Publisher's Weekly Review
The fifth Jenny and Madoc Rhys mystery ( An Owl Too Many ) finds the appealing young Canadians and their baby daughter in Wales for great-uncle Sir Cardoc Rhys's 90th birthday. The clan has gathered, and renowned musicians, a well-known author, an actress and two aging sorcerers are among the celebrants. Feasting begins in the huge old kitchen with Welsh cakes and trifle, moves to the barn with a mammoth birthday banquet, is followed by revelry in the meadow--poetry and folk singing, harps and violins, and, at dusk, the piece de resistance: leaping the Beltane fire. All is described in such delicious detail that it's a distinct letdown when sudden death terminates the festivities. Royal Canadian Mounted Police inspector Madoc, asked to join the inquiry, untangles diverse strands--an old murder, a ram decapitation, jewel theft, blackmail and even prostitution--to reach a fairly predictable solution. But if the investigation lacks thrills, the portrayal of old Welsh customs and engaging family eccentrics is delightful. (Jan.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Kirkus Review
Detective Inspector Madoc Rhys of the Canadian Mounties (A Pint of Murder, 1980, etc.), wife Janet, and infant daughter Dorothy are visiting Madoc's family in Wales to celebrate the 90th birthday of grandfather Sir Caradoc Rhys. A clutch of friends and relatives are in and out of the manor house, eating a succession of meals and drinking endless cups of tea. Among them is neighbor Lisa Ellis, a widow whose gem-dealer husband was murdered in Marseilles eight years before. Distant cousin Mary Rhys, a gem-cutter of unexpected affluence, and her occult-obsessed brother Bob are also guests, as is Madoc's opera-star brother Daffyd, for years in love with Lisa. It takes 150 pages of relatives, local rites, and cooing over Dorothy before Mary, long tagged the murder victim, comes to her ritualistic end. Unwinding the background to her murder, a scenario full of bizarre coincidence, is no more enthralling than what's gone before. Cloying, unconvincing, and strictly for faithful fans.
Booklist Review
There's a real Wales, and there's a mythical Wales. Welcome to the latter. Everyone gathered for a family reunion in the Rhys ancestral home is related, has a cute nickname, can sing like a songbird, and spouts poetry on command. Music flows in their veins, from the choral-conductor father to the opera-singer and lothario brother. The only exception is tone-deaf Canadian policeman Madoc Rhys, newly arrived at the reunion with wife Janet and infant Dorothy. The reader waits with barely restrained patience for the dark deeds to commence: Janet spots a ghost; Madoc finds the local crows feasting on a slaughtered sheep and spots a badly bruised shepherd resting nearby. Then table conversation leads to fertility dances and leaping through fires. Later, a distant cousin makes the fatal fiery jump. Madoc is quiet and clever. Janet has firm views on disposable nappies and sultry redheads with lots of chest on display. Author Alisa Craig, really Charlotte MacLeod in disguise, can plot a cozy better than the Welsh can sing, dig coal, and play rugby (if the myths are true, that is). ~--Peter Robertson