The Reaper - Softcover

Lovesey, Peter

Softcover

ISBN 10: 075155359X ISBN 13: 9780751553598

Publisher: Sphere, 2014

Synopsis

Otis Joy is a very good vicar - he attracts record-breaking congregations, is admired and respected by all, and the village of Foxford is delighted to have him. What the citizens of Foxford don't realise, though, is that their beloved parish priest is a murderer.

When the bishop gets suspicious of Joy's channelling of church funds into his own bank account, Joy kills him - after all, such a trifling misdemeanour should not prevent him from carrying out his duties. However, this isn't the first time he's despatched 'busy-bodies' and rumours are beginning to circulate. So when the husband of his new treasurer is found dead, perhaps he's taken one life too many . . .

Peter Lovesey amply demonstrates that he is the acknowledged master of the whodunnit in this deliciously complicated and satisfying mystery.

About this title

Review:

Peter Lovesey's The Reaper, winner of the 2000 CWA/Cartier Diamond Dagger Award, is an extremely clever, exquisitely written story of a murderous rector who manages to earn a great deal of our sympathy while dramatically whittling down his flock in the Wiltshire village of Foxford. "If you knew Marcus Glastonbury, you would not expect him to appreciate anything out of the ordinary", Lovesey tells us right away about the local bishop who comes to chastise the handsome young rector for cooking the books at his last parish. And indeed, Bishop Glastonbury is no match for the Reverend Otis Joy, a wickedly intelligent serial killer (the bishop becomes his second victim, framed to look like a suicide and a sex pervert) who also happens to be a crackerjack priest. That's why the good folk of Foxford, especially the women, find it hard to swallow the gossip about Reverend Joy that gradually builds up like a winter ground fog. One local housewife, Rachel Jansen, who surprises the rector naked under an apron while he cleans up after killing the bishop, becomes such a strong supporter that she risks losing not only her life but also her immortal soul. Lovesey deftly plants deceptive clues and raises false hopes about Reverend Joy's fate, all the while painting a picture of a town and a church congregation so real that they leap off the page.--Alex Freeman

Review:

A mystery lover's dream (Mail on Sunday)

Otis is a wonderful creation . . . The plotting is devilish, the writing a pleasure (Sunday Times)

Features one of the finest creations in crime fiction - the unforgettable Otis Joy . . . Lovesey tells an almost Trollopian tale, satisfyingly complex and suspenseful but with wonderfully amusing insights into English village life (Daily Mail)

The flavour here is part Patricia Highsmith in her Ripley series and part Ealing comedy . . . It's a hard act to pull off - tone is everything - and Lovesey is a master practitioner (Washington Post)

If you've never read any of his 20-plus books this wickedly clever, beautifully written story of a murderous clergyman who earns our sympathy while dramatically whittling down his flock should make you an instant convert (Chicago Tribune)

Lovesey is such a master of black humour and macabre plot twists that the attitudes of Foxford's parishioners are no more predictable than Otis's outrageous behaviour . . . In this author's unorthodox church, there must be a pew for Patricia Highsmith (New York Times Book Review)

About this edition

• Publisher: Sphere
• Publication date: 2014
• ISBN 10: 075155359X
• ISBN 13: 9780751553598
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 321