An interesting who-dunnit, a cozy really from a very different perspective.

This plot is many stranded: Daniel Clement wants to modernise his church by installing a toilet. Who could object you wonder? The suggestion raises many objections. For a start it would involve the removal of a number of medieval (maybe Victorian copies) pews. The flower arranging group opposes the suggestion as they have their eyes on the space for their own purposes. But there are more serious objections.

The church's patron, a member of the House of Lords, has heavy involvement in the affairs of the church, as has his family had for centuries. The lives of the family are inextricably linked to that of the village and the parishioners. And there is one who sees their lives threatened to the point of resolving the issue with murder - not just one but 3...

I liked the central characters, and the way the plot was presented, enough to read another at some time. ( )

Rather to my surprise this was a lot of fun. It won't win any prizes for literary merit or for its crime plotline. But it made me smile and the nostalgia for the 1980s was so enjoyable. The plot is vague and I sometimes got lost in who was who but I enjoyed it enough to read any more if I see them. ( )

Canon Daniel Clement finds a body in the church as he reads the evening prayers. But why would anyone want to kill a harmless soul like Baron De Floures's estate archivist?

Apart from a vague feeling that Daniel's age didn't really match up with what we were told about his childhood, I didn't really catch on till quite far into the book that it was actually set in the late 1980s. I liked the setting, the characters, and the humour but didn't really think the solution was very satisfactory. I'll read the next one but I'm not sure if I'll continue after that. ( )

Disappointing ( )

Calling this a mystery book is a big leap of advertising. The plot is so thin you could write it on the back of a postage stamp. There is murder but there are no clues ot evidence of the Canon actually instigating. There are so many holes and problems with this book. ( )