Max Tudor Mysteries

See the full-size map of Max Tudor's village and read a description
and two chapters of the book that launched the series, WICKED AUTUMN.

Max Tudor returns in September 2023 from publisher LITTLE, BROWN with THE WASHING AWAY OF WRONGS (Max Tudor #8). Preorder now.

The Max Tudor mysteries, available in all formats: WICKED AUTUMN, A FATAL WINTER, PAGAN SPRING, A DEMON SUMMER, THE HAUNTED SEASON, DEVIL'S BREATH, and IN PRIOR'S WOOD. Coming in 2023: THE WASHING AWAY OF WRONGS.

The Max Tudor Mysteries

The Rev. Max Tudor mystery series will continue in September 2023 (UK) and January 2024 (US) with THE WASHING AWAY OF WRONGS (Max Tudor #8) from HACHETTE / LITTLE, BROWN. Look for the map of St. Luke's College inside.

Also see the U.K. editions here. Questions for your book club appear below.

Booklist and Library Journal gave WICKED AUTUMN starred reviews, and Library Journal and the Boston Globe chose it as a Best Mystery of 2011. Charlaine Harris named it an NBC TODAY show Summer Reads Pick and in a 2016 Goodreads newsletter listed the series among her top five favorites.

The second book in the Max Tudor series, A FATAL WINTER, was chosen by Library Journal as a Best Mystery of 2012. Aunt Agatha's bookstore chose it as one of eleven of their favorite Christmas mysteries ever, a list that includes Agatha Christie's HERCULE POIROT'S CHRISTMAS.

Publishers Weekly and Library Journal both gave A FATAL WINTER starred reviews, and Deadly Pleasures magazine added it to its list of best mystery novels of 2012. Here is a link to an excerpt and below is a brief description from the book jacket:

In A Fatal Winter, Max—Anglican priest, former MI5 agent, and village heartthrob—investigates two deaths at Chedrow Castle. But his growing attraction to Awena Owen complicates his case, as does the recent arrival at Chedrow Castle of a raucous group of long-lost, greedy relatives, any one of whom has a motive for murder. With a cozy setting, intricate puzzles, and a handsome vicar doing the sleuthing, the books in this series are destined to become instant classics in the mystery world.

The third Max Tudor is PAGAN SPRING. It received a starred review from Publishers Weekly and it has been nominated for 2014 Agatha and Dilys awards. Many thanks to the New York Times Sunday Book Review and Marilyn Stasio for the lovely endorsement of PAGAN SPRING and the Max Tudor books. Read the full review here.

The fourth Max Tudor appeared October 2014. It is called A DEMON SUMMER. The fifth book is THE HAUNTED SEASON (2016), the sixth is DEVIL'S BREATH (2017), and the seventh is IN PRIOR'S WOOD (2018).

THE RETURN OF MAX TUDOR...

An 8th Max Tudor, THE WASHING AWAY OF WRONGS, will be published by Hachette / Little, Brown in September 2023. In this new mystery for Max Tudor, he is forced to revisit the past to solve a very recent case of murder…

Max Tudor thought he’d left the world of deceit when he resigned from MI5 to become an Anglican priest. Then his bishop asks him to return to his Oxford college, St Luke’s, to investigate the death of its chaplain, and Max realizes there’s no leaving the past behind.

At first, Max agrees with the official police verdict of death by natural causes. The Rev. Ace Graybill was as harmless a man as ever lived. It’s difficult to see how he managed to cross anyone capable of murder.

And the suspects are all above reproach: the celebrated Principal, the cautious bursar, the wise librarian, and a raft of benign students and academics.

But someone in the college wanted the kindly chaplain dead… and looks can be very deceiving.

PRE-ORDER NOW AVAILABLE

BOOK CLUB QUESTIONS for WICKED AUTUMN, the first Max Tudor novel:

From the author’s character descriptions, which actors would you choose to portray Max Tudor, Awena Owen, DCI Cotton, or any of the villagers?
Do you think you would enjoy living in a small village like Nether Monkslip? Or would you, like Max Tudor and Suzanna Winship, sometimes feel like a fish out of water?
If it’s true that people are the same everywhere, does Nether Monkslip remind you in any way of your own neighborhood?
Does the wearisome Wanda remind you of anyone you’ve ever met or been forced to work with?
Max Tudor makes a complete about-face when he leaves MI5 to become the vicar of St. Edwold’s Church in Nether Monkslip. Do you know of anyone who has made such a dramatic life change? Have you made such a switch, leaving your old life behind—or have you ever wished you could?
Of the women introduced in WICKED AUTUMN, which do you think might make a suitable wife for Max Tudor?
Crime seems to follow Max Tudor wherever he goes in subsequent books in the series—even though he became an Anglican priest to escape the violence of his past. What point do you think the author is trying to make?