The Constable Evans Mysteries are slower paced than your average cozy; they have a similar atmosphere and pacing as M.C. Beaton's Hamish MacBeth, but, in my opinion, much better written; less formulaic but just as quirky.

Evan Evans is happily adjusting to married life when an organisational shake up at work suddenly has him part of a major crimes task force with all new co-workers and a murder investigation. In his quiet little village things are all shaken up too when a Pakistani family moves in and opens up a new shop. Evan's wife Bronwyn befriends the daughter of the newcomers and, when the girl runs away to avoid an arranged marriage, Bronwyn is both enraged and accused of helping her hide.

For a book that was written 11 years ago, this is a heartbreakingly relevant storyline. Bowen tackles all the hot button issues of today without really drawing any conclusions except that sometimes the right thing is not really the best thing.

The criminal plotting gets a bit overly convoluted towards the end; it feels like she got herself all snarled up at one point, but she gets back on track and the ending is rather breathtaking. It's only really now hitting me that she went there in a cozy and managed to keep it cozy.

Bowen is undoubtedly a skilled writer and while this series doesn't have the high energy of Her Royal Spyness, it's still a great read. ( )

I loved Evan Can Wait, so I figured I'd try another Constable Evans book. These two books, by the way, were the only Constable Evans books I could get hold of at the library right away, but it doesn't appear to matter much which book in the series you start with. Like Beaton's Hamish Macbeth books, all you end up missing out on is a little character history. In Evan Can Wait, Evan was stressing out about his girlfriend and whether she might want to go back to her ex-husband. He hoped to marry her but hadn't asked yet. In this book, the two of them are newly weds. Evan has to deal with what appears to be a serial killer who targets husbands, stressful changes at work, and a Pakistani family whose daughter runs away and may be in danger.

(Originally posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.) ( )

Opening Sentence: ‘…It was the postman who noticed it first…’

Detective Constable Evan Evans is police officer in the small Welsh town of Llanfair. His tenth investigation starts just after he returns from his honeymoon. Bronwen and Evan have settled into a little cottage just outside the village, and life resumes. Three things happen on Evan’s first day back at work – a Pakistani family has just bought the local village grocery store and is reopening it; the Welsh police force is modernising and has set up a Major Crime Unit, which Evan is seconded to; and a university professor is shot through an open window while sitting at his kitchen table eating his breakfast.

Bronwen, befriends the daughter of the new family, Jamila. Gradually, Jamila opens up to Bronwen, and shares her concerns about her older brother who become quite militant in his views and is influencing the family to embrace more hardcore Moslem beliefs and to send Jamila back to Pakistan to an arranged marriage. Jamila expresses fear of her brother and then suddenly disappears.

Meanwhile, Evan is feeling his way on the new team he has been assigned to. His new boss, DI Biggs, is very determined to make a mark with his superiors, and relegates Evan to a gopher level. Two more shootings occur, both with the same weapon. What on earth do a university professor, an Italian cafe owner and a blue collar worker all have in common other than the way they are killed?

EVANLY BODIES has an interesting range of extremely believable characters placed into a very interesting plot with a logical well wrapped up conclusion. Author, Rhys Bowen, also succeeded in incorporating into the story the issues of militant Muslim beliefs and the effects those beliefs can have on both community and family. Bowen managed to do this impartially, without playing a blame game, being preachy or losing the momentum of the story.

Jamila’s story stays in the background for most of the book simmering along for most of the book, but the reader is never left wondering as to what was happening. Most of the focus was on the deaths of the three men. I was held entranced as I watched the investigation unfold with no idea how the men were connected and then once I got an inkling of how it would play out I just sat back enjoyed the ride to see how it could be proved. Even when the end was reached Bowen had one more shocking twist up her sleeve.

It is a pity that the Constable Evan Evans’ series is now on hiatus – I do hope Rhys Bowen changes her mind and more will come along at some stage. ( )

Tenth, and last (at least for now—the author has taken a hiatus to concentrate on her other two series) in this series, featuring DC Evan Evans in Wales. This is another series I really hope does resume at some point because I’ve thoroughly enjoyed every one of them. When a new Major Crimes Unit task force is formed with rotating groups taking the helm, Evan finds himself a member of that group on the first day it was formed when a call comes in about a dead university professor found shot to death over his breakfast eggs in his home. Working with three other fellows from different precincts that he doesn’t know at all, Evan feels a bit like a fish out of water, especially with the boss, who is a rigid and uptight military type who wants to keep Evans and the other DC in a strictly note-taking, errand-running capacity. When other bodies show up in neighboring towns, killed with the same gun but with seemingly no connection between them, the race is on to figure out the killer’s motive. Very enjoyable visit to Llanfair and surrounding towns, as usual, though I did figure out the mystery fairly well in advance—with this series that never spoils my enjoyment of the book for me. ( )

I began reading Rhys Bowen's Constable Evan Evans series about 18 mos ago. They aren't mind-boggling, thought stirring, blow you out of the water stories. They are good, comfortable, homey enjoyable old-fasioned detective books. Sometimes, that is exactly what the doctor ordered, and this chilly weekend with the heater running and the rain falling, they provided just what I needed. And I didn't even figure out the twist at the end! ( )