The Funeral Owl

Philip Dryden #7

by Jim Kelly

When a reader contacts local newspaper The Crow to report a rare sighting of the Boreal or so-called 'Funeral' owl, the paper's editor Philip Dryden has a sense of foreboding. For the Funeral Owl is said to be an omen of death. It's already proving to be one of the most eventful weeks in The Crow's history. The body of a Chinese man has been discovered hanging from a cross in a churchyard in Brimstone Hill in the West Fens. The inquest into the deaths of two tramps found in a flooded ditch has unearthed some shocking findings. A series of metal thefts is plaguing the area. And PC Stokely Powell has requested Dryden's help in solving a ten-year-old cold case: a series of violent art thefts culminating in a horrifying murder. As Dryden investigates, he uncovers some curious links between the seemingly unrelated cases: it would appear the sighting of the Funeral Owl is proving prophetic in more ways than one.

Genres: Mystery, British Literature, Fiction, Crime

416 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2013

About the author

Jim Kelly is a journalist and education correspondent for the Financial Times. He lives in Ely with the biographer Midge Gilles and their young daughter. The Water Clock, his first novel, was shortlisted for the CWA John Creasey Award for best first crime novel of 2002.

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Reviews

[Damaskcat · Rating 5 out of 5]

A local sends the editor of The Crow, Philip Dryden, a photograph of the rare Boreal - or Funeral - Owl. Dryden feels as though it is an omen even though he is not superstitious. A Chinese man has been found dead in the village of Brimstone Hill and there have been metal thefts locally.

Illegal vodka has been found in the area and two tramps appear to have met their deaths through the illicit spirit. PC Stokely Powell wants Dryden's help in solving a cold case - the brutal murder of a local man. Dryden starts to see connections between the cases and becomes involved in some very frightening situations.

I really enjoy reading this series. The author writes evocatively of the geographical background to the series - Ely and the surrounding countryside. Dryden and his wife Laura are interesting characters as is Humph, the taxi driver and friend. If you want to read crime novels which are out of the ordinary, then do try this series. They are usually thought provoking and always well written and well plotted. By the way, the so-called rabbit roundabout at Wisbech mentioned in this book does exist - I've seen it.

[Robert Hellenga · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jim Kelly’s The Funeral Owl, is perhaps the strongest novel in a strong series featuring Philip Dryden, the editor of a small town newspaper, The Crow, in the Cambridgeshire fen country. The plot surprises us without going off the deep end, and Kelley’s insights into his characters never fail to take us beyond the obvious. But the real star of the show is the landscape that defines the world of the book. The fens are dark, brooding, bleak, managed in mysterious ways through ditches and drains, pumping stations and sluice gates: “The effect of the featureless mist, the straight line of the near bank, the oily, motionless water, was to play tricks with the eye, which searched for something, anything, upon which to fix. He found himself at the centre of a grey world, and the feeling of floating within it made him feel nauseous.”

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a bit of a disappointment for a Jim Kelly book - I've loved all his others, but felt, with this one, that he'd tried to be just a bit too clever and tried to cram a bit too much in.

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked this up randomly at a book sale, not really paying attention to the fact that it was one of a series (#7!) (although fairly common for mysteries!) I will start by saying I would certainly pick up another if I came across it!
Philips Dryden is a newspaper editor in a very rural area, somehow enabling him to be in the thick of things constantly. First on the scene, first to see bodies at least twice… getting information from multiple sources…just in the course of his day. He knows so many people and although some of his interest in situations seems to be connected with a good news story or even ‘filler’ for the paper, you get the sense his heart is there too.
This one starts out with a bang - with first a metal theft incident, then the body… in a rather macabre situation. The story just keeps going, with many people involved, and in the end, most involved/linked to the central crime. There are enough personalities/personal situations that it doesn’t read like only a crime litany… I really enjoyed it!

[Holly McIntyre · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is far from being a page turner. It is as slow and straight and flat as the Cambridgeshire fens it depicts. Sometimes, between readings, I had to force myself to pick it up again, not because it is bad, but because it lacks any breathless excitement. And yet, it is finely crafted. The plots and subplots weave together until they are tied up in the end in a way that is perfectly rational, but not expected. I will seek out and read another Philip Dryden mystery.

[Barbara · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was a decent read but to me it was very slow going hence the 3 star rating. The story is about a small town reporter who is reporting on the murders of 3 men in the area which leads to him finding out many more things going on in the town and how it all comes together.

[M. O'Gannon · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Funeral Owl – A Philip Dryden Mystery – Published 2013 - **** - Philip Dryden is a newspaper editor in England’s West Fens. A China Town triad war appears to have broken out in an English village. Is there such a thing as too much news for a news person? Dryden moves from one major headline to another as he has Humph, his cabby friend, drive him to news stories. Kelly writes superbly with great descriptions of an area I am totally unfamiliar with. The plots and red herrings are well done and the characters are numerous. So why didn’t I enjoy the book as much as Kelly’s Inspector Peter Shaw series? I think it is the protagonist, Dryden. Dryden left me unmoved. I found I couldn’t cheer him on, but I did want to find out ‘who done it’. Maybe I will try another in the series. Hate to give up on a good author.

[Deb · Rating 3 out of 5]

A body of a man hung on a crucifix at a local church; rival gangs competing for territory; metal thefts; illegal vodka being produced; two men found dead in a ditch from drinking the vodka; more murders; a ten-year old case of art thefts linked with current events. All comes together with Dryden figuring out the connection as well as the identity of the murderers.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I do really enjoy these characters. They are quirky but entertaining. This edition seemed to have some pretty gruesome deaths but it all fit into the plot nicely.

[Areex · Rating 2 out of 5]

A long drawn out story that had no excitement in it.

[Jonathan Garcia · Rating 2 out of 5]

...

[Sandy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the latest in the excellent series from Jim Kelly & there's something comfortable & familiar about picking it up. For fans, it's a chance to catch up with the characters whose lives you've become invested in.
Dryden is now the editor of The Crow & he's opened up an office in a neighbouring town on the fens. Laura is working with the BBC & their only worry is why baby Eden isn't walking yet. Humph continues to be Dryden's chauffeur (with Boudicca riding shotgun) while working on his Albanian in his spare time. But his focus is on Grace, his eldest daughter, who has become a troubled 15 year old.
Dryden believes the key to the paper's success is chasing down the local stories that matter to his readers. There's been a string of metal thefts in the area & while checking out the latest hit at a church in Brimstone Hill, he finds the body of a young man, tied to a cross. He's identified as a member of one of the chinese gangs that is at war with another.
But as usual, it's not the only story Dryden is working on. Someone is brewing up bootleg vodka that is just this side of poison, a teenage math whiz has gone missing & the vicar in Brimstone Hill wants to kick out the retired sexton. The last thing he needs is for DC Powell to bring him a cold case involving home invasions in 1999 that ended in the murder of a local man.
Part of the fun in reading these books is trying to figure out which stories are related as Dryden runs around the fens chasing after leads. To some extent they all are in a place where neighbours know each others business & memories are long. But this wild, sometimes bleak landscape has always attracted those looking for a place to hide themselves & their secrets. The author does an excellent job describing the area & its' people, providing an atmospheric, moody backdrop as the pace picks up. Because he lives there, these stories are personal for Dryden & sometimes he has to choose between what's good for the paper & his own feelings. Kelly's lyrical prose lends itself to creating these small intimate moments within the larger picture of the overall plot.
Early in the book, Dryden received a photo from a reader. It was of a funeral owl, rarely seen & so called for its' reputation as an omen of death. Might be something to that myth because soon the body count is rising & Dryden finds himself in danger as he unravels the secrets & histories of those involved.
Kelly has another winner here. The plot is tight & intricate, the dialogue is smart & true to each character and the book is paced so as to draw you in before taking off as Dryden starts to fit all the pieces together. The characters are well written, individual & flawed just like the rest of us & you care about them and their personal lives. There is a recurring theme of memories, what you allow yourself to remember & what you actively try to forget and the effect that has on those around you.
If you haven't read Kellt before, start at the beginning. There is a huge back story concerning Dryden's life before & after marrying Laura & bits of that history come up in each book. Recommend for fans of Elly Griffiths, Peter May's Lewis series, Anne Cleeves Shetland series & Steve Robinson.

[Jaffareadstoo · Rating 4 out of 5]

The mysterious, and it must be said, rare sighting of the enigmatic Boreal, or ‘funeral owl’, in the fenland area of Brimstone Hill is seen as a portent of death. When this is linked with some strange occurrences and spate of violent crimes, the local journalist, Philip Dryden, can scarce keep up with events.

This is the first of the Philip Dryden mystery books I have read, and I was surprised to find that this is number seven in the pecking order. I half expected it to be difficult to understand the hidden nuances which can litter an established series, but I’m pleased to say that this one works rather well as a standalone mystery, but I am sure that as with all series, it is probably better to start at the beginning with a proper emotional investment in the main characters.

I was very quickly drawn into the story, and thought that the conjured images of the wild and lonely fens are really well described. The beginning of the book gets off to a dramatic start with the arrival of a violent dust cloud, something I have never experienced in real life, but I feel that the author did a great job of making this strange phenomenon appear scarily realistic. The mystery itself, which is after all, the heart and soul of the story had enough twists, turns and red herrings to keep me turning the pages long into the night.

It is commendable that the author can grab the interest of a new reader so quickly.I am intrigued by Philip Dryden, always a good sign, and would like to find out more about his character, so I shall tootle off to the book store and find myself the first book in the Philip Dryden series.

My thanks to NetGalley and Severn House/ Creme de la Crime or allowing me access to this book in advance of its publication.

[Jen · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Funeral Owl by Jim Kelly is one of the Philip Dryden series.

Book Description: When a reader contacts local newspaper The Crow to report a rare sighting of the Boreal or so-called 'Funeral' owl, the paper's editor Philip Dryden has a sense of foreboding. For the Funeral Owl is said to be an omen of death.

It's already proving to be one of the most eventful weeks in The Crow's history. The body of a Chinese man has been discovered hanging from a cross in a churchyard in Brimstone Hill in the West Fens. The inquest into the deaths of two tramps found in a flooded ditch has unearthed some shocking findings. A series of metal thefts is plaguing the area. And PC Stokely Powell has requested Dryden's help in solving a ten-year-old cold case: a series of violent art thefts culminating in a horrifying murder.

As Dryden investigates, he uncovers some curious links between the seemingly unrelated cases: it would appear the sighting of the Funeral Owl is proving prophetic in more ways than one.

I read The Coldest Blood, another of the Philip Dryden series, by Kelly several years ago, so I had a little of the background in mind when I started this one. Nevertheless, the first chapter or two had me wondering what was going on. A confusing beginning that cleared up eventually.

Although I did move from confused to find my feet in the novel, I have to agree with Goodreads reviewer Karen that Kelly "tried to be just a bit too clever and tried to cram a bit too much in."

NetGalley/Severn House

Mystery. Dec. 1, 2013. Print version: 256 pages.

[Monica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Philip Dryden, reporter and editor for two weekly newspapers in the Fen country, has almost more crime to report on than he can handle. There is a gang of metal thieves stealing the roofs of churches, cemetery ornaments, electrical wiring and railway pins. It sounds fairly harmless, but they cause a huge electrical fire at a wind farm and the derailment of a freight train. Somebody is manufacturing spurious Polish vodka that is laced with toxic chemicals. The body of a murdered Chinese man is found hanging from a cross in the churchyard where some of the thefts have occurred.

The local police suspect that an Asian gang may be behind the thefts and the murder, but it turns out to be more complicated than that. There is a cold crime art theft that included a brutal murder that may be connected. There is a charmless vicar who is willing to sell off her church's antiquities to support her internet ministry. And his cabbie friend Humph's teenage daughter has run away from home

That is a lot of plot threads for a fairly short book, but Kelly manages to bring them all together at the end. In the meantime, there are wonderful descriptions of the Fen country - the flat farmland with its pitiless dust storms that are blowing away the topsoil, the network of waterways, the villages and the cathedral town of Ely. The sense of place is always one of the most appealing things about these books, as are the characters - Dryden, his Italian actress wife and their young son, Humph, the newsroom crew and the local cops.

It's another solid entry in a very good series.

[Gloria Feit · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is a fundamental precept of the journalistic trade that a reporter should never be part of the story. Apparently this precept doesn’t apply to Phillip Dryden, the editor of the local newspaper The Crow and former Fleet Street reporter. Time and again throughout this latest story in the mystery series, he not only is a participant in the story, writing first-hand, reports his discovery of a body of a Chinese man hanging from a cross of Jesus near Christ Church, in an explosion of an illegal still, in which three men, two Chinese and a Pole, when he is nearby, or several other crimes where he is either in the middle, aiding the police in analyzing the event, or solving it.

The police theorize the original murder and subsequent occurrences in a nearby town are the result of a turf war, either between opposing tongs or a splinter group, each seeking control of illegal harvesting and black market sale of metal obtained from various sources, including lead ripped off the roof of the church. Somehow, Dryden finds links between the supposed disparate murders and other odd events.

Dryden is a hardworking editor and reporter, ever on the go. The writing is sometimes slow and mired in Anglicism’s, but on the whole the plotting is sharp and there is plenty of human interest. And, to top it off, the Fens geography and weather, together with a touch of the area’s history, increase the reader’s interest, especially the intimate descriptions of dust storms a la the 1930s Midwest, and the novel is recommended.

[Emily Kestrel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Recently, I've been in a bit of a dry patch. Bird titled or no, I wasn't that excited about what I was reading, and wondering where the book boredom would end. Well, look no further than Jim Kelly's The Funeral Owl. I grabbed it from the library this week, based only on the owl reference in the title, and was soon drawn into one of the better mysteries I've read in a while.

The protagonist, Philip Dryden, is a journalist for a weekly paper, The Crow. The setting is the Fens region of England, one of the more intriguing settings I've run across recently. Swampland drained for farming during the Victorian era, laid out on a mathematical grid, now prone to dust storms and soil erosion...sounds enchantingly like my own home turf, in the Midwestern United States. The titular owl refers to a rare sighting of a boreal owl, a boon for "twitchers" but also an omen of death.

Alas, Dryden soon runs into plenty of that, starting with the gruesome corpse of an "ethnic Chinese" man mock-crucified by the church. Is this gang warfare run amuck? Suffice to say, there are soon half a dozen subplots going, and Kelly keeps all these balls skillfully in the air until the neat denouement. Highly recommended.

[Pmalcpoet Pat Malcolm · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of my preferred mystery series, savored all the more because the installments are few (this is the seventh) and far between. I love the characters and the back story, and each book contains a clever interweaving of plots that come together skillfully in the end. The setting for these is the south fens of England, land created from wetlands several centuries ago to provide arable land for farming. Historical references and detail about the fens and its cities and towns give special interest to the stories. A running thread is the saga of local newspaper reporter, now editor, Philip Dryden, and his small family, wife Laura, a former television star injured in a serious accident with her husband some years before, and their child, Eden, a little boy just learning to speak but not yet walking. Philip's best friend is taxi driver Humph, a huge man, divorced, devoted family man and living in his cab. The personalities of the people, the towns, and, indeed, the very crimes, are equally quirky, yet the characters are anything but unidimensional. I suggest you read these mysteries by Jim Kelly, and that you read them in order, though each stands on its own. There is also a previous series of four mysteries featuring Detective Inspector Peter Shaw.

[Deborah · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Funeral Owl was another strong entry in the Philip Dryden series. Jim Kelly continues to write mysteries with clever red herrings and unexpected plot twists. While I was suspicious of the character who ultimately turned out to be the murderer, I was completely wrong about that character's motivation and yet, once Kelly (through Dryden) explained it, it made perfect sense.

In The Funeral Owl, Kelly also devoted a substantial amount of time to developing the personalities of the three main characters: Philip; his wife Laura; and his friend Humph. An entire subplot focused on Humph's relationship with his daughter Grace; we learned more about Philip's water phobia (which, from the previous Philip Dryden book I had read, had seemed to arise solely from the car accident in which Laura was injured); and Laura's character gained depth from both her handling of her residual physical limitations and her new status as a mother. I look forward to seeing all of these characters grow in subsequent books.

I received a free copy of The Funeral Owl through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

[Carol - Reading Writing and Riesling · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I selected this book I was unaware that this was the 7th book in the Philip Dryden series. It took me about 40 pages to become comfortable and familiar with the main characters and the location, after that I was fully immersed in this well written book of many mysteries.

This is a solidly written mystery, visually exemplary – I was able to place myself in the setting of the Ely countryside and see the houses, the farms, and the ghost like villages ever shrinking in population. Add to this vista the rundown church towers, the black dust storms and you have a contemporary landscape that is not pretty but one that is real and gritty and worthy of your interest. Much is happening under the surface of these decaying towns; murders, an illicit brewery, art fraud, gang war fare, evidence of post traumatic stress brought about by events of the Korean War and other acts of violence closer to home; Kelly expertly draws all these seemingly unrelated threads together in a narrative that will keep you engaged to the very last page. A very satisfying read.

[Gary Van Cott · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have been reading these books in order and was happy to be able to get the latest from our library. What is good about this book is that it is a reasonably complex story. Dryden is at a better place in his life than any of the previous books. Perhaps he has a certain level of contentment but events in the past and present seem to conspire to keep him from being really happy.

I have generally found areas in this series that could have been edited better and this book is no exception. There is a character who when we first meet him says that he can't read but later we learn he has a driver's license and keeps a journal. If there was a reason for this discrepancy in the plot I missed it.

Also someone has had a hard time with alcohol proof. At one point some moonshine is described as being 120 percent alcohol. That's not possible. At another point it is 120 percent proof. That's not possible either. The US still uses proof (2x the percent alcohol). The UK (which had used 1.75 x the percent alcohol) abandoned this system in 1980.

[Kay · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dorothy Sayers would scarcely recognize the Fen country depicted in Jim Kelly's novel. The landscape hasn't changed much, but the bell-ringers are thin on the ground. Instead we have ruthless metal thieves who strip the leads off church roofs and carry off cemetery monuments and Asian gangs conducting vicious territorial wars that include a crucified victim. And then there is the local Korean War vet, still scarred by post-traumatic stress syndrome--except the term and treatment for it wouldn't be coined for 50 years after the conflict.

Writing of the war and a small memorial to two of the town's casualties, Kelly notes:

"Little had survived in the public memory other than this icon, the soldier in battlefield green, the cape big enough to cover his pack and rifle, and almost reaching down to the ground. The only part of the body to be revealed was usually the head in the helmet, and that was invariably held down, the chin on the chest, the face sheltered against the endless rain."

A carefully wrought tale of the new England, whose problems have roots deep in the past.

[Melissa Riggs · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is the 7th in the Philip Dryden series and I have enjoyed the books up until this one. Too many side stories going on that never seemed to tie the story in even at the end. I'm still not sure how the funeral owl is part of the story.

"When a reader contacts local newspaper The Crow to report a rare sighting of the Boreal or so-called 'Funeral' owl, the paper's editor Philip Dryden has a sense of foreboding. For the Funeral Owl is said to be an omen of death. It's already proving to be one of the most eventful weeks in The Crow's history. The body of a Chinese man has been discovered hanging from a cross in a churchyard in Brimstone Hill in the West Fens. The inquest into the deaths of two tramps found in a flooded ditch has unearthed some shocking findings. A series of metal thefts is plaguing the area. And PC Stokely Powell has requested Dryden's help in solving a ten-year-old cold case: a series of violent art thefts culminating in a horrifying murder"

[Papalodge · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jim Kelly seems to have quite a number of fans very satisfied with his Philip Dryden series. Thou not a page turner, I found the story to be an easy going crime investigation (s). Methodical, as much policework entails, eventually the case being solved.
The charactdrs, except for the Rev. Jennifer Temple-Wright, are enjoyable. The title of the book is a stretch -possibly 'The Brimstone Hill Murder' would be more suitable; but 'The Funeral Owl' does have more of a zing. Ping is more like it. Other reads like the West Fens location; which is described several times throughout. Much like being given a block by block description of any non-descript village - read and easily forgotten.

[Rachel Bridgeman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Philip Dryden, local newspaper editor of 'The Crow' , has the story of his life on his hands when he is sent a picture of the 'Boreal, or 'Funeral Owl, a rarely spotted bird with macabre associations.
As an omen, it proves correct for death follows in quick pursuit and Dryden is again left juggling family, career and trying to solve a ten year old murder with west fens bobby Pc Powell.
Is there a connection between the dead Chinese man, the bird, and a decade old case?
This series goes from strength to strength, it can be read as a stand alone but I would start at the beginning with 'The Water Clock' because it is really very good.
Thanks netgalley for letting me read this in proof.

[MaryAnn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I forgot how much I liked this series, but was immediately reminded as soon as I began this new addition. Dryden seems to solve more crimes than the police, and manages to publish a newspaper at the same time. The Funeral Owl is action-packed throughout, with probably an unrealistic number of dead bodies for such a sparsely populated area, but it's a well-written, comprehensive plot with a twist or two along the way!

[Mary Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really like this series---best to start with first one The Water Clock to get the characters. Is this the last one? There is lots of narrative in this volumn, lots of crimes---lead theft, OAPs being sold out of their lifelong homes, murder victims left on crosses. Maybe too many crimes? Still liked it.

[Monica · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hoping this really isn't the last book in the series, have enjoyed these books a lot. A complex plot, a few story lines taking place at one...but Kelly as always does a good job of helping the reader through to the end. Love the descriptions of the Fens area of England. Yes, really hoping this isn't the last book.

[Icy_Space_Cobwebs Join the Penguin Resistance! · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cleverly-plotted twists and unexpected turns, fully-fleshed yet flawed characters, including the Flawed-Hero protagonist, delineate village and small-city life in the English Fens, a unique environment indeed and a winningly-located mystery setting.

[David Marshall · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an impressive example of the puzzle mystery with multiple threads for our journalist hero to weave into a single story.

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