The Haunted Season: A Max Tudor Mystery (A Max Tudor Novel) Hardcover – October 6, 2015
Author: G. M. Malliet ID: 1250021448
Review
“At least one head rolls in clergyman/detective Max Tudor’s fifth seasonally themed case… [an] enjoyable blend of whimsy and homicide.” Kirkus Reviews
“A classic and ingenious whodunit laced with clues for the alert reader, A Fatal Winter out-Christies Christie. Pray you don’t miss it.” Richmond Times-Dispatch on A Fatal Winter
“A Demon Summer makes the case that Malliet may be the best mystery author writing in English at the moment (along with Tana French). She’s certainly the most entertaining…” Cleveland Plain Dealer
“A superb novel! Rarely have I read descriptions that have left me gasping, in both their hilarity and their painful truth. A wonderful read.” Louise Penny on Wicked Autumn
“Highly entertaining Wry humor permeates A Demon Summer. After all, haven’t most of us thought that fruitcakes were, in some way, lethal? Yet Malliet also weaves in a serious subplot about families, devotion and the reasons that attract some people to a near cloistered life. Each visit to Nether Monkslip with its mix of eccentric and ordinary residents has been a delight. A Demon Summer pays tribute to the village mystery while showing its relevance to modern times.”
Associated Press on Demon Summer
“With clever plotting that draws on classic elements of the British village mystery, characters conceived with care, an evocative setting and frequent doses of humor to leaven the inevitable sadness, Malliet continues her elegant and entertaining series, one that discerning fans of the genre will find stimulating, rewarding and a ton of fun.”
Richmond Times-Dispatch on Demon Summer
“I’m a fan of G.M. Malliet, and A Demon Summer is more of a return to the roots of the series. Father Max Tudor, former MI5 operative turned Anglican priest, must visit Monkbury Abbey at the order of his bishop. A peer has been poisoned, though not fatally, by a fruitcake prepared by the Handmaids of St. Lucy, a contemplative order. Just when Max is concluding the poisoning was accidental, one of the visitors to the Abbey is done to death. Once again, Max must find the killer . . . this time so he can home to his handfasting to the pregnant Awena.” Charlaine Harris on Demon Summer
“Entertaining . . . the ending with a traditional gathering of the subjects will please Golden Age fans.” Publishers Weekly on Demon Summer
“The fourth fun entry in this charming English cozy series is delighful in tone. Think Agatha Christie meets Ian Fleming.” Library Journal on Demon Summer
“Contemporary cozies don’t get much better than Agatha-winner Malliet’s third Max Tudor mystery.” Publishers Weekly (starred) on Pagan Spring
“Well crafted and entertaining, this is a superb winter read.” Crimespree on Fatal Winter
“A traditional English mystery involving a small village, a dysfunctional family and an attractive vicar can’t help but appeal to mystery lovers everywhere.” Fresh Fiction on Fatal Winter
“Agatha Christie fans will relish Malliet’s delicious second Max Tudor novel….Clever deduction and a logical fair-play solution are enhanced by the author’s wry humor.” Publishers Weekly, starred review on Fatal Winter
“Malliet doesn’t miss a step in her stellar second case for her handsome vicar….This series shines for its wit, well-drawn characters, pitch-perfect dialog, and intricately structured puzzle.” Library Journal, starred review on Fatal Winter
“[A] gift-wrapped package for cozy lovers and Agatha Christie devotees thoroughly entertaining.”
Booklist on Fatal Winter
“A winning entry in the quiet English village mystery genre.” Mystery Scene on Wicked Autumn
“Takes the traditional English cozy mystery and plants it firmly into the twenty-first century.” New York Journal of Books on Wicked Autumn
“Provid[es] the sort of comfort a quintessential cozy can offer.” Kirkus on Wicked Autumn
“Malliet has mastered the delights of the cozy mystery so completely that she seems to be channeling Agatha Christie.” Booklist, starred review on Wicked Autumn
“A superb new series… a true homage to Agatha Christie…Malliet, like Louise Penny, brings a contemporary freshness to the traditional mystery.” Library Journal, starred review on Wicked Autumn
“This appealing first in a new cozy series from Agatha-winner Malliet introduces Max Tudor….Readers will look forward to seeing more of the Rev. Tudor.” Publishers Weekly on Wicked Autumn
“Intelligent, charming writing make this a standout and a return to the traditional English village mystery.” Charlaine Harris, author of the True Blood series, on Wicked Autumn
“Exquisitely well written, a tongue-in-cheek village mystery to be savored.” Julia Spencer-Fleming on Wicked Autumn
“G. M. Malliet has brought the village cozy into the 21st century.” Charles Todd on Wicked Autumn
About the Author
G. M. MALLIET won the Agatha Award for best first novel for Death of a Cozy Writer, which initially won the Malice Domestic Grant, was nominated for both a Macavity and an Anthony Award, and was chosen as one of the Best Books of 2008 by Kirkus Reviews. Malliet’s first three books in the Max Tudor series-Wicked Autumn, Fatal Winter, and Pagan Spring-were all nominated for the Agatha Award as well. She lives in the Washington, D.C., area.
Series: A Max Tudor Novel (Book 5)Hardcover: 304 pagesPublisher: Minotaur Books (October 6, 2015)Language: EnglishISBN-10: 1250021448ISBN-13: 978-1250021441 Product Dimensions: 5.8 x 1 x 8.4 inches Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies) Best Sellers Rank: #16,545 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #204 in Books > Mystery, Thriller & Suspense > Mystery > Amateur Sleuths #238 in Books > Mystery, Thriller & Suspense > Mystery > British Detectives #711 in Books > Mystery, Thriller & Suspense > Mystery > Cozy
I have never returned a book. But I’m doing just that. Ms Malliet’s writing style in this book was aimed at readers with the attention span of a gnat! The book is so rushed and disjointed, I felt like I was imposing on Ms Malliet instead of being invited in to share the story. This book is an outline of rambling narration dotted with dialogue that seems almost obligatory. It’s as if Ms. Malliet had an idea for a great story, but lacked the time or inclination to write it The "investigation" takes place through a series of brief vignettes during which Fr Max asks seemingly innocuous questions and then scowles off into the distance. The reader is treated to rambling thought processes but the clues and meanings are so subtle as to be nonexistant. The characters don’t actually do anything or say anything to engage the reader or each other. Lacking is the interaction of the village inhabitants with Max and each other. They do their stiff walk ons and leave.They walk through the pages like extras on a stage. The author totally leaves the reader disengaged from the story, as if it were written partially in Russian. Max leaps from conclusion to conclusion in such broad leaps as to make Sherlock Holmes seem like the village idiot. The new character of the curate which should have been momentous and lovingly introduced as a new family member is never fleshed out and remains a cardboard cut out whose only purpose is to drop pieces of information so providential that it seems a gift from God. Max strolls through the plot gathering miraculous pieces of information from meaningless disjointed conversations and then out of the blue tells Inspector Cotton to set a trap for the killer whom Max only has a feeling might be the one.
The Haunted Season is the fifth book in G.M. Malliet’s Max Tudor series. Max is a former MI5 agent who left after his partner was killed in front of him. Now an Anglican priest in the quaint village of Nether Monkslip, he is married to his soulmate Awena, a pagan and owner of the local New Age shop. They have come to terms with their different beliefs and have a new baby, Owen.
Much to the chagrin of his bishop, Max keeps getting involved in murders. This is a textbook cozy mystery series, full of quirky side characters, coincidences, and the occasional dead body to cause gossip and give the vicar an excuse to show off his deduction skills and intelligence.
None of the books have lived up to the first, but this one was pretty enjoyable. Life seems a little too perfect for Max, and Owen is the most ridiculously well behaved and intelligent baby. There is a nice nod about halfway (p. 183 in the digital advance reader copy) to Agatha Christie, the master of the cozy mystery:
“I was just thinking that the genius of Agatha Christie was not that she saw the universal traits of mankind, like Shakespeare, but that she saw we are all quite different people, with differing motivations.”
The book has some flaws. The murder itself – decapitation by a trip wire while the victim was riding a horse – seems unlikely to come off so seamlessly or to take off a head entirely. The author relies a little too heavily on coincidence (the new curate overhears two of the main players in the crime discussing it miles from Nether Monkslip, for example), and there is a long, long (too long) section in which details of the crime are explained by Max and Cotton to Awena. A scene in which Max runs towards danger while carrying his baby is ridiculous.
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