Rating: 
Summary: A Plodding Read
Review: If you have read any of M C Beaton's popular Hamish MacBeth series (set in the Scottish Highlands) you will find the whole setup entirely predictable. There's the likeable, unambitious village constable who (surprise surprise) ends up showing his superiors a thing or two. There's the lovely yet austere woman with whom a relationship is kindled. There's the village of supposedly colorful characters where everyone knows everyone's business. Unfortunately the characters as drawn are not all that interesting, save that they share the same name. So we meet the butcher "Evans the Meat" and the milkman "Evans the Milk" as distinguished from our hero "Evans the Law." The plot, concerning two deaths on the Snowdon mountains is slow, and marred by the fact that we know so little about the victims or their families. It becomes hard to care very much. I found myself skimming the last third of the book just to find out whodunnit. The writing and plot development were so pedestrian that I could not stay focussed.
Rating: 
Summary: Cozy and funny
Review: Rhys Bowen has taken the Cozy Mystery and thrown it into the Welsh landscape (with the traditional problems between the English and the Welsh). Her detective, Constable Evan Evans, has to deal with his hierarchy (people who think they know best... but they don't) Evan Evans chose to work in a small village because his fathr had been shot by a killer while working in the police force in the docks. His landaldy, Mrs Williams, is very reminiscent of Holmes's Mrs Hudson (except that she has a grand-daughter she'd like Evans to marry). Rhys Bowen's novels are both funny and very interesting. If you liked Miss Marple's stories by Christie, you'll LOVE these.
Rating: 
Summary: Read it for the pleasure of the Welsh culture
Review: The first installment in the Constable Evans series of Welsh mysteries introduces us to the quiet village of Llanfair, at the foot of mount Snowdon in Northern Wales. With its slate blue cottages and warm townsfolk, it is the last place on earth for murder. Or is it? Faster than you can say "bore da" (the Welsh "hello"), Constable Evan Evans - "You can't get more Welsh than that, can you?" (Page 213) - is whisked away from his weekly sermon at church when the terrible deaths of two apparent climbers take place at the famous mountain, quite furtively. An investigation immediately opens but Constable Evans doesn't get much help. He has to deal with some eccentric superiors who would not accept his hunches about the two deaths being connected, even though they happened in two different spots at Mount Snowdon. Poor Evans doesn't have it easier on his personal turf either. Two local women are on his track: one exuberant barmaid and a demure school teacher who are at each other's throats over him, a landlady who overfeeds him Welsh delicacies, and the local minister's wife, who expects him to be at her beck-and-call for everything from tomato theft to flowerbed trampling. This is a complex mystery that starts off with two murders, but it develops into an engaging puzzle of disappearances, child crimes, robbery, etc.; where Constable Evans always tries to find "a connection". As the book progresses, this becomes his mantra, as the confusion increases and the so called connection seems most elusive, but it's always lurking in the background, until it eventually turns up. I didn't find the denouement all that fair to the reader. As a matter of fact, it is impossible to discover whodunit on the book's evidence alone because a vital piece of information is missing until, all of a sudden, we're confronted with the murderer. Withholding information in a mystery is a serious crime (get it?). The evidence, the clues, must all be well hidden and sometimes even presented deceptively; but they must always be there, and the reader must be able to sense them. This is not so in "Evans Above". Luckily, however, this country cozy is entertaining enough, when at the same time reflects the fierce nationalism that makes this part of the UK stand as a land on its own. The local customs and the spirit of the people come through, giving the book its true value. As it says in the prologue, one doesn't think of Wales as a foreign country, but in fact it is. It is one of those places I'd like to visit some day, and, thanks to books like this one, I know I'll keep it in my heart.
Rating:
Summary: Good idea spoiled by workmanlike prose
Review: The Welsh countryside setting of this mystery novel is unusual, the characters are potentially intriguing, and the plot is decent enough, but the writing style is too dull and workmanlike. The narrative never, ever sings, and the dialogue never rises above the terribly mundane. Because of the little-seen setting and the pleasant characters, I wanted to like this book a lot more than I did. Readable, but I'm afraid I won't be seeking out any more titles by this author.
Rating: 
Summary: Catches the flavor of the Welsh and their surroundings
Review: This is a delightful romp up and down Mt. Snowdon in north Wales. The mystery is not the most compelling or intense, but the narrative accurately portrays the Welsh independent characteristics and dialog, describes the beautiful country side and unique climate, and alludes to the differences between the Welsh and English. The book brings back fond memories for anyone who has visited this charming part of Wales. A book full of charm and humor. I'm looking forward to the next ramblings of Constable Evans -- and a trip back to Mt. Snowdon.
Rating:
Summary: Won't win the Pulitzer Prize but it's a great cozy mystery
Review: This is the first in the series and my first by this author, but I was not disappointed. It took 25 pages or so to get into the book, but after that, I kept wanting to get back to it. The Welsh setting (in a village by Mount Snowden) figures large in this book. Constable Evan Evans (how much more Welsh a name can you get?) is a Welshman (Welsh is his first language, English his second) who (even though he was on track to be an inspector) has taken a humble position as the village constable after his father's tragic death. It's a good thing, because two bodies appear, apparently the victims of climbing accidents -- but Evans doesn't think so. The powers that be have a very low opinion of village constables and dismiss him and his theories, but he keeps plugging away. In the meantime, there's this child-killer on the loose that everyone is looking for. The mystery is full of the village types (including a Major who runs the Swiss chalet style inn and the two ministers' wives whose husbands pastor the two adjacent chapels in this village). Evans spends much of his time dodging single woman (or the grandmothers of single women) who regard him as a catch. Evans is likeable and the plot of the mystery was flawless -- kept me guessing until the very end. I look forward to reading more in this series.
Rating:
Summary: Won't win the Pulitzer Prize but it's a great cozy mystery
Review: This is the first in the series and my first by this author, but I was not disappointed. It took 25 pages or so to get into the book, but after that, I kept wanting to get back to it. The Welsh setting (in a village by Mount Snowden) figures large in this book. Constable Evan Evans (how much more Welsh a name can you get?) is a Welshman (Welsh is his first language, English his second) who (even though he was on track to be an inspector) has taken a humble position as the village constable after his father's tragic death. It's a good thing, because two bodies appear, apparently the victims of climbing accidents -- but Evans doesn't think so. The powers that be have a very low opinion of village constables and dismiss him and his theories, but he keeps plugging away. In the meantime, there's this child-killer on the loose that everyone is looking for. The mystery is full of the village types (including a Major who runs the Swiss chalet style inn and the two ministers' wives whose husbands pastor the two adjacent chapels in this village). Evans spends much of his time dodging single woman (or the grandmothers of single women) who regard him as a catch. Evans is likeable and the plot of the mystery was flawless -- kept me guessing until the very end. I look forward to reading more in this series.
Rating:
Summary: A GREAT WELSH COZY
Review: This new "cozy" mystery series begins with the new Constable Evan Evans who wants to return to the the idyllic quiet in Llanfair, Wales. He had been trained in Swansea but is returning to his home after his policeman father is killed in the line of duty. But it seems murder is also in Llanfair when the bodies of two men, strangers it seems to each other, are found on a mountain. At first, it looks like an accident, but Evan Evans thinks they were murdered--but murdered separately. He finds a postcard indicating that the two men had come to the Llanfiar mountain in thememory of their Army buddy, but it doesn't given any inference as to why the men were killed. He sets out to find why and who. Then, another stranger is found with his throat slashed in a cave. What does this have to do with the murder of the other two? I was very glad to have discovered Ms. Bowen's Evan Evans. This is not a cloying cozy mystery. It grabbed my interest from the start, and I wanted to find more about Constable Evans and his life in Llanfair. I am glad Rhys Bowen is continuing the series and hope to read more.
Rating:
Summary: A GREAT WELSH COZY
Review: This new "cozy" mystery series begins with the new Constable Evan Evans who wants to return to the the idyllic quiet in Llanfair, Wales. He had been trained in Swansea but is returning to his home after his policeman father is killed in the line of duty. But it seems murder is also in Llanfair when the bodies of two men, strangers it seems to each other, are found on a mountain. At first, it looks like an accident, but Evan Evans thinks they were murdered--but murdered separately. He finds a postcard indicating that the two men had come to the Llanfiar mountain in thememory of their Army buddy, but it doesn't given any inference as to why the men were killed. He sets out to find why and who. Then, another stranger is found with his throat slashed in a cave. What does this have to do with the murder of the other two? I was very glad to have discovered Ms. Bowen's Evan Evans. This is not a cloying cozy mystery. It grabbed my interest from the start, and I wanted to find more about Constable Evans and his life in Llanfair. I am glad Rhys Bowen is continuing the series and hope to read more.
Rating:
Summary: Heroic, humorous, decent, and kind.
Review: Very good. Heroic, humorous, decent, kind. Like Tony Hillerman and the sadly unrecognized British writer Bill Knox.
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