A Bedlam of Bones

May 23, 2011
"Being a clergyman is an exacting matter at the best of times, but the difficulties are compounded if one is also an assassin," declares the Rev. Francis Oughterard at the outset of Hill's diverting fifth mystery featuring the vicar of Molehill in 1950s Surrey (after 2010's Bones in High Places). Bishop Clinker, the vicar's superior, needs help. A blackmailer is threatening to expose "an absurd whimsical indiscretion" Clinker committed at Oxford in prewar days that the bishop prays his wife will never hear about. When the first body surfaces, Oughterard, who unapologetically admits to murdering one of his parishioners in an earlier outing, has no compunction about hiding the corpse. In separate chapters, the vicar's dog, Bouncer, and cat, Maurice, comment on the action in the same jokey argot as their owner. References to past cases, marked by footnotes throughout, may lead curious newcomers to previous books in a series that blithely mixes cozy elements with black farce.

June 15, 2011

An English vicar is both a murderer and a detective.

The Reverend Francis Oughterard led a life of rectitude until he strangled a parishioner. He escaped detection thanks to his dog Bouncer and his cat Maurice, who managed to cover up the crime. Since then his attempts to hew to the straight and narrow have been undermined by his involvement in any number of other illegal activities (Bones In High Places, 2010, etc.). This time out, a blackmailer is threatening his bishop. Years earlier this worthy cleric had a homosexual affair with Oughterard's sleazy pal Nicholas Ingaza, who turned up trumps for him by providing him with an alibi for murder. Now he too is getting blackmail notes. Soon enough he presses the unfortunate Oughterard into service as a sleuth. When Freddie Felter, one of their favorite suspects, is shot dead outside the bishop's house, Oughterard and Ingaza are tasked with disposing of the body. An unluckily placed police roadblock forces them to dump it in a neighbor's garden, all too close to Oughterard's home. Luckily, Bouncer, who had unwillingly shared the back seat with the corpse, manages to abscond with a notebook full of interesting tidbits that will help Oughterard identify the blackmailer. 

The muddled, murderous vicar takes a backseat to his clever pets and a startling ending.

(COPYRIGHT (2011) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)

July 1, 2011
The humbug-crunching vicar, Reverend Francis Oughterard, is back with his talking pets, Bouncer the dog and Maurice the cat. The bishop has fallen prey to a blackmailer and fears that he may lose a promotion if his secret is revealed. Meanwhile, Francis' sister, Primrose, is selling her paintings of sheep to a shady art dealer, and the town poet, who is short on talent, wants the good vicar to write the preface to her new volume of verse. It seems as if everyone in the village expects Oughterard to solve his or her problems, while the reverend worries about keeping his own dark secret. Fortunately, his pets do their best to understand and help out. This series effectively combines the ambience of the English village cozy with the high jinks of talking (and sleuthing) animals. Chapters in the voice of the vicar, Bouncer, and Maurice deliver different perspectives on the action, while a cast of quirky but very nasty villains will keep readers guessing as they turn pages. An excellent choice for both Agatha Christie loyalists and fans of Lilian Jackson Braun and Rita Mae Brown.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2011, American Library Association.)