Fete Fatale [Paperback]

Robert Barnard (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1994

When Fr. Battersby, the Bishop's appointee as vicar in Hexton-on-Weir, turns out to be steadfastly celibate, the town's female population unites to force him out. "It's the women who rule in Hexton", and a vicar without a wife is unthinkable to the point of murder.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Barnard's acidly witty, swift new mystery displays once more the stylish inventiveness that has won him three Edgar nominations and devoted readers in America as well as in his native England. The narrator is spiky Helen, wife of Marcus Kitterege, the veterinarian in their hidebound Yorkshire village. The women, who have always run the community, they take up against gentle Marcus when he opposes their current scheme, a plan to boycott the new Anglican minister, a "Popish" celibate. When Marcus is murdered during the church fair, Helen channels her grief into an implacable drive to track down the killer. She gains grim satisfaction from flouting the local police, setting the village in an uproar, and confronting each member of the female cabal. But the identity of the guilty party comes as a stunning surprise to the widow and to the reader. So does her last word, a delicious lagniappe by a superb entertainer. November
Copyright 1985 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 183 pages
• Publisher: Foul Play Press (October 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0881503193
• ISBN-13: 978-0881503197
• Product Dimensions: 7.2 x 4.4 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,287,373 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is a great comic-suspense story! Highly recommended!, April 11, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Fete Fatale (Paperback)

If you like a good mystery and a good comedy but have a difficuly time finding the two together, then this is the book for you! Barnard is an expert and combining a very intriguing mystery with the highest (and sometimes lowest) comedy i have ever read. He is truly and artist. This book is rich in intrigue, laughs, and suspense until the very last sentence (and I do mean the VERY last sentence so don't read it first or everything will be ruined!!) Anyway, I highly recommend this book to anyone with a love of mystery and a great sense of humor!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A story with a Christie-like twist--well done, November 24, 2009

By 

Morganalee (Eastern Seaboard, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Fete Fatale (Paperback)

It's always flattering to stumble across a writer who shares one's views of the strengths and weaknesses of another writer, as Barnard shares mine of Agatha Christie. In reading his own mysteries since, I've come to the conclusion that, unlike Christie, Barnard is at his best in short fiction, rather than the novel. But he does very well in this novel. It's a little slow going at first, as he sets the scene in a sleepy English village, but sticking with it proves to be well worth the wait once the murder happens. Barnard leads the reader down a primrose path that's worthy of Christie at her best; I'd doubt anyone who claimed to have seen the solution coming. Nor is it a "cheat"; all the clues were there, the solution doesn't insult the reader's intelligence or sense of justice, and the summing up is emotionally satisfying.

5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Very English, but modestly plotted, December 4, 2000

By 

Michael Schau (New York, NY United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Fete Fatale (Paperback)

Fans of British country mysteries will find a lot to enjoy here: a quaint village in the clutches of provincial attitudes, a quirky Anglican priest, ruins of a castle, a church fete on the village meadow, etc. Barnard's narrator is a feisty,opinionated teacher and it is a pleasure to see all of this through her cynical eye. But the plot is wanting and a mystery in this style without a delectable, twisty plot is just an Angela Thirkell novel.