of the pews, with a pair of secateurs no less! But no sooner have the press departed to pastures new and the village returned to some sort of normality, than another body is found floating in the lake.

Church Times/Canterbury Press:

Ultimately we found out who did it because the rector had an amazing moment of insight during his sermon at the funeral for one of the victims. Riiiiiight. Clever bloke! The policemen were portrayed particularly poorly as people who ambled around chatting and drinking tea and never actually doing any crime solving at all. I also could’ve done with some explanation on specific church terms. I’m interested in Protestantism and Catholicism, but didn’t have much knowledge on the Anglican Church. A lot of the terms used I was therefore unfamiliar with. On top of that a lot of vocabulary used I didn’t quite get the hang of either. This is largely due to me not being a native English speaker, or me not being familiar with Latin phrases, but the way the sentences were structured definitely didn’t help either. A lot of (to me seemingly) posh words were bundled up in huge sentences. Initially I re-read these sections, but as I started to realise there wasn’t much important information to be found I started skimming over them instead. It therefore wasn’t as accessible as other cozy crime novels would be.

So much was over-explained, like the past of characters or the surroundings of an area. This really didn’t add anything to the narrative whatsoever. I still found most characters very bland, their pasts barely reflected who they were in the present. The church events or religious pondering felt particularly unnecessary to the plot. In the early stages of this book the biblical references served to link those stories to the world of Champton. I really liked that approach. Gradually the book resorted to simply telling us all about specific church services. Funerals were written about in a detailed way, complete with Bible quotes, and prayers were written out fully. I get why this is important to Coles, or to Daniel, but it didn’t serve the plot in any way. The Rector of Champton, Canon Daniel Clement is lives with Audrey, his widowed mother and his two dachshunds, Cosmo and Hilda in the Rectory. The big news in the parish is the announcement of a new toilet in the church which seems to cause more rumpus than anyone expected.

A dispute over installing a toilet at the church where the main people campaigning against were middle aged / elderly women? Too ridiculous for words. Throw in some tonally-jarring casual mentions of animal death and the 2-star rating is cemented. Whether you're a cat person, a dog person or a rabbit person, you're guaranteed to feel a little twinge of pointless distress at some point along the way. Champton joins St Mary Mead and Midsomer in the great atlas of fictional English villages where the crimes are as dastardly as the residents delightful’