Customer Reviews

The Tenor Wore Tapshoes

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

 

 

I've actually Mark Schweizer's books in order and I think this one is the best so far. This one (like the first two) is an absolutely hilarious send-up of Episcopal church life with a top notch mystery thrown in to boot. I had to read several passages out loud to my wife and could barely finish them I was laughing so hard. Don't miss out on this series!

I have read all four of the Schweizer books and highly recommend all of them. Although the stories do not build on each other, suggest you read "The Alto Wore Tweed" first. After you pick yourself up off the floor and find time to stop laughing, read the other three. Schweizer is a very entertaining writer.

I like Mark Schweizer's liturgical mysteries. His characters are good company, the things he finds funny about religious observance, I also find funny (and I speak as a believer). If what you're looking for is tight plotting, devious and deeply explored characters, or thrilling climaxes, look elsewhere. But if what you want is a pleasant way to spend time in your summer hammock or beach chair, any of the "X Wore Y" books will suit you just fine.

Is the insanity of the world getting you down? Is the insanity of your job got you in a tail spin? Are the insanities of 21st Century Church battles driving you crazy? THEN, you need a healthy dose of Mark Schweizer's GREAT GOD GIVEN GIFT of holding up a mirror to ourselves and showing how INSANE we can be. I speak as a professional church musician and believer; it can get this insane. Mark thank you for making us laugh and especially laugh at ourselves. Keep up the great work; we all need a good laugh and you give it to us in each and every episode of this most enjoyable and wonderful series. You have the makings of a new MARK TWAIN! Don't miss the Leper to beat all Lepers!

I applaud this book. I can't wait to read the abuse he will heap upon the head of the poor misunderstood soprano. I enjoy the terrible writing, the awful puns and most of all the stories about choirs, churches and small towns. Hog and his chicken were my favorite characters thus far. The Tenor Wore Tapshoes was my favorite book of the three I've read. And everything I have read thus far rings true, from church politicking to children speaking their mind in church! This series is so much fun I laugh out loud reading it. I come from a completely different religious tradition, grew up in Hawaii and live in Canada. The characters may change location, but the humanity will out! Thank you, Mr. Schweizer, for writing these wonderful books!

This is another humorous entry in the Liturgical Mystery series. I especially like the new lyrics written to popular hymns. They're hilarious! I will keep reading this series.

This is the 3rd in the Liturgical Mystery stories. Although I enjoyed the story, I didn't feel that it was quite up to the standards of the first two. Maybe it was the story itself - more nitty-gritty than the first two; or maybe it was that I didn't like the way Hayden was reacting under pressure. The writing was just as good as the others, the supporting cast was the same, oddballs and all. The humor was the same, and so was the subtle satire. And - unfortunately - Hayden's attempts to channel Raymond Chandler's ghost remained the same! Anything more will constitute a 'spoiler'.

Bottom line is that this was well-written and enjoyable, but not as 'light' and 'silly' as the first two - and that's what I found a bit disppointing since I was looking forward to a quick, easy, and silly read. I would still recommend this book for anyone, but with the warning that it isn't quite as lighthearted as the first two.

Note on Kindle formatting: Very good to excellent. I didn't notice any issues while I was reading this book.

"The Tenor Wore Tapshoes" is my third foray into the world of Mark Schweizer and again he creates a wacky, if not wild world of Hayden Konig and Hayden's double life (well, triple life if you count his being the police chief, church organist and mystery writer) in St. Germaine, North Carolina. As with his previous books, the author intersperses his protagonist's daily doings with the formulation of a new mystery book. The stories don't go hand-in-hand, but Schweizer's humor is fetching and wonderfully presented.

It helps to have a background in church music, as I do, to enjoy the fun more readily, as in the case of a certain hymn that is the seed of the town's mystery in this narrative. And yes, it is one of the worst hymns ever written! But even if the reader's background doesn't include music, "The Tenor Wore Tapshoes" is pure delight and I look forward to reading his new offering, "The Diva Wore Diamonds".

This is the third in the series. Although it helps to know the players by reading the first two, it can stand alone on its own.

The main character is Chief of Police Honig, who also happens to be the organist/choir director of the Episcopalian church in a small town in North Carolina. He is also an amateur mystery writer, fashioning himself after Raymond Chandler. After all, he owns Chandler's typewriter. His mystery writing is done with tongue firmly in cheek and the "books" are hilarious.

The Chandler stuff is a sidelight to the mystery. The mystery plot in this book is pretty thin but interesting. The side stories in the book around it is laugh out loud funny.

This is light breezy stuff, but it is clever, hilarious and the characters are all engaging. For those of you who have read others, this one's plot is thinner than its predecessors, but the rest makes it the funniest.

Another wickedly funny novel about Hayden, the local police chief/organist/choir director at St. Barnabas. Another plot within a plot, the interior story (hardly a story really) filled with outrageous similes.

The mystery in this one concerns a man, dead for 70 years who is discovered hidden in the altar but who is perfectly preserved, an "incorruptible" as it were. ""And is there such a thing as a true Incorruptible?" I asked. "It seems like a probable stage for a religious scam. Let's just say that it's 1580 and you're a Bishop of a cathedral that's having some franchise problems. The Protestants are pretty much undefeated going into the series. Your counter-reformation isn't going too well. Then one of your young nuns dies so you secretly embalm her, put her in a locked glass case, make up a story about how she's in-corrupt and died in ecstasy during her..." Fortunately, there is a rational explanation (spoiler: thorite)

Some new characters make their appearance: Brother Hog who uses a chicken to find the day's Biblical reading and encourages "re-virgination", a disappearing "Immaculate Confection" (a sweet roll with the likeness of the Virgin Mary that was bringing in lots of trade for Pete's restaurant) and D'Artagnan (make of that what you will,) and Raymond Chandler.

Some quotes: "In the Episcopal church, pledge cards were as rare as hen's teeth--at least before Thanksgiving when the screws were tightened."

Full disclosure: I was a boy soprano in a large Episcopal Church in New Haven in 6th and 7th grade at Sleeping Giant Junior High School (yes, that was its real name, but not the one in Montana). I'll never forget that Palm Sunday when we forgot to lay down the palms at the front of the church and then decided we needed to get them up there, so all of a sudden these palms come flying up toward the front from the choir.