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Book of Psalms Mystery #5
Evil Angels Among Them
When a death disrupts the peaceful Norfolk village of Walston, David Middleton-Brown and Lucy Kingsley must sort through the tangled relationships and dark secrets of the villagers to find a murderer.
372 pages, Hardcover
First published September 14, 1995
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
January 19, 2022
This is the fifth and (as it turns out) last of the “Book of Psalms Mystery” series – a set of five ecclesiastical crime novels set in the Church of England and each based around an issue in the church
From the author’s website
The books seem to be hold together by a Wymondham and then London based family solicitor with a strong interest in church architecture - David Middleton-Brown – and Lucy Kingsley, a London based artist – the two having a developing relationship across the books. Albeit even at the start of this book Lucy is still not prepared to commit to marriage and the two are considering moving into separate houses.
I was drawn to the series by “Literary Norfolk: An Illustrated Companion” – as two of them (this and “Snares of Death” are set in my birth and now second-home county of Norfolk).
This one in particular is set in the entirely fictional mid-North Norfolk village of Walston. From what I have read Walston is a deliberate portmanteau of Salle and Cawston – two nearby villages around three miles from my second-home barn and both renowned for their remarkable parish churches: Salle (http://www.norfolkchurches.co.uk/sall...) for its huge size completely out of keeping with a population of 50, and the much larger village of Cawston (http://www.norfolkchurches.co.uk/caws...) for its interior including a 15th-century angel roof and painted screen – the church in Walston is effectively almost a fictional replica.
As an aside - the church at Cawston is also the setting for Jessica Streeting's beautiful autobiographical free-verse novella "Sea Change"
The basic plot is that Stephen Thorncroft (mistakenly initially arrested for the murder in “Snares of Death”) and his recent wife Becca (daughter of the murder victim and at the centre of much of the book’s intrigue) have recently moved to the Parish to take over from a much loved single Vicar. As an aside the book seems set around a year after “Snares of Death” which implies that Middleton-Brown and Lucy have had a busy time of mysteries (with whatever was covered in the third and fourth volumes) – Becca also seems very innocent and hard to easily reconcile with the same character in the second book.
The small village and its church is far from welcoming. Stephen seems to be unfavorable compared to his predecessor at every opportunity; Becca is haunted by a series of obscene phone calls and when a lesbian couple Lou (with a daughter Bryony) and Gill move to the village they are close to ostracised by most of the locals (particularly by a pair of sisters – one Enid single, the other Doris married to Ernest, an ex-Churchwarden who seems to think he runs the church).
And the village seems to be a web of intrigue and plotting – particularly after one of the Churchwardens stands down after an unexpected heart attack. The other Churchwarden – Fred, the village store owner and local gossip – is supporting two plans (one to allow a nearby poultry farm and factory to expand on church land; the second to withhold the church’s Quota to the Diocese and keep the money locally) which the standing-down Churchwarden and Stephen largely oppose. Stephen tries to persuade the owner of the local manor house to stand, while Ernest seems to think (with some justification) that the position is in his gift and persuades a local social worker Flora to successfully stand.
Casting around for advice Stephen invites David and Lucy to visit and quickly they find themselves at the heart of a murder mystery again as Flora is found murdered (apparently with a heart attack induced by foxglove/digitalis which was administered when she visited Gill to relutanctly discuss accusations from Enid of child abuse/neglect).
And as in the previous novel, despite being a family not criminal solicitor, David is appointed as Defence solicitor – a role he and Lucy again interpret as being investigative detectives with the mutual assistance of the same sex, alcohol and easy-life loving policeman as in the previous novel.
Compared to that novel the resolution to the mystery here seems a lot more logical and less tortuous – there are various red-herring type plots but these are more resolved as time goes on rather than left for a climatic denouement – with really only a single twist. I think overall that made for a better book. I was also perhaps less disinterested than before in David/Lucy; they do remain far less interesting than the characters in the core mystery but that I think is deliberate and I liked the way that their relationship remained open (even if I think the author had not meant this to be the last in the series and did decide to revisit the characters in a different series).
I also appreciated more this time the Psalm verse epigraphs for each chapter and enjoyed two short but effective talks by Stephen: the first on Matthew 7:16-20 – where he correctly argues that the “fruits” the congregation are showing is hardly fruit that their beloved previous Priest would approve of or that reflects well on him; the second on unclean words from Matthew 15: 8-20 accompanied by a pointed anti-hypocritical reference to Matthew 7: 4-5 (“mote in your own eye”) and John 8:7 (“let you without sin cast the first stone”).
Overall more enjoyable than the last book although not enough to persuade me to re-read the author unless she returns to Norfolk.
3,5* rounded up
From the author’s website
Each of those books explores some issue in the Church of England: “A Drink of Deadly Wine” is about ‘outing’, before that term hit the news; “The Snares of Death” deals with the High Church/Low Church divide, and related issues of extremism and fundamentalism; the problems of a cathedral and its battling personnel are detailed in “Appointed to Die”; “A Dead Man out of Mind” focuses on the ordination of women; and “Evil Angels Among Them” explores the consequences of the Church’s financial crisis
The books seem to be hold together by a Wymondham and then London based family solicitor with a strong interest in church architecture - David Middleton-Brown – and Lucy Kingsley, a London based artist – the two having a developing relationship across the books. Albeit even at the start of this book Lucy is still not prepared to commit to marriage and the two are considering moving into separate houses.
I was drawn to the series by “Literary Norfolk: An Illustrated Companion” – as two of them (this and “Snares of Death” are set in my birth and now second-home county of Norfolk).
This one in particular is set in the entirely fictional mid-North Norfolk village of Walston. From what I have read Walston is a deliberate portmanteau of Salle and Cawston – two nearby villages around three miles from my second-home barn and both renowned for their remarkable parish churches: Salle (http://www.norfolkchurches.co.uk/sall...) for its huge size completely out of keeping with a population of 50, and the much larger village of Cawston (http://www.norfolkchurches.co.uk/caws...) for its interior including a 15th-century angel roof and painted screen – the church in Walston is effectively almost a fictional replica.
As an aside - the church at Cawston is also the setting for Jessica Streeting's beautiful autobiographical free-verse novella "Sea Change"
The basic plot is that Stephen Thorncroft (mistakenly initially arrested for the murder in “Snares of Death”) and his recent wife Becca (daughter of the murder victim and at the centre of much of the book’s intrigue) have recently moved to the Parish to take over from a much loved single Vicar. As an aside the book seems set around a year after “Snares of Death” which implies that Middleton-Brown and Lucy have had a busy time of mysteries (with whatever was covered in the third and fourth volumes) – Becca also seems very innocent and hard to easily reconcile with the same character in the second book.
The small village and its church is far from welcoming. Stephen seems to be unfavorable compared to his predecessor at every opportunity; Becca is haunted by a series of obscene phone calls and when a lesbian couple Lou (with a daughter Bryony) and Gill move to the village they are close to ostracised by most of the locals (particularly by a pair of sisters – one Enid single, the other Doris married to Ernest, an ex-Churchwarden who seems to think he runs the church).
And the village seems to be a web of intrigue and plotting – particularly after one of the Churchwardens stands down after an unexpected heart attack. The other Churchwarden – Fred, the village store owner and local gossip – is supporting two plans (one to allow a nearby poultry farm and factory to expand on church land; the second to withhold the church’s Quota to the Diocese and keep the money locally) which the standing-down Churchwarden and Stephen largely oppose. Stephen tries to persuade the owner of the local manor house to stand, while Ernest seems to think (with some justification) that the position is in his gift and persuades a local social worker Flora to successfully stand.
Casting around for advice Stephen invites David and Lucy to visit and quickly they find themselves at the heart of a murder mystery again as Flora is found murdered (apparently with a heart attack induced by foxglove/digitalis which was administered when she visited Gill to relutanctly discuss accusations from Enid of child abuse/neglect).
And as in the previous novel, despite being a family not criminal solicitor, David is appointed as Defence solicitor – a role he and Lucy again interpret as being investigative detectives with the mutual assistance of the same sex, alcohol and easy-life loving policeman as in the previous novel.
Compared to that novel the resolution to the mystery here seems a lot more logical and less tortuous – there are various red-herring type plots but these are more resolved as time goes on rather than left for a climatic denouement – with really only a single twist. I think overall that made for a better book. I was also perhaps less disinterested than before in David/Lucy; they do remain far less interesting than the characters in the core mystery but that I think is deliberate and I liked the way that their relationship remained open (even if I think the author had not meant this to be the last in the series and did decide to revisit the characters in a different series).
I also appreciated more this time the Psalm verse epigraphs for each chapter and enjoyed two short but effective talks by Stephen: the first on Matthew 7:16-20 – where he correctly argues that the “fruits” the congregation are showing is hardly fruit that their beloved previous Priest would approve of or that reflects well on him; the second on unclean words from Matthew 15: 8-20 accompanied by a pointed anti-hypocritical reference to Matthew 7: 4-5 (“mote in your own eye”) and John 8:7 (“let you without sin cast the first stone”).
Overall more enjoyable than the last book although not enough to persuade me to re-read the author unless she returns to Norfolk.
3,5* rounded up
March 3, 2010
Evil Angels Among Them (Kate Charles). A complex who-dun-it mystery novel. A bit too slow paced for my liking...but the plot was interesting and did have some twists and turns. There were a lot of characters to follow which took some of the joy in reading this. Set in England and strongly based on the Church of England did make it interesting.
May 31, 2016
After pushing through some heavily detailed works of late, I turned to this randomly selected Kate Charles title from an apparent Psalms series she has devised, with a slim hope for light entertainment at little intellectual cost. Found: a delightfully spun tale of sufficient complexity told by that most elusive of writers...a wordsmith with deft economy and an original line.
In another's less-skilled hands the nastier characters could have fallen into buffoon caricature. Some of the tediously typical could have fallen into stereotypes that never can command empathy. But Charles is too clever and inventive a writer to let that happen.
Ultimately the story's lesson that a desire for power corrupts the human heart so tragically and so thoroughly only stands stronger for it's setting in a small country village and centred on the inhabitants' reactions to their newly invested (Anglican) priest and his young wife.
The minor quibble I might have was over suspending my disbelief that friends of the initial protagonists (said priest and his wife) co-investigators Lucy (an artist) and David (a barrister) must postpone their return to London so many times over to meet yet another crisis in the lives of their friends in this odd little Norfolk village they are visiting...I lost count after three times. But the compression is necessary and literally due to the constraints the author has put upon her plot laid so carefully within the Anglican/Church of England's Easter calendar. The balance between the David's legal obligations to clients etc. and his desire to support and thus firmly win the fair hand of Lucy eventually seems a little thin in the motivation department but...who can dispute the power of young love in fiction of this kind?
A satisfying end, despite the numerous false endings...it was a relief not to have to memorise a cast of thousands as well: a cheap 'flooding' tactic and a tiresome demand (wholly unnecessary in my opinion) which some writers of the village-mystery type inflict upon their readers.
Over all "Evil Angels" emerges as a most enjoyable outing and one that prompts me to investigate the other titles and enjoy myself once again. Roll on Ms Charles!
In another's less-skilled hands the nastier characters could have fallen into buffoon caricature. Some of the tediously typical could have fallen into stereotypes that never can command empathy. But Charles is too clever and inventive a writer to let that happen.
Ultimately the story's lesson that a desire for power corrupts the human heart so tragically and so thoroughly only stands stronger for it's setting in a small country village and centred on the inhabitants' reactions to their newly invested (Anglican) priest and his young wife.
The minor quibble I might have was over suspending my disbelief that friends of the initial protagonists (said priest and his wife) co-investigators Lucy (an artist) and David (a barrister) must postpone their return to London so many times over to meet yet another crisis in the lives of their friends in this odd little Norfolk village they are visiting...I lost count after three times. But the compression is necessary and literally due to the constraints the author has put upon her plot laid so carefully within the Anglican/Church of England's Easter calendar. The balance between the David's legal obligations to clients etc. and his desire to support and thus firmly win the fair hand of Lucy eventually seems a little thin in the motivation department but...who can dispute the power of young love in fiction of this kind?
A satisfying end, despite the numerous false endings...it was a relief not to have to memorise a cast of thousands as well: a cheap 'flooding' tactic and a tiresome demand (wholly unnecessary in my opinion) which some writers of the village-mystery type inflict upon their readers.
Over all "Evil Angels" emerges as a most enjoyable outing and one that prompts me to investigate the other titles and enjoy myself once again. Roll on Ms Charles!
August 28, 2009
This is another new mystery series to me, and I want to read at least one of two of the earlier books after finishing this one.
The story takes place in a small English village, where the minister and his new wife have returned after their honeymoon. When the wife starts receiving mysterious phone calls, talking about sexual activities, her happy world begins to crumble. In the meantime, one of the town busybodies is making life miserable for new arrivals, and there are controversies going on among the church council. Add a murder of one of the villagers, and it's another instance of a small town with a lot going on!
The "detectives" in this series are Lucy Kingsley, and artist, and her boyfriend, David Middleton-Brown, a London solicitor. They arrive in the town at the request of the minister and his wife, who are friends of theirs, to find that there is a lot more going on than meets the eye.
This was not a perfect novel/mystery, but a good read, with interesting characters, and enough twists and turns to keep you guessing.
The story takes place in a small English village, where the minister and his new wife have returned after their honeymoon. When the wife starts receiving mysterious phone calls, talking about sexual activities, her happy world begins to crumble. In the meantime, one of the town busybodies is making life miserable for new arrivals, and there are controversies going on among the church council. Add a murder of one of the villagers, and it's another instance of a small town with a lot going on!
The "detectives" in this series are Lucy Kingsley, and artist, and her boyfriend, David Middleton-Brown, a London solicitor. They arrive in the town at the request of the minister and his wife, who are friends of theirs, to find that there is a lot more going on than meets the eye.
This was not a perfect novel/mystery, but a good read, with interesting characters, and enough twists and turns to keep you guessing.
August 23, 2016
I wasn't sure I'd finish this book because the people of the village are so unpleasant---the newlywed wife of the rector receives smutty phone calls, a lesbian couple are very rudely shunned, the organist is reviled, all by self-righteous members of the church who consider themselves Christian. It turned out to be quite a good book though and I probably will read more by her.
July 11, 2019
Somewhat farfetched
This book makes for a good holiday read though the storyline is both weak and complicated. It has not adapted well to the Kindle format with most pages having very odd line breakdown more than half the pages, sometimes only one word to a line, preventing a fluid reading of the story.
This book makes for a good holiday read though the storyline is both weak and complicated. It has not adapted well to the Kindle format with most pages having very odd line breakdown more than half the pages, sometimes only one word to a line, preventing a fluid reading of the story.
January 7, 2018
I really couldn't get into this story so I did not finish
March 8, 2020
Involved mystery, but satisfying brought to an end. A couple of under developed characters
July 7, 2008
Another in Kate Charles' Church of England mysteries. This time it is set in a small rural English community with various problems involving members of the town's parish church. The story line involves murder, rivalries between congregation members, adultry, malicious gossip, and obscene phone calls. As in the other mysteries by Charles, it is a good read with great characters.
September 28, 2009
This is one of Kate Charles's earlier novels, and it is not one of her best. The characters weren't very believable in their portrayal or motivations. Her protagonists all seemed to be a little too good, and her villians are a more like evil cardboard cutouts.
It started out strong enough to make me want to finish, but I was glad when I did.
Her later books are better.
It started out strong enough to make me want to finish, but I was glad when I did.
Her later books are better.
August 26, 2013
This was an interesting look into small village church life but the protagonists' innocence and naiveté were a bit unbelievable to the point of almost annoying. I won't go into detail because then this post would be a spoiler :D The who-dunnit part of the book is quite good and I'm looking forward to reading more of this author's latest works.
May 10, 2016
It's a detective story but, as the author says in her introduction, it's really more about what makes people tick. There are some twists and turns, and a few red herrings that keep you guessing. Some of the characters were a bit too black & white for my liking, but I still enjoyed the book and will be looking out for more in this series. It's good entertainment!
September 23, 2009
Another excellent mystery by Kate Charles, dealing with the inner workings of the Church of England (Anglican Church) in England. And starring charming yet "real" characters David and Lucy.
July 27, 2013
I have enjoyed this series, and I appreciate what I learn about British culture and churchmanship.
Not all that different in the US. Good and bad among us.
Not all that different in the US. Good and bad among us.
August 19, 2016
Kate Charles write ecclesiastical mysteries filled with a variety of vivid characters and stranged twists.
October 15, 2015
The book was creepy so I returned it to the Library. I have read other books by the author and liked them.
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews