Reviews

A Demon Summer by G.M. Malliet

ellarend's review against another edition

adventurous informative mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.0

naluju's review against another edition

informative mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.75

Enjoyable, country life, rural England, vicar

mg_in_md_'s review against another edition

3.0

Another "new to me" series, I picked up the fourth Max Tudor mystery, which was nominated for the 2014 Agatha for Best Contemporary Novel. The main character is Father Max Tudor, a handsome former MI5 agent turned vicar of Nether Monkslip. In this installment, Max is asked to investigate a poisoning that is linked to a fruitcake produced by the Handmaids of St. Lucy of Monkbury Abbey. He travels to the Abbey and keeps an open mind as he interviews each nun and the guests staying at the Monkbury Abbey guesthouse. Just as Max is about to rule the poisoning an accident, a body is discovered in the cloister well and the pressure is on to find the culprit. The nuns and their guests are under an equal amount of scrutiny, and Max must use his powers of deduction to swiftly uncover the culprit before he or she can strike again. It was a fast read overall, and the recurring series characters seemed interesting enough to check out earlier offerings in the series. While I was able to follow the plot without having read the first three books, I normally prefer to read series in order to better understand the characters and ongoing plot lines. I think that because this book had Max travel to another location, it helped me as a new reader to the series. The overall plot didn't seem to rely too much on what had happened in earlier books, and the plot lines that did link back to earlier books were explained well enough that I wasn't lost in this one.

edhyndman's review against another edition

mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

gray5217's review against another edition

adventurous funny lighthearted mysterious relaxing fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

koprivan's review against another edition

4.0

Great sense of atmosphere. Delicious hero, perhaps a bit too Poirot-ish (though he knows it). Would like more about DCI Cotton.

Also, you gotta love a series that keeps referencing a book called Wherefore Nether Monkslip?. Srsly.

lorimichelekelley's review against another edition

3.0

Audible version: I get why a lot of reviewers didn't like this one with Max not at home and that at the end, Max gathers everyone in the room like Poirot, but rather than identifying the culprit, he accuses everyone one or two at a time with some idea he'd cooked up and then said, "No, I know you didn't do it." And that took a looooong time. And people are not wrong in saying Awena is far too perfect. Here's a quote that isn't unusual, "And then there was Awena, the bride herself, resplendent as all the meteors of heaven on a clear night, in a foamy ashes of roses dress she had made herself." gag me. But I can't help it. I loved the rest of it. I love Max and the humor. And I love that it took place in a monastery with nuns and all the handiwork and caring of gardens and sheep, and in this case, making fruit cake. If you didn't have to be religious, I'd probably be a nun. I'm so in love with these books, I just might go right on to the next one!

dcm7918's review against another edition

emotional informative mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

henrismum's review against another edition

challenging mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

Audiobook (All of my entries on The Story Graph are audiobooks.)
#4 in series  (I started reading this series in May 2022 and I have been committed to this series since December 2022.)
Comparison to others in series:     Not as good           About the same           Better
This book dragged a bit. The content could have been reduced by at least 2 hours. Still, it was a good mystery and I love seeing the development of Max's relationship.
The narrator was Michael Page. He has a lovely voice for Max and the gang.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Confinement, Grief, and Murder

quietjenn's review against another edition

3.0

I feel like I could (and, essentially do) write the same basic review for each book in this series. Plot variations exist, sure but the issues - both good and bad - are so consistent from book to book. These are literate cozies, but they are also super wordy, overwritten and trying-to-hard cozies. Max is appealing, if a bit too unbelievably perfect. And his romance with the local witchy woman is incredibly distracting and annoying. Like, I wanted to roll my eyes and say "ugh" practically every time Arwena was brought up and at one point I actually found myself thinking, "Oh, maybe she'll be killed off - that would be interesting." But, no. They are a perfect golden couple whom everyone adores. So boring.

At least most of the mystery took place at a nunnery and the sisters had some interesting things going on. Too bad it took at least a hundred pages of extraneous, plodding details to get to the heart of things. Which, Max conviently and easily figures out just by stumbling upon a secret just moments after he was thinking about it. Ugh.

And yet, at the core there is something interesting enough that I will probably read the next, despite frustrations.