Twelve Drummers Drumming by C.C. Benison - 4 stars{Trim}

[Theresa]

What a delightful series! The first in a series with amateur sleuth Vicar Tom Christmas, universally called 'Father Christmas' much to his annoyance, this was the first in the series, and it is NOT set at Christmas! It's actually May, and during the annual May Fare, a body is discovered, an art quilt is missing, and suddenly all is not so bucolic and charming in this West Country village.

Father Christmas, a young widower with a 9 year old daughter, has taken over the 'living' in Thornford Regis, a typical modern English village, home of his sister-in-law, and, he hopes, someplace that will provide a happier and safer home than at his post in Bristol where 2 or so years previously his wife was murdered. That murder unsolved, is it really any surprise that Tom finds himself looking for a murderer to bring to justice? Just like any village which appears calm and idyllic, under the surface seethe all kinds of strong emotions, sins, crimes, and even the mysterious disappearance a year earlier of his predecessor. There is a pretty awesome cast of characters, my favorites being the detectives Bliss and Blessing who appear to investigate the murder. *Snort* I will confess it took me a bit before I tumbled to the irony inherent there!

There are other gems along the way -- I now know about the Curate's Egg, met in the pages of the story a 'seeing-eye toy boy', know that the French had to rename 'Nancy Drew' because they can't pronounce her given name (she's 'Alice Roy' in France), plus a few 'funeral fairies'. I really liked Father Christmas, even have a little crush on him. The author did a great job portraying a still youthful man who is slowly emerging from deep mourning, still grieving but now coping with the re-awakening of his sexuality, juggling parenthood with his faith and obligations. Did I mention that before he became a man of faith he was a magician? It does come into play.

The plot is satisfyingly complex but still a cozy. I only gave it 4 stars because I did think it a big long and I had trouble at first getting caught up in it, and it took a while to sort out characters, but that may also have been the result of my distracted state of mind when I started reading --- it took me a ridiculous amount of time to tumble to the irony and humor of Bliss and Blessing! In truth, I give it 4.5 stars and will definitely read the next in the series.

Note: author has written this as an interconnected series, with certain 'mysteries' that were revealed here not resolved at all, but clearly fodder to be used in future series entries. Unfortunately, there are only 3 in the series altogether, and author comments here in GR suggest there will not be more due to the vagaries of the publishing industry - that the publisher is uninterested in the series. Last (3rd) was published in 2016 I think, and nothing has been published by this author since then except one recent standalone novel.

[KateNZ]

This sounds like such fun. What a shame it stops at 3. But there again that’s 3 I haven’t yet read and can look forward to