Eleven Pipers Piping

Starred review from September 3, 2012
Canadian author Benison successfully applies a classic Agatha Christie framework to a contemporary setting in his impressive second whodunit featuring Rev. Tom Christmas (after 2011’s Twelve Drummers Drumming). Christmas, who has been vicar of St. Nicholas Church in Thornford Regis for less than a year, finds himself in the midst of another murder investigation. Some months earlier, Will Moir, coach of a cricket club for teenagers, “flared with rage at Harrison Kaif in language unbecoming to an adult charged with children’s welfare” during a practice. This unfortunate incident may have led the 14-year-old to commit suicide soon after. When Moir is poisoned, the obvious suspects are members of the dead boy’s family. The vicar provides solace as best he can, while employing his empathic gifts to the crime-solving. The interplay among the residents of Thornford Regis creates a rich psychological background and gives this entry even more depth than its predecessor. Agent: Dean Cooke, the Cooke Agency.