Evan Blessed (Constable Evans Mystery)

Constable Evans is walking a tightrope between his impending marriage and his job. Add in the fact that his mother is against the upcoming marriage and one would think he has a full plate to deal with. Then a young girl is reported missing by her boyfriend, apparently she'd gone missing while they were hiking. Then to further confuse his life, musical clues start appearing and Evan is going to have to figure out how to solve them, because he hasn't a clue as to where the girl is or how to find her and neither do the searchers who have been looking for her. Apparently there is more to the missing girl than meets the eye, because now it looks like maybe she'd been abducted and isn't just lost. And to make matters even worse, Evan's fiancee goes missing as well. Missing after she'd chased one of those musical clues. There is mystery here, a story that will grip you and characters full of interest. This is a story you will have a fun time with. I know I did.

Very enjoyable 'cozy' mystery (one of a series) set in Wales. Evan, the main character in the series, is a wonderful person to spend time with, and the Welsh village is populated with an array of marvelous personalities. Funny, great attention to detail, wonderful use of Wales (feels like you're vacationing), and an interesting mystery as well.

Having read and enjoyed the whole Evan series, I was so glad I'd pre-ordered this one. I'd probably finished mine before the local bookstore had even unpacked their copies. And it was good! The plot was nice and twisty with a fine resolution. Of course the local characters and locale are what make this series so unique, here we have all the regulars (I love the feuding pastor's wives) plus two cranky mothers-in-law to be. While the story was a little darker than some of Evan's stories, I didn't think it was unrealistic or too violent. I can't wait until the next one.

In only two weeks, Evan and Bronwen will be married. But the once simple affair has turned into a complicated production with all the trimmings and potentially hurt feelings in the village. It only gets worse with Mrs. Evans, who still hasn't warmed up to Bronwen, shows up early. But all that's minor compared to the missing girl. Her boyfriend first finds Evan and tells him that they got separated on the mountain. Search parties can find no trace of her, and with the crowds from tourist season, no one seems to remember her from the crowd. The discovery of an empty bunker near a trail adds to the intensity of their search. Evan, meanwhile, is getting messages from the maniac - musical clues that he needs to solve to solve the case. Why has he been singled out? What do they mean? Will they find the girl? This book, like the last few in the series, is a little darker then the early books. Even so, it's just a shade darker, and the interactions with the residence of Llanfair and the plans for the wedding help keep it fun. The plot seems to get bogged down in the middle, and I was getting frustrated. Of course, the characters were frustrated as well, so I figured I was in good company. Then the final 100 pages hit and the plot really took off. It took all my will power not to keep reading past my lunch hour. I thought I had it solved early on, but was thrilled to see that there were some nice twists I hadn't expected. And I simply loved the ending. This book does mention a few previous cases, so you might want to stay away until you've read the others in the series. Series fans will love this latest adventure with Evan and be left wanting more. I'm certainly ready for the next one.

Detective Constable Evan Evans knows first hand what it means to move someone as he has lugged the junk (don't tell her that) of his fiancée Bronwen up Mount Snowdon's mountainside to their cottage. On one of his treks he meets Paul Upfield, who says he is searching for his seventeen year old girlfriend Shannon Parkinson who he raced ahead of hiking down the mountainside; she never caught up and he never found her when he turned back to look. Instead of finding the missing teen, the K-9 dogs uncover a concealed underground bunker including handcuffs hanging down from a ceiling beam. Soon Evan begins receiving sheet music containing enigmatic clues. The police struggle with too many people and no viable suspect. While Evan continues his investigation, a strange twist occurs when Bronwen disappears with the music writer sending notes that she is now a prisoner. Whereas before he was duty intense to rescue the girl now he is obsessed to save his beloved and the teen. The long running Evan Evans' police procedural is refreshed with this fine cat and mouse tale as this time the case turns personal. The story line grips the audience from the beginning when a frantic Paul explains to Evan that his girlfriend is lost on Snowdon and never takes time off as the hero begins to believe he is the ultimate target in a cat and mouse encounter. Rhys Bowen shows why she is one of the best mystery writers today with this excellent tale. Harriet Klausner