Wicked Autumn

The remote English village of Nether Monkslip is the setting for G. M. Mallliet's Wicked Autumn (#212), a quaint yet artsy community where everyone assiduously minds everyone else's business.  At the center of this community and a source of much speculation is relative newcomer Max Tudor, the vicar of St. Edwold's and former MI5 intelligence officer.  He hopes to find peace and tranquility is this rural setting.

Alas, that is not to be with the frenzy leading up to the annual Harvest Fayre, organized with military precision by the indomitable Wanda Batton-Smythe, president of the Women's Institute and self-anointed queen of Nether Monkslip.  She has stepped on so many toes that at the height of the Harvest Fayre, no one is surprised when she is found dead in the Village Hall.  It appears that Wanda has accidentally eaten something containing peanuts and didn't get to her epinephrine pen in time to counteract it.  Father Max was there when her body was discovered, and something doesn't seem quite right to him.  With his background and training, DCI Cotton from nearby Monkslip-super-Mare promptly enlists Max to help him with his investigation, knowing that the villagers will reveal more to Max than to the police.  There are many colorful characters to interview, most of whom heartily disliked Wanda and her imperious ways, but do any of them have a strong enough reason to have acted upon their feelings?  Max certainly hopes not, as he moves towards putting the final clues together and unmasking the murderer and the motive, but wickedness is certainly abroad in Nether Monkslip as he discovers.

One of my friends recommended G. M. Mallliet's Wicked Autumn, (at church, of course!) and I'm glad she did, as both my husband and I enjoyed this English cozy. The author is new to me although she has won an Agatha for her previous work.  We'll both be looking forward to further tales of Nether Monkslip.