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Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 813
EAN: 9780425166420
ISBN: 0425166422
Label: Berkley
Manufacturer: Berkley
Number Of Items: 1
Book Pages: 224
Publication Date: 1998-12-01
Publisher: Berkley
Studio: Berkley

Constable Evan Evans expected idyllic Llanfair to be a calm oasis far away from the violent crime of the big city. That was, until a string of murders erupts in the town, putting every "charming eccentric" under suspicion...

Customer Rating:
Review Summary: A good plot, flat characters
Review: I guess although I enjoyed the overall plot of the murder mystery and was intrigued by the clever way that the author put it "by" me, I was not as engaged by the characters. They seemed too "stock" and two dimensional to be enjoyable; however, before giving up on the series altogether, I might read a second book to see if they grow on me.

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Customer Rating:
Review Summary: not so good detective book
Review: Because I liked the first book in the Murphy series by the same author, I tried this series - didn't even make it through the first ook - too much swearing.

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Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Light reading
Review: This is the first in a series of murder mysteries written by Rhys Bowen. Constable Evans is a policeman living and working in North Wales. The author knows this part of the world very well, and writes in the style of Agatha Christie. This book served me very well as light reading while travelling. Rhys Bowen has also written another series of murder mysteries with an Irish heroine by name of Molly Murphy. Both of these series are very well worth while.

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Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Delighted to find this wonderful author.
Review: Rhys Bowen is a new author for me and I am delighted to have discovered this series of mysteries. I enjoyed Evans Above for many reasons. The mystery is actually a good mystery. All the clues are given and discernible (if you read carefully) so all the action takes place in a very logical progression. The characters are very likeable and read like real people. The location descriptions are clear and recognizable even to those of us who live here in the "flatlands". I liked Evan Evans. He was not a bumbling, stumbling idiot but neither was he a self promoting intellectual who always knew what the clues meant but had to keep the meaning hidden until the last moment so that he got all the credit.

A pleasant, enjoyable read that captured my interest immediately and held me in suspense so that I really wanted to know what was going to happen. I enjoyed it so much I was not even tempted to flip to the end to solve the mystery, I wanted it to unfold just as this talented author wrote it.

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Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Won't win the Pulitzer Prize but it's a great cozy mystery
Review: This is the first in the series and my first by this author, but I was not disappointed. It took 25 pages or so to get into the book, but after that, I kept wanting to get back to it.

The Welsh setting (in a village by Mount Snowden) figures large in this book. Constable Evan Evans (how much more Welsh a name can you get?) is a Welshman (Welsh is his first language, English his second) who (even though he was on track to be an inspector) has taken a humble position as the village constable after his father's tragic death. It's a good thing, because two bodies appear, apparently the victims of climbing accidents -- but Evans doesn't think so. The powers that be have a very low opinion of village constables and dismiss him and his theories, but he keeps plugging away. In the meantime, there's this child-killer on the loose that everyone is looking for.

The mystery is full of the village types (including a Major who runs the Swiss chalet style inn and the two ministers' wives whose husbands pastor the two adjacent chapels in this village). Evans spends much of his time dodging single woman (or the grandmothers of single women) who regard him as a catch.

Evans is likeable and the plot of the mystery was flawless -- kept me guessing until the very end. I look forward to reading more in this series.

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