Murder in a Cathedral

Robert Amiss #7

by Ruth Dudley Edwards

For many years Westonbury Cathedral has been dominated by a clique of High Church gays, so when Norman Cooper, an austere, intolerant, happy-clappy evangelist, is appointed dean, there is shock, outrage and fear.
David Elworthy, the gentle and politically innocent new bishop, is distraught at the prospect of warfare between the factions; contentious issues include the camp lady chapel and the gay memorial under construction in the deanery garden.
Desperate for help, Elworthy cries on the shoulder of his old friend, the redoubtable Baroness Troutbeck, who forces her unofficial troubleshooter, Robert Amiss, to move into the bishop's palace.
Amiss, Troutbeck and the cat Plutarch address themselves in their various ways to the bishop's problems, which very soon include a clerical corpse in the cathedral. Is it suicide? Or is it murder? And who is likely to be next?

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Cozy Mystery, Crime, Humor

240 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1997

About the author

After being a Cambridge postgraduate, a teacher, a marketing executive and a civil servant, Ruth Dudley Edwards became a full-time writer. A journalist, broadcaster, historian and prize-winning biographer who lives in London, her recent non-fiction includes books about The Economist, the Foreign Office, the Orange Order and Fleet Street. The first of her ten satirical mysteries, Corridors of Death, was short-listed for the CWA John Creasey Memorial Dagger; two others were nominated for the CWA Last Laugh Award. Her two short stories appeared respectively in The Economist and the Oxford Book of Detective Stories.

Series:
* Robert Amiss Mystery

Reviews

[Sandi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Edwards excels in skewering various British institutions and in this book she turns her sharp pen on the Church of England. Pretty standard plot (tensions between the high church curates and the newly appointed Dean who displays a rather fundamentalist streak) but the characters are all so over top that laughs abound on every page if you enjoy the author's brand of humor.

[Damaskcat · Rating 5 out of 5]

Robert Amiss finds himself bullied into helping David Elworthy, a newly appointed Bishop, to find out what is going on in the cathedral by becoming his temporary personal assistant. The person doing the bullying is Robert’s old friend Baroness ‘Jack’ Troutbeck who is an old flame of the Bishop’s.

Life in the cathedral close is full of incident and animosity with the resident canons at odds with one another and waspish with it. There are some marvellously well drawn characters and some very amusing dialogue and Plutarch, Robert’s cat, creates her own brand of chaos. Murder stirs things up and by means of a bit of skulduggery Robert’s friend, Ellis Pooley is seconded on an unofficial basis to help the local police’s enquiry.

This is one of the best books, in my opinion, in this entertaining mystery series. You don’t need to have read the preceding books to enjoy this one. If you enjoy totally outrageous characters – Jack Troutbeck is one of the best in fiction. She is colourful, outspoken and totally irrepressible and lovable with it as well as being highly intelligent and observant. The books, and this one is no exception, are well plotted and satirise British Institutions which gives added interest to the mystery part of the story.

[Suzan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was the first one of Ruth's I've read - picked it up at a garage sale as I do like a good English mystery. It was 'ok'. I found the character building a bit all over the place - instead of a few strong characters, a lot with too much strength. I tend to like a fast read at the moment and this one required more attention than I wanted to give. I managed to keep it 'til the end, but won't be racing out to fetch another.

[Gail · Rating 3 out of 5]

A scathing, over-the-top send-up of organized religion (specifically C. of E.) with plenty of bizarre characters and plot that actually makes sense. Not for the easily offended.

[Ruth Downie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Heard this on audio and thoroughly enjoyed it. The caricatures of Anglicanism are sharp, funny, and well-observed. The murder plot is almost incidental but really, who cares?

[Ken Cook · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh to be in England. Nicely plotted with great characters. Educating, with a touch of High Church. First introduction to Baroness Jack, and have fallen in love.

[Craig Bennett · Rating 5 out of 5]

a comedy thriller, Ruth Dudley Edwards shows an amazing gift for creating characters that are at once over the top and dramatic but eminemtly believable and realistic. She sums up the extremes of ultra High and ultra Evangelical views in the Church of England, has a pop at the Establishment, culture snobs and 'do-gooders' and successfully turns tje whole thing into a backdrop for a very siccrssful thriller! Thoroughly enjoyed it!

[Kate · Rating 2 out of 5]

Nothing much seemed to happen until after page 100. I found characters confusing because sometimes the first name would be used. Other times the last name would be used. Then other times the title, Dean, bishop, etc would be used.

[Tom Bantle · Rating 2 out of 5]

Quick read. Clearly more enjoyable if you know the structures and rituals of the Anglican Church in
England of which most of the novel is a send-up. A number of stereotypical characters. A gruesome death.

No reason to seek it out unless Anglican foibles are your thing.

[J Grimsey · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really good comic who dun it. It description of C of E eccentricity is well judged. Plutarch plays a blinder.

[Ruth · Rating 1 out of 5]

Certainly not a PC book and, sadly, very dated. Did not enjoy it at all but perhaps it was because I haven't read the earlier books and so managed to "understand" the characters. I didn't like the pages of sermon detailed verbatim as it were. The opera scene was funny though. I won't worry about the rest of the series. Life is too short....

[Eric_W · Rating 4 out of 5]

Marvelously funny and brilliantly read by Bill Wallis. If you offend easily, skip it.

[Regine · Rating 2 out of 5]

Over the top.