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.

The Max Tudor Mysteries

[See questions for your book club, 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).

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

1. From the author’s character descriptions, which actors would you choose to portray Max Tudor, Awena Owen, DCI Cotton, or any of the villagers?
2.  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?
3. If it’s true that people are the same everywhere, does Nether Monkslip remind you in any way of your own neighborhood?
4. Does the wearisome Wanda remind you of anyone you’ve ever met or been forced to work with?
5. 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?
6. Of the women introduced in WICKED AUTUMN, which do you think might make a suitable wife for Max Tudor?
7. 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?