Death of a Chancellor

Lots of information about the Anglican Church hierarchy slows the pace of this good entry in this series. Johnny Fitzgerald would work just as well as a sidekick without having a bottle in his hand. The fictional cathedral and Anglican/Catholic conflict that provides the location and raison d'etre for this plot are essential but somewhat over detailed.

Starts off well with suitably sinister murderous plotting but this early promise vanishes quickly (not much happens in the middle third of the book) and ends with a ludicrous premise. Some of the writing, particularly the dialogue, is stilted - do husbands and wives call each other by their first name in every sentence they utter to each other? They do here. Sounds trivial but once you notice it quickly begins to grate.
As far as I can tell the cathedral around which most of the novel is set is fictional. This seems like a missed opportunity when there are so many fabulous actual cathedrals in England that could be as the basis for a novel - Ely anyone? Salisbury? Canterbury? I can only imagine that the author chose the fictional show more setting to avoid offending anyone; perhaps this relates to the overly religious tones present in many of the works in this series?

Oh, and if you think you've worked out 'who-did-it' early on, you're probably right... show less

The worst in the series so far with an incomprehensible muddled plot and a frankly ridiculous ending. These Lord Powerscourt books are generally uneven but in past books the dull sections have been eclipsed by all the whimsy, charm and adventure that Powerscourt and co generate. Everything seems subdued here, even Johnny Fitzgerald.

The hero is attacked in the cathedral and gets locked inside after the last service. One would think his wife could avoid getting locked inside at the end of the day later in the book. Spoiler below.







And then there's the cartoonishly outlandish Catholic machinations. What twaddle.