Bone Idle

Francis Oughterard Mystery #3

by Suzette A. Hill

Reverend Oughterard has managed to elude arrest (for now), but when another murder occurs, Oughterard panics. Embarrassing complications ensue, and, once again, world-weary cat Maurice and intrepid mongrel Bouncer must help the reverend escape trouble.

Suzette A. Hill is a graduate of the universities of Nottingham and Newcastle/Tyne. She taught English literature for many years at Reading College before retiring to Herefordshire. She is the author of three mysteries featuring Francis Oughterard.

Genres: Mystery, Mystery Thriller, Crime

288 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2009

About the author

Suzette A. Hill was born in Eastbourne, Sussex, in 1941. She is a graduate of Nottingham and Newcastle-upon-Tyne Universities. Hill taught English literature all her professional life. At age sixty-four and retired, she tried her hand at a short story - just to see what writing fiction felt like, and to her surprise a quintet of humorous novels (Reverend Francis Oughterard series) was the result.

Reviews

[Robert · Rating 3 out of 5]

My literary claim to fame is that I suggested the title of this book to the author...

The title of this book is pure genius!

THIS REVIEW HAS BEEN CURTAILED IN PROTEST AT GOODREADS' CENSORSHIP POLICY

See the complete review here:

http://arbieroo.booklikes.com/post/33...

[Plum-crazy · Rating 3 out of 5]

An okay read, once again following the misdemeanours of the Reverend Francis Oughterard who is helped, unbeknownst to himself, by his cat & dog. The trio each have their own take on events & put their stories forward as "The Vicar's Version", "The Cat's Memoir" & "The Dog's Diary". When I read "Bones in the Belfry", I wasn't sure that this worked (in fact looking at my review I'm surprised I bothered to read another in the series! see here ). Maybe it was because I knew what to expect but I liked this format this time round. The storyline itself was all a bit of a non-event though with once again very little happening.

Will I read more? Well probably only the first in the series as I still need to find out how the Reverend got himself into this sorry state I the first place.

2.5 stars

[Ellen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Obviously I couldn't put this book down! Great fun with never ending problems for the Vicar. Obnoxious pushy women, another Ingaza plot which complicates the Vicar's life, plus the police are reinvestigating the murder ( from book one) and then another murder!

[H C DOLAN · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cat and Dog tales.

Ever more farcical, the inept vicar delves into curio theft and fails to report a serious crime. A intriguing hint as to future action in the Auvergne closes the book, which has the usual entertaining 3 narrator structure.

[Jane · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it !!! makes a change from the detective novels I read.. this has been a real joy x

[Denise F · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm usually nor a lover of stories written from the personified voice of animals. Black Beauty just never tickled my tum but for some reason I love this series. I've read the previous 2 as well and they just make me chuckle. I love the fact that the dog is slightly dim but because he's so sociable brings valuable snippets to help solve the problems and Maurice the cat is so aloof. Cat lovers everywhere will say "oh yes". So a cozy murder mystery involving a vicar, hostile police officer, solved by a cat and a dog which can be read in one sitting, what's not to love?

[KayDee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nicholas Ingaza is at it again. This time, he forces the hapless vicar, Francis Otherard, to steal a priceless prancing pig from a local collector. Francis had previously murdered an annoying parishioner named Elizabeth Foterinton and Ingaza was his shady alibi. The plan naturally backfires causing no end to the confusion that reigns supreme over the village and the vicar in particular. It’s up to his complacent cat, Maurice, and his scatter-brained dog, Bouncer, to sort out the mess.

[Kim · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this but felt the story was over fairly quickly and the rest of the book was just finding a way of "fixing" the plot so it could carry on. While the characters remain comical this one seemed to have lost the laugh out loud quality of the first one.

[Rachel]

Gave up - just wasn't enjoying it.

[Lili · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed the first book in this series very much, while originally the old fashioned writing style and the narration captivated me, unfortunately it now seems repetitive.

[Cath Walker · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've managed to read these books in completely the wrong order but still managed to enjoy the vicar's antics!

[Jessie Jr · Rating 3 out of 5]

The view of the master, the cat, and the dog is shown perfectly each having a story to contribute...I imagine this book as a TV series and a fantastic one I daresay.

[Evie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun

[Ellie]

currenlty on auiobook

[Gemma · Rating 3 out of 5]

anti-climactic ending let it down but otherwise enjoyable

[Ian Rees · Rating 3 out of 5]

In which murdering vicar gets himself into more knotty situations... Good for a bedtime read.