Evans Above

Let me start off by saying that Rhys Bowen is one of the best & my favorite historical mystery author. Ms. Bowen manages to combine true her characters with actual events. Sometimes you wonder if her characters could have been at these historical events.However, I've finished her Royal Spyness series (and her Molly Murphy series, which is why I started reading the Constable Evan Evans mystery series. I like that this series is in the present day. Constable Evan Evans is just as good. I just wish she would have continued the series. Just like the other two female sleuths.I'm a fan of Rhys Bowen other two series. This is why I wanted to read the Constable Evan Evans series. (The name is a bit much) of Llanfair, Wales. In this novel, we meet the residents of Llanfair, many of whom have the distinguished last name "Evans" from the butcher, postman & even the milkman.I love Evan's character, personality, his emotions when it relates to talking about his father. The other cast of characters is also wonderful, and endearing. I have read all the series since attempting to write this review.I enjoy the introduction of Bronwen, the kindergarten teacher. She is a great character for Constable Evans. Who happens to have a crush on the newly appointed school teacher Bronwen. He wants to get to know her & ask her out on a date. For Evan, the town pickings are slim when it comes to dating. She keeps him ground & on his toes.(differ novel)Though in one of the other chapters they do have a disagreement when visiting their parents.I highly recommend this series. Ms. Bowen is such a great author.The mystery was solid, however, the killer has quite forcefully in about 15 pages before the reveal, which made the reveal slightly disappointing.Constable Evans is the cute, sweet, single constable who will do anything for the town. His flaws make his character relatable, endearing & a jewel to all mom's in town who want to set him up with their daughters.Evan is tired of being told he should settle down and find a nice woman to be his wife. Between the barmaid hot to trot for Evan, his motherly matchmaking landlord wants to set him up with her daughter.When two murders occur on the Welsh mountain that Constable Evans climbs regularly to keep himself in shape. He wants to investigate these murders to help him profile to become a detective. Unfortunately, the town gossip regarding who it could be takes a front seat with his dept. Verses facts that he wants to investigate. He is determined to keep up to date w/ procedures, & cases on the beat so he can become a detective.Start this series to find out what happened & what becomes of Evan Evans life.

The small Welsh village of Llanfair at the base of Mount Snowdon was where Constable Evan Evansreturned to from the city. It was good to be back at his childhood home, and he wasn't expecting any serious crimes in the area. But the morning he was notified about a body being found on the mountain, with a second found when he and his police colleagues were working out how to retrieve the man, set Evan thinking. Well versed and travelled in mountain climbing, he knew there were anomalies about how the two men who died. Believing they weren't accidents saw Evan following the clues, which led him looking into the recent past. But would he find the answers - both to the deaths of the climbers, and the destruction of Mrs Powell-Jones' garden?Evans Above is the 1st in the Constable Evans series by Rhys Bowen and I enjoyed it very much. Evan is a caring, compassionate young man and a good cop, determined to find the answers, even going against what his superiors ordered. I'm looking forward to checking out #2 and recommend this one to fans of the genre.

very good

I read mysteries before I go to sleep. This one has well-drawn, oil-based colored characters. All the characters are 3-D. The plot is good and is developed at an adequate pace. The hero is a village cop who is smart enough to be a decent detective. The heroine is intelligent & well educated. The villains are well-sketched creeps. Let's compare it to Agatha Christie's masterpiece, THE HOLLOW. Oh, let's not because Rhys is no Agatha Christie; yet, her novels are readable, well-researched, and appreciated like an old pair of furry slippers.I didn't like the ending, because the flesh & blood villain wasn't introduced until the last few pages. That's cheating. For a mystery/thriller to get five stars from me, the bad guy must be introduced by the first third of the book. I want to play detective. I want to guess who, how, where, why, & when, but I want the author to skillfully make that a challenge. In this Rhys book, I worked out everything but the "who". That's because Rhys cheated. That said, it was fun to guess along.The bottom line is that Rhys would never write something like "Hacksaw Ridge"; no, she writes something like THE ORIENT EXPRESS. If you liked that Christie novel, you'd like EVANS ABOVE.

Figured out the connection to the murder victims very early on. Fun use of village character names. Constable Evan Evans is supposed to be an expert mountaineer, yet he goes up the mountain at night with no gear--not even a flashlight--by himself looking for a multiple murderer? Yeah right.

A very lightweight first few chapters followed by more interesting exploration of characters and location. Very good plotting of mystery.

Rhys Bowen is a good writer but she should write about what she knows! She does not know Wales.There are several glaring errors. She mentions Chapel Bethel and Chapel Beulah.....wrong in both languages! The Welsh is Capel Bethel etc and the English would be Bethel Chapel.The Pyg track goes up Snowdon, nothing to do with Pigs! She omits the final "h" in Jehovah.Y Grib Goch, not Crib Goch, is the correct term.She has children saying "Sut wyt ti?" to the constable instead of the polite form "Sut ydych chi? or Sut d'ach chi?"The army garrison is in Catterick, not Caterick!"Good health!" is "Iechyd da", not "Iached da."There are also English grammar errors.The plot is fine and the characters are realistic. A bit of research and consultation with Welsh speakers would improve the book a lot.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, from cover to cover. However I do have a few minor - and (I hope) - constructive criticisms.Despite Mr Bowen's Welsh name, I can't help wondering if he is American. He describes a view of the "Ocean" from Snowden . I think the nearest actual ocean would be the Atlantic, but I doubt if that could be seen even from Snowden; Ireland being in the way! The nearest sea to the location of the book would be the Menai Straits, which by any stretch of the imagination is not an ocean, although, to Americans, all seas are "the ocean".He also describes slip roads on .motorways as "on and off ramps"; another Americanism.I would mention also, that when Evan made his arrest, the words of the caution he administered owed more to the American "read him rights" version than that prescribed by the Police and Criminal Evidence Act. (I served as a Police Officer from 1970 - 2000).I have to say, that my wife and I have had many holidays in the area and know Snowdonia well, so as I read I could envisage all the places as they were mentioned, except Llanfair, apart from Lanfair p.g. etc. On Anglesey! Now for some Evan Evans books!

Clever story with likeable and realistic characters, could easily have been a five star, but sadly suffered from sloppy proof reading.Small things indeed, but enough to irritate as you are reading.‘Drapes’ instead of curtains. ‘Purse’ instead of handbag. ‘Cut class’ instead of playing truant. There is a glossary at the end of the book for U.S. readers, but if a story is set in the U.K. please make sure that the narrative is appropriate.I shall be reading the whole series of ‘Evans’ books, they are entertaining and a welcome addition to the ‘cozy’ genre.

This is the first of my Rhys Bowen books, and it certainly won't be my last.The story is set in a small village in Snowdonia, which happens to be my homeland, so my interest was quickly piqued. The author's descriptions of the area are superb, as is her development of each character involved.Evan Evans is a young constable, new to the village. His hopes of leading a quiet life in a country setting are quickly dashed with the discovery of two gruesome murders. Are they linked? Is there a connection with a terrible incident involving a young girl nearby? He begins his quest to find out.The book is full of twists, turns and gentle comedy. The 'Welshness' theme is perfect, and as for the crimes, well, they kept me guessing to the end. I loved the book and look forward to reading the rest of this series.

Engaging characters and an intriguing (if rather unbelievable) plot. I'll look out for the next one.I was a bit irritated with recurrent spelling mistakes that should have been picked up by an editor. The two most frequent were referring to a track up Snowdon as the "Pig Track", when it is actually, if improbably, the "Pyg Track", and she always spells Catterick as "Caterick".