Customer Reviews

Evanly Bodies (Constable Evans Mysteries)

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The Wales police are trying something different. They are setting up Major Crime Units to respond to cases and get results faster. Evan Evans has the honor of being placed on the very first one, and they are immediately sent out to their first crime.

A university professor has been shot through an open window while sitting at his kitchen table. The man was brash and opinionated, so the list of potential suspects is rather long. But Evan's new boss is focusing on the man's wife. She claims she was out walking her dog when the crime happened, which isn't a solid alibi. Still, Evan thinks there is more to this case then meets the eye. His theory is proved right when a second murder with the same weapon takes place in a nearby town. What is the connection between the two men?

Meanwhile, things are getting interesting in Evan's village of Llanfair. An Arab family has just bought the local grocery store and is reopening it. They represent a huge change to the status quo, and many aren't sure they like the change.

Evan's wife, Bronwen, has befriended their daughter, Jamila. Jamila begins to open up to Bronwen, sharing the trouble brewing in her family. They are thinking of shipping her back to Pakistan to face an arranged marriage to a man much older then she is. Bronwen is concerned, but that is only heightened when Jamila vanishes. Where has she gone?

Since Evan moved up from patrol to detective, the series has spent less time in Llanfair. While I understand the need to expand the series, I miss spending time with the characters there, and savor each appearance they make. Their appearances here are fun, and the perfect counterpoint to the story.

Both mysteries are well developed. Being the sub-plot, Jamila's story stays perfectly in the background for most of the book. The main mystery of the murdered professor kept me intrigued. I had a suspicion as to what was going on, but wasn't completely sure until Evan began to put the pieces together. Both stories tie together well thematically, making this into a coherent whole.

Evan and Bronwen are the only recurring characters we spend much time with in this book. Their newly wed relationship is a joy to watch, and I enjoyed their scenes together. The many new characters were well drawn. I had no problem keeping them straight. Even the characters that had small roles were strong and memorable.

After ten books, this series feels like a visit with friends. While the old friends aren't around as much as I would like, the news friends are fun to meet. This is a strong mystery series that shows no signs of slowing down. Here's to another ten!

Evanly Bodies is set in a small town in Wales, where Detective Constable Evan Evans and his new wife Bronwen live in a small and somewhat eccentric house. Change comes to their little town when a Pakistani family moves in and reopens the defunct grocery store. While the townspeople are glad of a place to shop locally, a few culture clashes ensue. And while Bronwen finds herself embroiled in the issues with the new residents, Evan is trying to solve a series of seemingly related, unusual murders.

Three men, who are apparently unknown to each other, are shot on different days by the same weapon while eating in their homes, all seated by a window. Evans must solve these improbable crimes while dealing with a new boss and a position on a special, centralized crime squad - a position which might be either a reward or a punishment, depending upon interpretation.

I found this book particularly interesting because of the contrasts in it. The quaint Welsh village is a backdrop for the heinous acts people commit against each other and serves to highlight some of the harsh truths of our modern world. And just when you think you have the situations and characters sussed out, Bowen slips in some surprises that both keep you on your toes and are ultimately rewarding.

The settings in the book are good and well described, as are the characters. The townspeople, in particular, are a hoot. The plot is reminiscent of old locked room mysteries and, true to that genre, Bowen tries out some sleight of hand to keep the reader from asking the right questions.

Favorite character? Evan Evans, who sees his duties through to the end, no matter how they end up. Did I guess it? Most of it. Will I read another? Yes.

Mystery Book Reviews by Liz at [...]

Rhys Bowen is one of the few authors of "cozy" mysteries in recent years to achieve much critical success, having been nominated for the prestigious Edgar Award in 2005. It's clear to see why she has received that acclaim, as her new book shows.

"Evanly Bodies" is a charming mystery set in Wales, featuring the unassuming Detective Constable Evan Evans, a man with a quiet manner, but a sharp mind.

Evans' knack for investigating crimes doesn't sit well with his ambitious superiors, which is why he's been relegated to only the menial tasks on a murder case. That doesn't stop him from probing to the heart of the crime, however, pursuing clues and theories that his thickheaded boss would never even consider.

Bowen writes with a light, deft touch, adding considerable likeability to both her characters and her story. "Evanly Bodies" is a fine example of a traditional mystery, and a real treat to boot.

To me this book was not up to the standard of all the other books I have read in this series. I did not enjoy the plot and I found people I had enjoyed in this series missing.

DC Evan Evans is newly married to Brownen, a teacher. Brownen has befriended the daughter, Jamila, of a Muslim family recently moved to the village of Llanfair. Jamila's brother has become quite militant in his views and has influenced the family to send Jamila back to Pakistan and into an arranged marriage. Jamila has expressed fear of her brother to Brownen and has now disappeared. It's up to Evan to find Jamila and determine just how dangerous is her brother. In the meantime, Evan has been assigned to a new squad investigating the murder of a professor shot through an open window. While the wife is a suspect, second and third killings are committed with the same MO and weapon but no obvious link between the victims.

Reading an Evan Evan's traditional mystery is always a wonderful break from my often dark reading. While I personally would have liked a stronger sense of place--is it Wales, after all--and the dialogue a bit more fluid, I still enjoyed it. What Bowen does so well is to create an interesting cross-section of realistic characters, an interesting plot and a logical execution. What Bowen does exceptionally well is to integrate issues of the day into her story without being preachy or losing the momentum of the story. If there is a fan of the traditional mystery who has not yet discovered Ms. Bowen, for what are you waiting?

I have recently learned that Ms Bowen has concluded the series. There are to be no more tales from Llanfair and about Evan Evans. I have been a great fan since I read the first one that I found in our local public library, which fortunately has the full series.

Thanks for a wonderful and unique series of mysteries, Ms Bowen. I will miss Evan and the wonderful characters from Llanfair and the police force of that part of North Wales.

Diolch yn fawr iawn. (Thank you very much.) It was a great slice of Welsh life.

Once again, Rhys Bowen goes way beyond crafting a "good read". In Evans Evans we meet a genuine hero, someone who doesn't shy away from ambiguity, and whose intelligence and humanity are a beacon in the midst of confusion and stupidity, if not genuine evil. All of this and the magical setting of Snowdonia!

Actually, I would have given it a 3.5 if such a category existed. This was an all right read, just nothing special about it. The writing style reminded me of Nancy Drew or the Hardy Boys. The plot was obvious, as was the solution.

I can't say anything bad about it, but then, I can't really say anything particularly good about it (other that it wasn't bad). Glad I checked it out from the library.

In Llanfair, Wales Detective Constable Evan Evans heads home at night when he sees the light in a corner store. He investigates and meets the new owner of a grocery store, Pakistani Azeem Khan and his hostile son Rashid, a college student. As he greets them, Evan notices that the younger one's accent is more Yorkshire than Asian. Not everyone welcomes the "heathens"; Rashid assumes because they are Muslins, but Evan knows that any stranger would be glared at including the English. Not long afterward, Evan learns that Azeem has arranged a marriage for his sixteen year old daughter Jamilla

DI Bragg leads an investigation into the shooting death of History professor Martin Rogers while he ate breakfast. Bragg informs Major Incident Team member Evans that he is to be a junior officer on the case and no more. Meanwhile Bragg believes that the wife Madeleine known as "Missy" killed her husband, but Evans doubts that the egg shell of this case has been broken yet. He is proven right when two more homicides occur while Missy resides in jail on a murder charge at the same time that Jamilla has run away from home.

In his seventh police procedural Evan is at his best as he works for the aptly named Bragg who wants all the glory so knowing the constable's reputation for success tries to limit his role to that of a gopher. The whodunit is cleverly devised and filled with twists as the locals suspect the foreign newcomers while Bragg somewhat agrees though he still thinks Missy killed her husband; only Evan and his wife Bronwyn feel the serial killer is someone else. Fans will appreciate the final stunning heart-wrenching spin in what may be the preeminent novel in one of the sub-genre's consistently best series.

Harriet Klausner

This is the tenth, and currently final, book in the CONSTABLE EVANS series of cozy mysteries.

Evan and Bronwen have, at long last, married and are settled into their cottage perched on the mountainside above Llanfair. Evan had been the Community Constable for the little Welsh village but, after a recent promotion, was now a Detective Constable assigned to the Plain Clothes Division. The new job assigned him away from his familiar patrol area, a problem Bronwen could relate to since the village school had been closed and she was now traveling down to the valley to work as well. Evan was surprised then when he returned home one evening to discover Bronwen had invited a student to their home. The young woman, Jamila, had recently moved into Llanfar with her family. The girl was upset and had confided to Bronwen that her family, urged by militant brother, was planning to send her back to Pakistan to marry a much older man. When the young woman disappeared Bronwen and Evan found themselves thrown into the clash between Welsh and Pakistani cultures whether they wanted to be or not. And that was not the only problem Evan was facing, he had a new job to learn, new colleagues - and a difficult new boss - to adjust to as well. When a serial killer began shooting random victims there were just not enough hours in the day for Evan to get everything done.

For nine volumes this series has dealt with the life of Constable Evan Evans in the quiet little Welsh village of Llanfair. Besides Evan and his girlfriend, Bronwen, the local schoolteacher, we have also come to know and love many of the other residents of the town. In this one the on going romantic tension between Evan and Bronwen has come to a satisfying conclusion but sadly the result seems to be a diminishment in her role in the story. We have also lost much of the interaction between Evan and his charming neighbors as well. It seems as though it would only be a matter of time before Evan and Bronwen would decide to give up their impractical cottage in the village and move from Llanfair down to the valley, a rather depressing thought for fans of the series. Instead of the upbeat tone that earlier novels had this one feels rather sad. Even the solutions to the crimes feel unsatisfying.