Twelve Drummers Drumming by C C Benison, a brilliant new mystery

The discussion about being seduced by book covers continues. I have to add to it the seduction of the blurbs. A couple of months before a book is published the author and publisher have to solicit comments from other authors and reviewers. Not much fun, I'm told, even if your book is really good. And the results are usually mixed. But when they are really good I simply can't resist reading the book. And this time it has really paid off.

The testamonials for Twelve Drummers Drumming can't have been hard to scare up, judging from how wonderful this mystery is, and from who chippped in.

Laurie R King: "C C Benison brings the English village mystery into a more demanding era, crafting a story with dimension and subtlety, in which resoundingly real characters grapple with loss and danger and matters of immortality - without losing the whimsy, the tight plotting, and the palpable delight in Traditional England found in his predessors."

Pretty impressive. And TRUE. This book is so well plotted, the characters are so well-rounded that the whole thing so resembles the best of the mysteries from the classical era. Here's a bit of dialogue:

“You’re rambling a bit, Mrs Springett.”
“So I am. Avoidance, I daresay.”
“Well, as Jesus said, ‘Spit it out.’”
“Vicar! Jesus did not say that!”
“He might have. Much went unrecorded.”

Another testamonial, this one from Julia Spencer-Fleming who writes those wonderful mysteries about a female Episcopal priest in upstate New York and her police chief boyfriend:

"The traditional British village cozy has never looked better. The Reverend Tom Christmas is an irresistible addition to the ranks of clerical sleuths. Fams of M C Beaton, Rhys Bowen, and G M Malliet will relish C C Benison's layered, exceptionally well written new series."

Other comments are from Margaret Maron, Carolyn Hart, Kate Kingsbury, Anne Perry, and Charles Finch.

2012  No 18

Comments

[Kimberly Wold]

Excellent. Just downloaded this to my Kindle. Thank you, Mary.

[Mary]

I'm looking forward to Benison's next Father Tom Christmas book, the title of which is . . . easy to guess.

I should have mentioned that this is not a holiday mystery. The title is linked to the vicar's name.