The Snares of Death - Hardcover

Charles, Kate

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0892964987 ISBN 13: 9780892964987

Publisher: Mysterious Pr, 1993

Synopsis

The team of Lucy Kingsley and David Middleton-Brown investigate the murder of a zealous Evangelical clergyman in a staunchly Anglo-Catholic English village, in the sequel to the well-received A Drink of Deadly Wine. 12,500 first printing.

About this title

Reviews

American-born Charles reaches new heights of Anglophilia in the second adventure (after A Drink of Deadly Wine ) to team up London artist Lucy Kingsley and Norfolk solicitor David Middleton-Brown. Bob Dexter is a loutish evangelical clergyman soon to be installed as pastor of St. Mary the Virgin, a High Church parish in Norfolk. Insisting on being called "Bob" and often referring to himself in the third person, Dexter is set on removing all traces of "idolatry" and Papistry from his new church, causing much consternation among the parishioners. When he's found bludgeoned to death in the church, fingerprints point to a young Anglican priest who hires David to defend him. Lucy and David must sort through various Anglo-Catholic and evangelical clergy and laity, animal-rights activists and the victim's browbeaten family to find the killer, all the while trying to determine the future of their own relationship. Two additional deaths and the seduction of a young woman also occur--in keeping with the book's tone of high gentility, offstage--before David and Lucy determine who did what to whom and why. Charles entertains with well-drawn characters, a serviceable plot--though no real surprises--and a deftly explored High Church milieu.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

For two-thirds of the book, obnoxious Evangelical minister Bob Dexter antagonizes his wife, daughter, new parishioners, animal- rights activists, and millionaire Noah Gates of the Gates of Heaven Printing Company, and then, finally, someone picks up part of an altar rail and dispatches him. Artist Lucy Kingsley and her solicitor lover David Middletown-Brown (A Drink of Deadly Wine) rush in to defend Father Stephen Thorncroft, whose prints were found on the murder weapon--and who may have been having an affair with Dexter's daughter. Among their findings: Lucy's ex-husband, art expert Geoffrey Pickering, was sniffing around the church treasures that Dexter was selling off; Gates had disowned his son after Dexter informed him that the lad was a homosexual; handsome Father Mark was having an affair with Dexter's daughter, not Stephen. While ten thousand faithful gather at Walsingham for their annual national pilgrimage, Lucy meets up with the killer, but, David arrives just in time. Wildly improbable character motivation, but vintage village mystery buffs will adore the prissy parish spinsters, the long- suffering vicar's wife and the fortuitously dropped bits of gossip that fuel the sluggish plot. -- Copyright ©1993, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Rev. Robert Dexter, the victim in this instance, also appears to have many enemies. He purposely accepts a new post in South Barsham, Norfolk, knowing full well that his blatant Evangelical stance will grate on the village's traditionally Catholic parishioners. When someone kills him shortly after he "renovates" the church, David Middleton-Brown, a solicitor interested in church architecture, investigates with his artist girlfriend. (This team previously appeared in A Drink of Deadly Wine , Mysterious Pr., 1992.) Typical village settings, a singular sleuthing team, and well-written prose typify this captivating series title.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

A series with a Church of England setting has pluses and minuses. On the downside, unless you know something about the Church of England, it's easy to get lost in Anglican-speak. On the other hand, we're definitely in Agatha Christie land here, and readers of Charles' mysteries adore that. The second in the Book of Psalms series (so named because each chapter begins with a quote from the Psalms) again features sleuthing partners, and tentative lovers, solicitor David Middletown-Brown and artist Lucy Kingsley. They're on the case when a pompous Evangelical minister, Bob Dexter, gets hit on the head with an iron bar in church. So unpopular was the minister it's hard to know who gave him the fatal whack. Was it one of the villagers, livid because Dexter was trying to excise the Roman trappings from the church? A fellow evangelist, Noah Gates, to whom Dexter broke the news that Gates' son is gay? Animal rights advocates, who don't like Dexter's attitude toward animals? Or his wife and daughter, both of whom have recently crossed him? The plotting's almost perfect, and especially good are Charles' detectives. They're so engaging, you'd love to join them for tea. Ilene Cooper

Edition details

• Publisher: Mysterious Pr
• Publication date: 1993
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0892964987
• ISBN 13: 9780892964987
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 362