Evans Above (Constable Evans Book 1)
A good start to what promises to be an enjoyable cosy crime series set in the Snowdonia area of North Wales, especially so because I’m familiar with the area. Rhys Bowen has created a diverse cast of engaging characters and well thought out mysteries.
Evan Evans left Swansea Police Force after his father was killed and was re-assigned to the small North Wales village of Llanfair where he hoped life would be a lot less fraught. Unfortunately for Evan that wasn’t to be. After a report of a climber in trouble on Mount Snowdon, the search party discovered two dead hikers. At first it was thought to be a nasty accident but Evan wasn’t convinced.
Evan is a likeable character whose inclination not to hurt people’s feelings sometimes works to his disadvantage, particularly in personal situations. He’s conscientious when it comes to his job, following his instincts to get to the truth. The village is peopled by an assortment of residents, including Betsy the flirtatious barmaid. There were also three other people with the surname of Evans. So apart from Evans-the-Law there was Evans-the-Post, Evans-the-Milk and Evans-the-Meat, the local grumpy butcher who hadn’t much time for tourists and anyone not Welsh. Two feuding ministers and their wives also try Evan’s patience as the mediator of the villagers’ disputes.
Evan Help Us (Constable Evans Book 2)
Ted Morgan, who left the village years ago, has just returned to Llanfair after the death of his father. He has big plans to build a large theme park on the land he inherited, in order to attract tourists. The response of the villagers was a mixture of shock, alarm and anger.
Colonel Arbuthnot had been visiting Llanfair, from his home in London, for a number of years since his wife died. A keen amateur archeologist, he was delighted when on a walk he unearthed what he thought could be a historical artefact. This ties in with the ongoing rivalry between Llanfair and the neighbouring town of Beddgelert regarding a local legend.
Evan is settling in, getting used to village life and the idiosyncrasies of the residents, although he still isn’t having the quieter life he envisioned. Between his rocky love life (Betsy the barmaid and Bronwen the teacher) and a double murder, he has his work cut out.
Set in the 1990s this is an easy to read, cosy series with mostly likeable main characters, one or two sometimes more annoying than likeable. Humour is sprinkled throughout and I love the way the titles are worked round Evan’s name.
You can find out more about Rhys Bowen here. The narrator, Roger Clark is one of my favourites. I love his narration of these books and also Tana French’s Cal Hooper books.
