Wicked Autumn

A Max Tudor Novel

By: G. M. Malliet

Narrated by: Michael Page

Max Tudor has adapted well to his post as vicar of St. Edwold's in the idyllic village of Nether Monkslip. The quiet village seems the perfect home for Max, who has fled a harrowing past as an MI5 agent. But this new-found serenity is quickly shattered when the highly vocal and unpopular president of the Women's Institute turns up dead at the Harvest Fayre. The death looks like an accident, but Max's training as a former agent kicks in, and before long he suspects foul play. As the investigation unfolds, Max becomes more intricately involved. Memories he'd rather not revisit are stirred, evoking the demons from the past which led him to Nether Monkslip.

©2011 G.M. Malliet (P)2011 Dreamscape Media

Critic reviews

"Agatha Award-winning author Malliet (Death of a Cozy Writer) debuts a superb new series.... You’ll marvel at the author’s low-key humor and crystal-clear depictions of small-town life...Malliet, like Louise Penny, brings a contemporary freshness to the traditional mystery." (Library Journal)

"Malliet has mastered the delights of the cozy mystery so completely that she seems to be channeling Agatha Christie...with a hero who adds sex appeal to the mix...includes snippets of ironic humor...making the story even more delicious...winning." (Booklist)

"[A]n authentic village mystery that also pokes fun at the conventions...Malliet deftly juggles all of her characters...the murder plot here is quite devious and the motive quite evil.... The author provides a story that works on several levels, including the pleasure of a visit to a traditional English village." (January magazine)

Good story, wrong narrator

Any additional comments?

I enjoyed the book, despite the poor choice of narrator. The narrator has a wonderful voice, and I'll look for other books read by him, but he was a mismatch with this story.

A Classic Cozy English Village Mystery

I really enjoyed this first book in the Max Tudor mystery series for its dry, witty sense of humor. The writing is subtle, urbane and insightful. The whole story is full of small insular village flavor with a cast of wacky and often strange characters.

Be aware that to me this is a full blown cozy. So don't expect edge of your seat suspense and over the top violence. What you will find is a comfortable (within the limits that this is a murder mystery) listen that easily engages and entertains. Very like Agatha Christie comes to the modern world as a Anglican Priest.

I am looking forward to continuing the series with book two as a winter listen.

Fun, Easy and Entertaining Listen

I am always on the look out for a good series in which I can lose myself for countless listening hours. Malliet's first novel in the Tudor series passed all of the "tests" I apply when determining whether or not I will be able to immerse myself into the author's world. Wicked Autumn provides an entertaining cozy-style novel featuring the witty, attractive Max Tudor. Tudor is the single, charming village Vicar with an above-average mystery-solving ability due to his previous career. Malliet throws in a steady stream of funny and sardonic comments, quips and observations, which only added to my enjoyment. The narrator (which, as fellow listeners know, can make or break the listening experience) is, in my opinion, fantastic and is now on my list of top favorites. His ability to narrate female voices, particularly the elderly women, is quite entertaining...he has an uncanny ability to sound like a frumpy older English woman. Overall, it was a fun, easy, and entertaining introduction to a series which I can only hope extends beyond the fourth novel, which presumably will be set in summer. My only "complaint" was that it was shorter than many of the novels to which I'm used to listening, and accordingly it was finished fairly quickly. Oh well...on to "A Fatal Winter"!

I'm glad I bought this book

I loved it, especially the narrator. I plan on acquiring more from this author very soon.

Interesting leading man

Where does Wicked Autumn rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Wicked Autumn ranks among the top half of all the audiobooks to which I have listened.

What did you like best about this story?

I loved the feel of being amongst the inhabitants of a small English village.

Which character – as performed by Michael Page – was your favorite?

I found Max Tudor to be the most compelling character of the story as well as my favorite narration of a character by Michael Page.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

I did not listen to this book all in one sitting. I spread it out over a few exercise sessions.

Any additional comments?

Waiting impatiently for the release of the second book in this series.