Wicked Autumn

A Max Tudor Novel

By: G. M. Malliet

Narrated by: Michael Page

Length: 8 hrs and 9 mins

Publisher's summary

Max Tudor has adapted well to his post as vicar of St. Edwold's in the idyllic village of Nether Monkslip. The quiet village seems the perfect home for Max, who has fled a harrowing past as an MI5 agent. But this new-found serenity is quickly shattered when the highly vocal and unpopular president of the Women's Institute turns up dead at the Harvest Fayre. The death looks like an accident, but Max's training as a former agent kicks in, and before long he suspects foul play. As the investigation unfolds, Max becomes more intricately involved. Memories he'd rather not revisit are stirred, evoking the demons from the past which led him to Nether Monkslip.

©2011 G.M. Malliet (P)2011 Dreamscape Media

Critic reviews

"Agatha Award-winning author Malliet (Death of a Cozy Writer) debuts a superb new series.... You’ll marvel at the author’s low-key humor and crystal-clear depictions of small-town life...Malliet, like Louise Penny, brings a contemporary freshness to the traditional mystery." (Library Journal)

"Malliet has mastered the delights of the cozy mystery so completely that she seems to be channeling Agatha Christie...with a hero who adds sex appeal to the mix...includes snippets of ironic humor...making the story even more delicious...winning." (Booklist)

"[A]n authentic village mystery that also pokes fun at the conventions...Malliet deftly juggles all of her characters...the murder plot here is quite devious and the motive quite evil.... The author provides a story that works on several levels, including the pleasure of a visit to a traditional English village." (January magazine)

A Delightful Listen

Wicked Autumn is a nicely constructed tale of murder in an English village. The plot is complex enough to keep you from jumping to conclusions and the characters wallow in eccentricities. The primary sleuth, an Anglican priest, is hardly a stuffed shirt but his past non-clerical life fits him for this challenge. I am glad I stumbled on this story.

Burnt out antiterrorist/priest deals with murder

It appears to be a quiet English Village with lots of traditions and life centering around the pub and the church - and it is - but the personal and family tragedies behind the scenes stretch out to many countries and many walks of life. Even a backwater can be a boiling kettle of all the emotions, and the job of their nearly-new rector is to try to make peace, provide comfort, and it turns out, to solve a murder.

The good Father Tudor burnt out when he lost his partner to a terrorist bomb, and he is converted to an active spiritual life in the devastation of that loss. But the murder of the most disliked woman in the village, both rich and domineering, both piques his old professional curiosity and needs solving for the good of the parish.

There are a sufficient number of possibilities to keep the story full of twists and turns, and a lot of emotional happenings without a lot of explicit sex or violence.

I'll be interested to read the next in the series.

Great reader - Great Characters

Do they still have village fairs like that in England?

A pretty good mystery story, definitely a cozy. I liked the idea of a former special agent turned village vicar. Interesting characters and descriptions.

The narration was better than the book - it was superb.

Enjoyable English mystery

I enjoyed this very much. It is definitely in the "English Mystery" mold (no graphic violence or sex and character driven), which is right up my alley.

I like the characters and the lack of cheesy romance. I do not mind romance in a mystery (Lord Peter and Harriet Vane are my favorite characters, I think), but I do dislike romance novels masquerading as mystery. There is a hint of romance to come, but it doesn't feel heavy handed.

The mystery was good enough and I did not guess the killer until just before the reveal so I was well pleased there, too.

The narrator did a good job as well. I will definitely be trying more in the series.

Fun book but the narration is not well paced

Would you try another book from G. M. Malliet and/or Michael Page?
Yes From G.M. Malliet, no from Michael Page.

Did the plot keep you on the edge of your seat? How?
The plot was enjoyable and the premise of a former-MI5-agent-turned-village-priest as the setting for a murder mystery felt fresh.

How did the narrator detract from the book?
The narrator raced through portions of the book, as if he were being paid a bonus for getting through the whole thing faster. He downplayed the humor of the novel, and the modulation of his read made it difficult to listen to for more than a few minutes at a time.

Light but logical, an overall delight!

light but logical story line. character development is excellent. superb narration. highly recommend to anyone who loves a solid cozy English village type mystery! looking forward to the second book in the series

Good old small town England !

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Highly recommended for an update version of what makes Agatha Christies crime novels enjoyable : a country village filled with colorful characters, a crime, a handsome sleuth this time and the atmosphere that belongs only to the English.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Wicked Autumn?

The Womens' Institute assembly cringing or standing up to their president, a woman you love to hate and who of course will be the victim because of course, all the other people are too nice to get rid of...

Which character – as performed by Michael Page – was your favorite?

I find Max the priest, former MI5 agent believable as a man but not really his curriculum. But come to think of it, how else would his asked for cooperation with the police be credible ?

If you were to make a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

Long live english small town crime fiction.

Any additional comments?

Good balance between the story and the length of the audiobook.

Great story. Well written and well read.

G.M. Malliet is a master at her craft and her Max Tudor is one I’m looking to know better in subsequent books. Wicked Autumn was fantastic and I love Michael Page’s narration.

Pretty predictable but highly listenable.

Without the fine narrator this might have been boring but his work made it all flow.

Cozy Village Mystery

The plot was formulaic, but humerous and pithy writing elevated this cozy mystery. The narration is fabulous.