Suzette A. HillCritiques

My literary claim to fame is that I suggested the title of this book to the author...

The title of this book is pure genius!

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Good fun.

A good plot, great fun,and a gives a vivid sense of upper middle class society in the 50s.½

In Molehill, Surrey, Vicar Reverend Francis Oughterard feels remorse and guilt for choking to death a parishione. Accidently of course. He beat the rap thanks to his brilliant pets Maurice the cat and Bouncer the dog.

When his former theology classmate, Nicholas Ingaza Oughterard asks him to hide stolen art in the vicarage, Francis reluctantly agrees; not out of some college loyalty but because Nicholas gave him his phony alibi. However, a true crime writer obtains permission to look around the church and belfry forcing the beleaguered clergy to relocate the paintings in his sister's home. Things turn worse when one of the masterpieces is put up for fund-raising.

"Bones In The Belfry" is an amusing British crime caper featuring again the helpless beleaguered Vicar who seems to somehow find himself trapped in criminal activities. This time his saviors Maurice and Bouncer realize there is very little they can do to keep the hands that feed them out of jail. The two pets makes the tale fun to read with their resigned feline and canine sense of inevitability in which their human pet will be locked up; if not this time, perhaps the next time.

Die hard mystery fans need to pass this up as there is no detecting, but those readers who appreciate the antics of a humorous bungler supported by an eccentric cast of human fumblers and two loyal and brilliant animals will want to read this lighthearted treasure. 4 stars for a fun filled read.

Reverend Francis Oughterard is a quiet man who simply wants a quiet life. That's hard to achieve with an obnoxious neighbor, a jealous banker, a drunken bishop and an accidental murder. Now, it's up to Bouncer the dog and Maurice the cat to keep the Reverend out of prison and their comfortable, new home intact.

Both animals have lost their owners, both need a new home. Maurice decides that the vicar will be an acceptable substitute for them both. Because they do not want to be dislocated again, they bond together to protect him.

This is not a heavy duty mystery but it is a short, fun book and very well done. I was afraid that a story where two of the protagonists, and points-of-view were a dog and cat, would be just sweet and cute...but not so. It is cleaver and funny and a thoroughly good read.

Marcia Beasley of St John's Wood is found in her home naked, shot in the head and covered with a coal scuttle. Detective Sergeant Greenleaf is tasked with unraveling the layers of Marcia's life to bring meaning to her gruesome death.

While the Police investigation plods on, Marcia's niece Rosy finds herself unwittingly drawn into a family mystery involving espionage and foreign intrigue.

It was okay. I like the Francis Oughterard series much better. This did have some good moments and it's well worth the time to read it.

Under pressure from his blackmailing pal, Nicholas Ingaza, the good Reverend Francis Oughterard finds himself going to France to the French Auvergne accompanied by the unlikely duo of Nicholas and Francis's sister, Primrose. The goal is to find the legendary Nazi gold that is rumored to be hidden at the chateau that was left to Francis by the deceased Mrs. Fotherington. However Rev. Oughterard and party are not the only ones looking for the gold, nor are they without familiar faces including the pets of the Reverend, Bouncer, the dog and Maurice, the cat, who have stowed away to protect their master. After all they want to get fed.

This fourth addition of the series weaves yet another tangled web for the good Reverend. The story line is perfect and the characters remain fresh and intriguing.
Love the dog and the cat.

This the third book in this series. The cat, Maurice and the loveable mongrel, Bouncer, help keep their human parent, the Vicar and now Cannon, Francis Oughterard, St. Botolph's beat another close call with the law.

Other familar characters parade through the Reverend's busy life which is quickly turing into a nightmare. He must deal with Primrose, his sister that has struck a deal with the less than scrupleous Nicholas Ignaza and is on her way to a life of painting forgeries as well as another dead body. Along the way his tiddlywink playing bishop makes demands that try a body's soul and Francis must become an expert on a lesser known artifact known as the Pantoon Pig. All our poor Vicar ever wanted was peace and quiet in his small English village of Molehill.

The characters are hilarious without really trying. The dialog switches back and forth between the Vicars point of view and that of the cat and the dog and all the cat and dog's friends. The plot develops in the "anything that can go wrong, will" tradition, with Francis, or F.O. as the animals think of him repeatedly falling out of the frying pan into the fire, just when he thinks he might be safe. Much of the suspense comes from how the animals will cope this time. The humor is dry. The ending for Bone Idle leaves it clear that the adventures will continue. At least that is our hope.

I downloaded this book to my Kindle on the strength of the synopsis and recommendations from friends, and then I promptly forgot about it. I've been making a point to go back to read the earliest books I downloaded. I'm not much of a cat person, so when A Load of Old Bones started out with "The Cat's Memoir" in Maurice's voice, I didn't know how far I would be able to read. That uncertainty held until chapter three, "The Dog's Diary." When I read the very first thing Bouncer the dog said, I burst into laughter.

This book reminds me of the old "Columbo" television series when you knew the identity of the killer and all you had to do was sit back and watch the detective put all the clues together to catch him. What made me a bit uneasy is how quickly I accepted Oughterard killing a woman and covering it up. It undoubtedly has a lot to do with the fact that the dreaded Mrs. F. is the type of person who makes most of those who meet her want to strangle her.

As a fan of Spencer Quinn's Chet and Bernie mysteries, I have no problem with dogs (and the occasional cat) speaking to me, but what surprised me was how harmoniously the voices of Oughterard, Bouncer and Maurice blended together. Between the three of them, a reader gets the complete picture, and watching these two animals come to the aid of the vicar is laugh-out-loud funny.

There is very little interplay between the characters in A Load of Old Bones. You're going to spend most of your time in the heads of a vicar, a dog, and a cat. I had a delightful time there; however, I don't think I want to repeat the experience. There are other books in this series, which came as no surprise because there was a strong foreshadowing of blackmail at the end, but I don't think I'd find another visit to Molehill to be nearly as much fun. I'd rather stop with this book and keep the good memories and the smile on my face.

My goodness! I haven't laughed so hard at a book since Hector was a pup!
It's difficult to tell much about this book without spoilers, so suffice it to say that it's more of a "novel of suspense" than a "detective story" and is told in the first person from three points of view -- a cat, a dog, and a vicar are the three main characters. The setting in 1957 helps to make it a wonderful escape. I suppose this book mightn't be everyone's cup of tea but it certainly was mine.

I realize these books wouldn't be to everyone's taste, but I find them quite funny and charming. Yes, the chapters "written" by the cat Maurice and the dog Bouncer are ever-so-slightly twee, but the picture of life in an English village vicarage in the 50s and the vicissitudes of the hapless (and not especially saintly!) vicar Francis Oughterard make for a rollicking, quick-reading break from darker mysteries and other more serious fare.

Gentle, amusing and diverting (though not, as the blurb-excitement reads, remotely close to being ‘Three Men in a Boat’), A Load of Old Bones is more a quiet parody of the fluffy rural crime genre of a particular period. Narrated, in turns, by the cat belonging to the victim, the dog belonging to the victim’s would-be male companion, and the local vicar, I found it difficult to reconcile the cuteness with the murder until I realised (somewhat belatedly) that the author was treating that as cute (cute with edge, perhaps) too. Once you’ve tucked away any residual hardened crime-reader habits, though, A Load of Old Bones is readable; not over-burdened with strong characters beyond the vicar – who I admit I enjoyed rather a lot, and consider a decent candidate for character serialisation – but sporting a well-paced narrative and plenty of colourful detailing.

This is the fourth in a five book series featuring the Reverend Francis Oughterard,who in book one murdered a member of his flock with unfortunate results. His long -suffering pets Bouncer the dog and Maurice the cat spend most of their time protecting the hapless vicar from the clutches of the police and a varied selection of crooks. For me the humor of these stories relies on the (mostly successful)efforts of Bouncer and Maurice rather than on the human characters. I have to say that the first in the series ' A Load of Old Bones' was by far the best of the lot and the others,although not without merit,seem to lack the laugh- aloud element of the earlier book.
This one finds the Reverend gentleman and assorted crooks and clergy (plus cat and dog) setting off for a holiday to France. The trip soon becomes completely chaotic and much more than the gentle break that the Reverend gentleman had hoped for.

This is a completely crazy book, featuring the Rev. Francis Oughterard who accidentally strangled one of his parishioners in the previous book. This one follows him as he attempts to cover his tracks, involving hiding two paintings for the person who provided him with an alibi for the murder. A large chunk of the action is narrated by Oughterard himself, but sections are by his dog, Bouncer, and his cat, Maurice. It's very funny but I'm not sure if I'd classify it as a mystery or a crime novel, more as totally insane.

'Bone Idle' is the third in the series of hilarious misadventures featuring the Reverend Francis Oughterard. His troubles began in Suzette A.Hill's first book,in which having been pursued by an amatory parishioner,he snaps and murders her. In the following book he gets further into trouble and becomes involved in blackmail and art theft.
In his latest exploits another dead body is found in his parish,which links him to the earlier murder and brings him once more to the unwelcome attentions of the police.
It is the discussions between his superior cat Maurice and his bone-loving dog Bouncer and their attempts to keep the hapless vicar out of trouble,that make these stories such a joy to read.If Oughterard is arrested,then they will lose both their comfortable home and their square meals.

The Reverend Francis Oughterard's life is peaceful and largely uneventful,that is until he becomes the amatory target for one of his female parishioners. She becomes such a pest,that meeting her one day in the woods,he snaps and kills her. In the course of the story he acquires her cat (Maurice) and a dog (Bouncer). These two become (sort of) friends and it is with the help of these two unique characters that the vague and unworldly cleric avoids capture.
The reader is also introduced to a drunken bishop,a crooked figure from his past and several of Bouncer's doggy friends.
The events are told in alternative chapters by the vicar,the cat and the dog, with great panache (at least by the animals).
This is the first of a quietly humorous series which I found most amusing.