Evans Above (A&B Crime S.) [Paperback]

Rhys Bowen (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 26, 1999 | Series: A&B Crime S.

Evan Evans, a young police constable, has traded city life for that of Llanfair - an idyllic Welsh village. He quickly learns that even the bucolic countryside has its share of eccentric - and deadly characters. When two hikers are murdered, Evans must hunt down a vicious killer.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

YAAEvans, a self-effacing young constable living in a Welsh village at the foot of a mountain, solves the murders of three alpine hikers while awkwardly fending off the advances of a buxom barmaid in the local pub. A well-crafted plot, nicely drawn characters, a strong sense of place, and the bantering give-and-take typical in a small village whose inhabitants have been neighbors for generations make this fast read a winner. YAs will like the unusual setting, the mountain hiking, and a hero who is young enough to be self-conscious with women.AJudy McAloon, Potomac Library, Prince William County, VA
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

New series protagonist Evan Evans, a young, unattached North Wales police constable assigned to the village of Llanfair (inhabited mostly by Evanses), resents the intrusive new vacation lodge as much as anyone. Evan has tended lost or injured mountaineers before, but now two men, including a guest at the lodge, have fallen to their deaths in separate mountain "accidents" the same day. Suspicious from the outset, Evan finally persuades "rival" police detectives that murder was committed. Straightforward plotting, tempered with unique characterization and subtle humor; for most collections.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Allison & Busby (April 26, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0749004061
• ISBN-13: 978-0749004064
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.3 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (26 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,871,765 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Rhys Bowen's books have been nominated for every major mystery award and she has won thirteen of them to date. She currently writes two historical mystery series, each very different in tone. The Molly Murphy mysteries feature an Irish immigrant woman in turn-of-the-century New York City. These books are multi-layered, complex stories with a strong sense of time and place and have won many awards including Agatha and Anthony. There are 10 book so far in this series plus the free Kindle story, The Amersham Rubies--a great way to introduce new readers to Molly's spunky personality.

Then there is Lady Georgie, Rhys's latest,and very popular, heroine. She's 34th in line to the throne of England, but she's flat broke and struggling to survive in the Great Depression. These books are lighter and funnier than Molly's adventures. They poke gentle fun at the British class system--about which Rhys knonws a lot, having married into an upper class family rather like Georgie's, with cousins with silly nicknames,family ghosts and stately homes. The fifth book, Naughty in Nice, is in stores now, and watch out for a big Christmas book in time for the 2012 holidays.
This year the series received the Readers Hoice Award for favorite mystery series.

Rhys was born in Bath, England and spent a lot of time growing up in Wales with her Welsh relatives. Those childhood experiences colored her first mystery series, about Constable Evans in the mountains of Snowdonia. 10 books including the Edgar nominee Evan's Gate. She has lived in Austria, Germany and Australia, but has called California her home for many years. She now escapes to a condo in Arizona during those cold California winters. When she's not writing she loves to travel, sing, hike and play the Celtic harp.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Read it for the pleasure of the Welsh culture, June 26, 2003

By 

Karina A. Suarez "Karina A. Fogliani-Ahmed" (Walt Disney World, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Evans Above (Constable Evans, Book 1) (Paperback)

The first installment in the Constable Evans series of Welsh mysteries introduces us to the quiet village of Llanfair, at the foot of mount Snowdon in Northern Wales. With its slate blue cottages and warm townsfolk, it is the last place on earth for murder. Or is it? Faster than you can say "bore da" (the Welsh "hello"), Constable Evan Evans - "You can't get more Welsh than that, can you?" (Page 213) - is whisked away from his weekly sermon at church when the terrible deaths of two apparent climbers take place at the famous mountain, quite furtively. An investigation immediately opens but Constable Evans doesn't get much help. He has to deal with some eccentric superiors who would not accept his hunches about the two deaths being connected, even though they happened in two different spots at Mount Snowdon.

Poor Evans doesn't have it easier on his personal turf either. Two local women are on his track: one exuberant barmaid and a demure school teacher who are at each other's throats over him, a landlady who overfeeds him Welsh delicacies, and the local minister's wife, who expects him to be at her beck-and-call for everything from tomato theft to flowerbed trampling.

This is a complex mystery that starts off with two murders, but it develops into an engaging puzzle of disappearances, child crimes, robbery, etc.; where Constable Evans always tries to find "a connection". As the book progresses, this becomes his mantra, as the confusion increases and the so called connection seems most elusive, but it's always lurking in the background, until it eventually turns up.

I didn't find the denouement all that fair to the reader. As a matter of fact, it is impossible to discover whodunit on the book's evidence alone because a vital piece of information is missing until, all of a sudden, we're confronted with the murderer. Withholding information in a mystery is a serious crime (get it?). The evidence, the clues, must all be well hidden and sometimes even presented deceptively; but they must always be there, and the reader must be able to sense them. This is not so in "Evans Above". Luckily, however, this country cozy is entertaining enough, when at the same time reflects the fierce nationalism that makes this part of the UK stand as a land on its own. The local customs and the spirit of the people come through, giving the book its true value. As it says in the prologue, one doesn't think of Wales as a foreign country, but in fact it is. It is one of those places I'd like to visit some day, and, thanks to books like this one, I know I'll keep it in my heart.

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Catches the flavor of the Welsh and their surroundings, February 8, 1999

By 

Jerome P. Daniels (Platteville, Wisconsin, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Evans Above (Constable Evans, Book 1) (Paperback)

This is a delightful romp up and down Mt. Snowdon in north Wales. The mystery is not the most compelling or intense, but the narrative accurately portrays the Welsh independent characteristics and dialog, describes the beautiful country side and unique climate, and alludes to the differences between the Welsh and English. The book brings back fond memories for anyone who has visited this charming part of Wales. A book full of charm and humor. I'm looking forward to the next ramblings of Constable Evans -- and a trip back to Mt. Snowdon.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A GREAT WELSH COZY, January 28, 2002

By 

Ramona Honan "reviews-by-melva" (Dallas, TX USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Evans Above (Constable Evans, Book 1) (Paperback)

This new "cozy" mystery series begins with the new Constable Evan Evans who wants to return to the the idyllic quiet in Llanfair, Wales. He had been trained in Swansea but is returning to his home after his policeman father is killed in the line of duty.

But it seems murder is also in Llanfair when the bodies of two men, strangers it seems to each other, are found on a mountain. At first, it looks like an accident, but Evan Evans thinks they were murdered--but murdered separately. He finds a postcard indicating that the two men had come to the Llanfiar mountain in thememory of their Army buddy, but it doesn't given any inference as to why the men were killed. He sets out to find why and who.

Then, another stranger is found with his throat slashed in a cave. What does this have to do with the murder of the other two?

I was very glad to have discovered Ms. Bowen's Evan Evans. This is not a cloying cozy mystery. It grabbed my interest from the start, and I wanted to find more about Constable Evans and his life in Llanfair. I am glad Rhys Bowen is continuing the series and hope to read more.