Murder Before Evensong: The instant no. 1 Sunday Times bestseller (Canon Clement Mystery)

Product Information

I had read that his interest in Gaelic football stemmed from his enthusiasm for the TV series Normal People.

The provision of such a convenience might seem like a sensible plan – particularly given those caught short while visiting the church have historically been known to relieve themselves against one of the more secluded outside walls – but it divides the parish like nothing else. The staunchest supporters of the anti-lavatory campaign are the dedicated members of the flower committee, while those in favour of the new facilities include Lord Bernard de Floures and others from the ‘Big House’. Canon Daniel Clement is Rector of Champton. He has been there for eight years, living at the Rectory alongside his widowed mother – opinionated, fearless, ever-so-slightly annoying Audrey and his two dachshunds, Cosmo and Hilda. When Daniel announces a plan to install a lavatory in church, the parish is suddenly (and unexpectedly) divided: as lines are drawn, long-buried secrets come dangerously close to destroying the apparent calm of the village.But despite all this, I enjoyed the book quite a bit. It is well-written and smart with a touch of humour. Overall, a pretty good debut and, if this is the start of a series, I would happily read more of Canon Daniel Clement’s crime-solving adventures in future books. He is certainly unmistakable. Tall and gangly, Coles offered a perfect physical complement to the taut, energetic Jimmy Somerville in The Communards. The frame has filled out since then, but the sense of near-archetypal Englishness remains. Canon Daniel Clement, protagonist of Murder Before Evensong, has much in common with Coles. Both are clergymen. Both keep dachshunds. Only one has a dead body in the nave. Ultimately we found out who did it because the rector had an amazing moment of insight during his sermon at the funeral for one of the victims. Riiiiiight. Clever bloke! The policemen were portrayed particularly poorly as people who ambled around chatting and drinking tea and never actually doing any crime solving at all. I relished looking forward to reading this one; it was everything I hoped – an utter delight from beginning to end! On the positive side, it is very well-written, with some nice funny lines: the archivist “looking like Philip Larkin after a particularly bleak day at the library”, and Daniel’s perception that “uncertainty and cluelessness [are] the hallmarks of authentic Christian discipleship”. There is even some theology – “hypostatic union” is not mentioned in many crime books.

What turned him towards religion? It is hard to resist the glib conclusion that the Aids crisis must have had some influence on his decision. Formed in 1985, The Communards had their annus mirabilis a year later when Don’t Leave Me This Way, thumping cover of a soul classic, became the biggest-selling single of the year in the UK (at a time when singles really mattered). It is a funny thing. Somewhere in those years someone decided that the standard format for synthpop was a duo comprising a charismatic singer and an apparently introverted boffin on keyboards. Think Soft Cell, Pet Shop Boys, Erasure, Yazoo, Eurythmics, Blancmange. Canon Daniel Clement is Rector of Champton, a small village with its own stately home owned by Bernard de Floures. The most exciting thing to happen in Champton is the argument as to whether the church should install a lavatory or a buttery for the flower arrangers, then Bernard de Floures' alcoholic cousin is found by Daniel, murdered in one of the pews, with a pair of secateurs no less! But no sooner have the press departed to pastures new and the village returned to some sort of normality, than another body is found floating in the lake.

The Church Times Archive

There is a motive, however, and, when I thought my eyes couldn’t roll anymore, after the reverend’s sudden realisation of who the murderer is, they still rolled some more as I read about the motive for the murders. So the scene is set for more than one murder in the company of a cast of finely drawn characters, immediately recognisable to anyone familiar with parish life. Coles is a sharp observer of human nature, but his observations are tempered with both humour and compassion, and much of the pleasure in the book lies in the incidental asides: “uncertainty and cluelessness, the hallmarks of authentic Christian discipleship”, or “supper, a light collation, he hoped, after the pound and a half of date and walnut cake he had felt duty-bound to consume”. Canon Daniel Clementis Rector of Champton. He has been there for eight years, living at the Rectory alongside his widowed mother–opinionated, fearless, ever-so-slightly annoyingAudrey–and his two dachshunds,Cosmo and Hilda.