The Haunted Season by G. M. Malliet

by Carol6 Comments
I skipped #4 in the Max Tudor series, mostly because Father Max was getting married and having a baby and I just didn't want to read about the new family, but I just couldn't pass up the cover for The Haunted Season. Apparently I didn't need to worry about the baby. He is so well-behaved and calm and peaceful that he barely causes a ripple in Max's life. And I guess I shouldn't be surprised, his mother after all is nearly perfect and a healer to boot. Hmm, that sounded meaner than I meant it to. I don't dislike Awena, and in all honestly she's not in much of this book. Lord Baaden-Boomethistle is our deceased, decapitated by a wire strung between two trees while he was out riding his horse. We've got several suspects, mostly members of his family. There are a couple clues, a few secrets, and of course Max manages to put it all together, with some help from...
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A Demon Summer by G. M. Malliet

by Carol5 Comments
Good points - I like Max. He's a good guy with a true calling who doesn't judge others. For a not necessarily "Christian" mystery, I think it's better at presenting religious lessons than some of the preachier ones. He makes sense as a detective, too, since he's former MI5. It's reasonable that the bishop would send him to investigate. The abbey is a good setting and the nuns are an interesting lot. Each has a past, but those don't count anymore, since they've joined the sisters. The nuns are walking a fine line between being separate from the world and making money by selling their products and having guests stay. Max's relationship with his pregnant girlfriend, Awena, stays in the background. I was afraid it would dominate this one after the end of #3, but it didn't. Awena's a great character, very in touch with nature and the seasons, but I don't necessarily like an overly complicated romance to intrude on a mystery. The...
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