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EVANS TO BETSY
by Rhys Bowen
St. Martin's Minotaur, March 2002
228 pages
$22.95
ISBN: 0312286457


Buy in the UK | Buy in Canada

While inching closer all the time to proposing marriage with Bronwen, Constable Evan Evans finds himself trying to protect her rival Betsy. Betsy has gotten involved with an American woman, Emmy, a graduate student doing research on psychic abilities among the Celts. Emmy convinces Betsy that she has psychic ability and takes her to the Sacred Grove which used to be a private estate but is now a New Age center run by a „world famous psychic.¾

Constable Evans is doubtful about the Sacred Grove even before he learns that a missing American college student was briefly seen down there. Then there is a murder on the grounds and Evans fears that Betsy might be in peril.

Meanwhile his quest for promotion is not going well. In an era of retrenchment the Detective Branch is not adding any new people. In fact Evans is given a motorbike and told that his territory is now expanded. At least the new motorbike allows him to get to the Sacred Grove rapidly when needed.

The plot of this book is effective. There are plenty of red herrings and people who want the victim dead. Just about the time Evan realizes what has happened, I also figured it out. That¼s just about right! There is also sufficient suspense to keep you reading the book, even if some of the suspense ends in comic relief.

As I often say, I like to learn a little something if I can do it painlessly. In this book Druidism takes front and center. The Druids, after all, were Celtic. Rhiannon was a Druid living at the Sacred Grove and celebrating the many Druidic holidays. Many chapters open with what purports

to be a short section from Rhiannon¼s book describing Druidism and the reader has the opportunity to learn some fundamental facts about an engrossing religion, one which probably has been misrepresented ever since the Romans tried to wipe it out.

The setting is wonderful. North Wales is one of the most beautiful places on earth, if too often gray and soggy, and Ms. Bowen makes it an integral background to her story. I feel like I know the little village of Llanfair and its most prominent citizens. I can see the crooked paths up the sides of mountains, hear the tinkling of mountain streams as they scurry down the hillside, smell the myriad shrubs and flowers that dot the countryside. The setting provides atmosphere as the Welsh mountains come alive and the rain spills down and the thunder crashes.

The characters are believable. Evan, of course, is at the center of the story and with his worrying about promotion, his concern about Bronwen, his fumbling attempts to keep house for himself, and his unique ability to put facts together and solve crimes, he s an intriguing man. Betsy is a foolish woman, but Bronwen is more complex and appealing.

It seems to me that every book in this series is better than the ones before and this is certainly no exception!

Reviewed by Sally A. Fellows, February 2002

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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)


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