Evanly Choirs is the third book in the Constable Evans series by award-winning British-born author, Rhys Bowen. The audio version is narrated by Roger Clark. On a ramble in the hills with the lovely Bronwen, Evan sees a car sinking into the lake and has to rescue the occupant, whom he recognises from her loud altercation outside the Powell-Jones home with a young man. She assures him it was an accident, not a suicide attempt, so he dismisses it. He soon has enough to distract him when he is conscripted into the male choir for the upcoming regional eisteddfod in Harlech.
Evan isn’t too optimistic they will win anything, though, they’re not that good. But when the Powell-Joneses rent out the Big House for a hefty sum to a family wanting a quiet country break, things change: famous opera singer, Ifor Llewellyn is in town, and offers to help out the choir. But he and choir master Mostyn Phillips have a history, and things don’t exactly run smoothly.
Not only does Evan have choir practice but, trying to protect Betsy-the-Bar from the singing casanova by agreeing to a date, he gets himself into Bronwen’s bad books. And when his landlady agrees to accommodate Rev. Powell-Jones while his wife departs to care for her ill mother, Evan finds himself shunted out of his cosy room into a damp and mouldy spare room, and Mrs Williams’s hearty cooking replaced with bland, unappetising alternatives at Mrs Patsy Powell-Jones’s insistence.
Llanfair hasn’t experienced the likes of the Llewellyns, who argue vociferously late into the night; crockery is thrown, and Evan is summoned more than once. Then, on the day before the eisteddfod, Ifor fails to turn up for practice in Harlech, and Evan and Mostyn discover his body in the Powell-Jones living room. It looks like an accident but a few things don’t sit right with Evan.
The status of the victim sees the attendance of not just DS Watkins but also DI Hughes. Evan tentatively points out a few anomalies, and if Hughes is dismissive, Watkins isn’t. And it turns out that he is right. Their murder investigation tracks the movements of several who might have motive, means and opportunity. And at each scrap of evidence uncovered, more potential perpetrators are revealed.
Before the final reveal, there’s the hit-and-run death of a potential witness, there are several false confessions, and a dramatic scene where Evan bravely disarms a desperate person with a gun. The eisteddfod also sees Llanfair’s rival reverend couples competing fiercely at embroidery and oratory, and there’s an encounter between Evan and his former Swansea girlfriend, right in front of Bronwen. There’s plenty of humour, while twists, turns and red herrings keep the pages of this Welsh cosy turning.