Evan's Gate by Rhys Bowen

Product Details

Synopsis

Welsh constable Evan Evans has found the most delightful shepherd's cottage, but before he seals the deal, a five-year-old vanishes from a seaside caravan park--and he must consider all the suspects. But he can't help wondering if the abduction is related to the disappearance of another girl, twenty-five years ago. Now, as he and his fiancée try to build their dream house, he must also build a difficult case against a possible double murderer.

Publishers Weekly

In Agatha winner Bowen's perfectly paced, deftly choreographed Welsh cozy, her eighth to feature Constable Evan Evans (after 2003's Evan Only Knows), Evan looks into two eerily similar abduction cases-one old, one new. When five-year-old Ashley Sholokhov goes missing during a seaside excursion, suspicion points to her Russian father, who's estranged from her mother. Meanwhile, to celebrate the 80th birthday of curmudgeonly gentleman sheep farmer Tomos Thomas, his middle-aged progeny return to the grassy, boulder-strewn hills of Llanfair, carrying blame, survivor's guilt and unanswered questions concerning the long-ago disappearance of Sarah, Tomos's granddaughter. The parallels between Sarah and Ashley weigh heavily upon Evan, who's eager to live up to his recent promotion to the Plainclothes Division. In desperation, Evan sticks his neck out a bit too far in this gorgeous and unruly terrain, where a hike in the hills can become treacherous when the sun goes down. Fortunately, his charming schoolmarm betrothed, Bronwen, is there to provide solace. Bowen delivers an enchanting portrait of Wales with genuine, flawed characters, a modicum of humor and plenty of red herrings to keep the detective constable and the reader guessing. Agent, Meg Ruley. (Apr. 16) Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

Biography

Rhys Bowen won the Agatha Award for best novel of the year and the Herodotus Award for best historical mystery of the year for Murphy's Law, her first installment in a new series featuring Molly Murphy and set in turn-of-the-century New York City. The author of six previous Constable Evans mysteries and three Molly Murphy mysteries, she was born in Bath, England, and now lives in Northern California.