Evans Above

This was my first time reading [a:Rhys Bowen|202867|Rhys Bowen|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1283051168p2/202867.jpg], and I couldn't have been more impressed. The first in a series follows Constable Evan Evans as he maneuvers through small village life in Wales. [b:Evans Above|383515|Evans Above (Constable Evans, #1)|Rhys Bowen|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1348531440s/383515.jpg|3204580] is a wonderful cozy mystery with a interesting plot and well fleshed out characters that give this book the funny, quirky small town feel that I love about the cozy mystery genre.

Set in Llanfair, a small village hamlet in northern Wales, the main character (Evan Evans) returns to his roots as the local constable. The author drew strong portraits of the inhabitants and wrote several amusing sketches which reflected village life and lack of privacy. The mystery development was rather ponderous, however, although I found it a calm distraction for my pandemic-anxiety and worries (2021). The characterizations carried the day and made this a 3-star read. Recommended for a light mystery with local flavour.

According to my records, I've skipped around in this series. I previously read the fifth and tenth books in the series. With Evans Above, I'm finally getting around to reading the first.

Bowen's Constable Evans series takes place in a small village in Wales called Llanfair. Constable Evan Evans is a relatively new addition to the village, having left his original position in a bigger city. He prefers living a quieter life, even though the village squabbles and attempts to set him up with eligible ladies sometimes get on his nerves. However, just because Llanfair is quieter doesn't mean it's crime-free.

In this book, Evans finds himself dealing with a couple dead hikers. While Evans' boss thinks their deaths are just a tragic show more coincidence, Evans isn't so sure. Even after he learns that both men were in the Army, however, he still can't quite make things fit. Meanwhile, Evans' superiors are busy with a high-profile case involving child molestation and murder, and one of Llanfair's residents is convinced her neighbor is spying on her and trying to ruin her garden.

I liked that there were a lot of things going on. Evans didn't just have one case to concentrate on and couldn't even be certain which cases were related and which weren't. However, the mystery just wasn't all that interesting to me.

Llanfair itself was nice enough. Everybody knew everybody's business, of course, and the two competing pastors' wives were mildly amusing. There was a bit of Welsh flavor in just about everything, from the names (Evans-the-Milk for the milkman Evans, Evans-the-Law for Constable Evans, Evans-the-Meat for the butcher Evans) to the weather (the Welsh mountains that can quickly turn foggy, cold, and dangerous). I liked the detail about the two pastors, one of which gave his sermon only in English and one of which gave his sermon in both English and Welsh.

This was, overall, an okay read, except for one thing: the potential romance. Evans has two women interested in him, three if you count his landlady's attempts to set him up with Sharon, her granddaughter. It initially appeared as though Evans was most interested in Bronwen, but was maybe too shy to pursue her. However, the actual problem was that Evans was afraid the town would force him to marry Bronwen if he showed a particular interest in her, and he wasn't sure he was ready for that. I had to shake my head, because, as far as I could tell, the two of them had never even officially dated. So, what, he couldn't even date her unless he was okay with being pushed into marrying her?

I wanted him to quit being a coward and ask her out, even if it meant he later had to tell the villagers to get off his back. Instead, he stammered and blushed around Betsy, the much more forward barmaid, which then invited Bronwen's ire. Any time Betsy and Bronwen got catty with each other over Evans, I cringed a little. The villagers tended to see the situation between Betsy, Bronwen, and Evans as a battle between Betsy and Bronwen, but it was really Evans' own indecisiveness and desire to avoid confrontation that was causing problems. He preferred Bronwen for being lovely and “unspoiled” (yes, the idiot actually used that word). but he also enjoyed Betsy's cleavage. Gag.

This is one of those times when it's nice to know how things turn out later in the series. M.C. Beaton's Hamish Macbeth cozy mystery series had a similar relationship situation, and the thing that turned me off there was that Hamish's indecisiveness just went on and on. Evans, I know, eventually has to make some choices. Unfortunately, in this book he's still an indecisive wimp.

Additional Comments:

This was my first time trying Open Library EPUB files. It was nice enough...except that the scan had lots of problems. I adjusted to some of it fairly well, such as the quotation marks that often displayed as 4 or /, but I was less happy about the chunks of text that were left out at the beginnings of chapters/scene changes. A comparison with Google Books tells me that sometimes more than half a page was left out. I hope missing text isn't common for Open Library e-books.

(By the way, none of this was a factor in my rating. I knew going in that Open Library e-book files aren't perfect.)

(Original review, with read-alikes, posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.) show less

This was fun! The right amount of cozy charm, gruff but likeable loner and older adult male, interesting townsfolk ready with gossip and flirting, some humorous moments every once in awhile, plenty of food, mystery to boot. Glad I grabbed this series on the yearly audible sale deal. Narrator is good and stays the same throughout. It was not so much the mystery that gripped me as the small town and character interactions. Pacing is not quick as a result but it fits the sub-genre comfortably.

Book # 1 in the Constable Evans mystery series. I can’t really call it a cozy because our lead character is a policeman, after all, and NOT an amateur sleuth, but it has many of the hallmarks of cozies: a small quaint village setting, a supporting cast of eccentric characters, a nascent romantic interest (or two), and the murders happen off the page.

There’s clearly a backstory of how PC Evan Evans came to the Welsh village of Llanfair, especially since he seemed on track to become a full-fledged investigator in the big city. But we don’t learn many details here.

I enjoyed the book, though it was a bit slow-moving. PC Evans is a capable man and he has a way of dealing with the village residents that engenders their cooperation and show more admiration. I liked Major Armstrong, though he had little to do in this book, and I would hope that he appears again in the series. And, of course, I’m interested to see how PC Evans’ love life works out. show less

Evan Evans who is thrown into the midst of a murder mystery, trying to find who killed two men on the mountain, Snowdon. His crime-solving skills are also tested in another case: trying to discover who trampled Mrs Powell-Jones’ prize-winning tomatoes. In between solving mysteries Evan Evans tries to avoid the attentions of busty barmaid Betsy, and the match-making efforts of his landlady, while he very hesitantly pursues school-teacher Bronwyn (well, pursue is overstating the case but there is tension there). The book is light and fun, populated by a village of characters such as Evans-the-meat, Evans-the-milk, and Evans-the-post. I am a mystery novice, having read very little of this genre but I must confess I enjoyed this more than show more I thought. The audiobook reading by Roger Clark with his Welsh accent was also a pleasure. show less

Substance: The milieu was more coloring than substance, although factually accurate (and, yes, I have been to Wales and studied with Welsh tutors here). The detective was on the edge of figuring things out, but fell into the solution rather than deducing it completely.
Style: Easy-going.
NOTE:(spoiler alert)
There was no motivation given for the collaboration of the brothers; in fact, it was out of character for the one who died.