Evanly Choirs: A Constable Evans Mystery
When Constable Evan Evans is persuaded to join the local male choir for the upcoming eisteddfod (cultural festival), he doesn’t think the addition of his mediocre voice will do them much good. In spite of all the effort that choirmaster Mostyn Phillips puts in to the choir, it is not exactly first class. Hope arrives in the form of world renowned tenor Ifor Llewelyn, come home to Llanfair to rest, on doctor’s orders.
Llewelyn immediately sets about renewing old friendships, and Mostyn even persuades him to sing with the choir. But Ifor isn’t in Llanfair long before the residents decide that his presence is a mixed blessing. Noisy fights between Ifor and his wife, a threatening stranger, and Ifor’s own warped sense of humor make life in Llanfair increasingly tense. When he announces that he is planning to write his memoirs, telling all about his numerous relationships with famous and infamous women, he jokes that some people won’t be happy. But is someone unhappy enough to commit murder to stop him? While tracking down a dangerous killer, Constable Evans also manages to navigate the treacherous waters of neighborhood rivalries, lusty barmaids, and local gossip.
With her third book in this acclaimed series, Rhys Bowen offers another page-turning tale of small-town mayhem and murder.
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Customer Review: EVANLY CHOIRS - iachyd da!
Last week, I discovered the Constable Evans mysteries and am now going thru ‘em like they’re gas cards. EVANLY CHOIRS (1999) is the third book in the series and it’s another good ‘un. Author Rhys Bowen excels in bringing to life the day-to-day, as well as the occasionally shady, goings-on in the sleepy, mountainous village of Llanfair, North Wales. What also adds to the homey, small town feel of the book is the cast of endearingly quirky characters imbued with colorful names such as Evans-the-Meat, Evans-the-Post, Roberts-the-Pump, Harry-the-Pub, etc. The antics of Llanfair’s two dueling reverends - whose respective chapels stubbornly face off across the street from each other - are also an ongoing treat. Evan Evans, known as Evans-the-Law, continues to be ingratiating as the pleasant and unassuming village bobby who inevitably becomes mired in corpses but who usually ends up solving the murder cases, much to the chagrin of his snobbish ranking superior D.I. Hughes, who toils in the next town over and who looks down on our protagonist. This time out, things are hopping in the usually serene Llanfair. It’s time for the eisteddfod, the annually held Welsh cultural gathering, and Constable Evans has been tapped to lend his amateurish voice to the competing local choir. The odds of winning are very slim until world renowned but volatile tenor Ifor Llewellyn, a local boy made very good, comes home on a medical sabbatical and is talked into joining the Llanfair choir. However, Ifor proves to be a difficult customer to deal with, as he callously engages in loud, late night arguments and exhibits a cruel side in his dealings with choir director Austin Mostyn. Soon, the excesses of the famous opera singer come to haunt him and embroils Evan Evans and his friend Sgt. Watkins in a hunt for a killer as Llanfair is rocked with yet another puzzling murder. The murder mystery holds enough fascination (not that it’s the conundrum of the century or anything, mind you) that dedicated clue chasers will come out of this feeling contented. EVANLY CHOIRS goes down easy, like a mug of hot cocoa, and will leave the reader with a warm, toasty feeling. The Constable Evans series is a comfortable throwback to the books I grew up reading from authors like Agatha Christie and Dorothy Sayers. The leisurely pace, the bucolic settings, and the memorable characters definitely are a callback to a different era. Several notches below the energy and high tension level of a James Patterson or a Jeffrey Deaver book, Rhys Bowen instead invites her reader to take a deep breath, take in the mountain scenery, listen to the flavors and rhythms of the Welsh language (she does throw in a smattering of Welsh in her characters’ conversations), and while away some moments in the diverting company of Evan Evans and his opinionated and sometimes very insular village flock. Bowen’s recipe to success includes equal portions of crime drama and pastoral vignette. She also mixes in a dash of quiet humor, a blossoming romance, and an unobstrusive insight into small town lifestyles and sensibilities. And, hey, if nothing else, EVANLY CHOIRS will have you hankering for your first pint of Brains beer.
Customer Review: About what you’d expect, I think
I’m giving this book a generous four stars because it delivers what it’s audience expects, almost to a tee (or is that tea?) As one does not expect Hemingway (or even Christie) in today’s light mystery, one can be satisfied with a light, weekend read. Ms. Bowen is even capable of a couple of nice twists in each of the first three Evans mysteries. (I’ve read the first three primarily on the strength of having lived in Wales a few years ago and feeling a bit nostalgiac!) I do like the characters, as well, though the supporting cast is pretty flat. My only complaint of any merit, and this is for the first two books, as well, is that the editing is extraordinarily lax. In one book Evan will have travelled from one town to another at the end of a chapter, only to be packing his bags to make that same trip at the beginning of the next. In this book, misspellings here and there, a character’s first name changing from Robert to John. They’re not glaring errors, but enough to take me out of the story. It costs the books a star in each case. I know, it’s nitpicking. Perhaps you wouldn’t even notice it if I didn’t bring it to your attention. Sorry for having done so. Iachyd da and happy reading!
Introducing The Complete Mozart Edition
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Customer Review: Introducing The Complete Mozart Edition
This is a wonderful piece of music and I enjoy listening to it very much while working. The compilation is superb and I play it over and over again. My predicament now is that it was stolen with my notebook computer three months ago and have been looking forward to replacing it. I have tried most record stores but to no avail. If there is anyone out that can help me to locate one, I shall be very grateful.
1881 PORTRAIT HENRY-CONSTABLE SPORTING DRAMATIC NEWS
Old Print. page of WOOD ENGRAVINGS FROM ONE OF THE FOLLOWING . THE GRAPHIC, or The illustrated London News, size is aprox 15.5 x 11 inches full page or prorata for part pages. All are original and not modern copies. THE ILLUS
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Art Poster Print - Dedham Vale, 1828 - Artist: John Constable- Poster Size: 14 X 12
John Constable:Dedham Vale, 182814 X 12 inches. High Quality Art Work. ASuperShop sells over 300,000 different art pieces. Browse our store for framed and unframed posters and shop for all your art needs at ASuperShop. This Dedham Vale, 1828 is made with High Quality Poster paper and is made for years of enjoyment. Note: This item is not available for express shipping. Brand New Quality Product
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High quality framed art print by John Constable measuring 42×36cm
ANTIQUE PRINTS C1880-1924 . BARGAIN CLEARANCE SALE UP TO 90% OFF RETAIL . SELLING AT YOUR PRICE . GENUINE CLEARANCE AS PURCHASED AT AUCTION FORM AN OLD ANTIQUE PRINT DEALER . size 9.5 x 7 ( 240 x 177 )RINT VARIES BUT IS PRORATA OF YELLOW BACKGROUND WHICH MEASURES APPROX 13 X 9 INCHES ( 330 x 230 ).. All are original and not modern copies. ARE GENUINE ANTIQUE AND NOT MODERN REPRODUCTIONS AND DATE IF KNOWN IS IN THE TITLE . NOTE THE COLOURED BACKGROUND IS NOT INCLUDED .
