Evan and Elle

January 31, 2000
When Madame Yvette, a seductive widow, opens a French restaurant in Llanfair, in northern Wales, her blend of haute cuisine and traditional Welsh fare soon wins over the locals, including Constable Evan Evans, the village's lone policeman and the hero of three previous outings in this appealing series (Evanly Choir, etc.). Ever true to his girlfriend, schoolteacher Bronwen Price, Evans resists Madame Yvette's attempt to make him more than just a culinary conquest, but he's ready to be of service when she really needs him--after her restaurant burns down, the latest target in a string of recent arson attacks in the area. Or is it? While at first the fire seems the work of Welsh extremists, the discovery of a corpse in the restaurant's ruins puts this crime into a different category altogether. In the ensuing investigation, Evans retains his modesty and good humor as he deals with a condescending English arson expert, a flirtatious female constable and a host of lively locals. The trail leads to the South Coast of England, where Madame Yvette and her late husband previously lost a restaurant to fire, and to France, where Evans and his colleague Sergeant Watkins uncover a startling secret about her past. Bowen keeps the reader guessing as to the actual menace that awaits Constable Evans in the hills above Llanfair on his return. This is a light confection of a mystery, sweetened with the author's obvious affection for her characters, as well as for all things Welsh.

March 1, 2000
Constable Evans and Sgt. Watkins investigate arson and murder in the Welsh village of Llanfair after a body is found in the rubble of a torched French restaurant. A pleasant evening's entertainment.

Copyright 2000 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

December 15, 1999
One wonders if Bowen didn't think of the cutesy title for her fourth Constable Evans novel and then struggle a bit to come up with a plot to go with it. After all, the idea of a Frenchwoman coming to the tiny town of Llanfair in Wales to open a gourmet restaurant is a bit of a stretch. It hardly matters, though, because the strength of this series is not plot but those staples of the British cozy, village ambience and eccentric characters. This time Constable Evan Evans investigates a series of arson fires, one of which--at the new French restaurant--produces a dead body. Helping and sometimes hindering Evans' efforts are a small boy named Tommy and a rude English arson investigator. A sprinkling of Welsh terms (glossary provided) and the townspeoples' habit of using folksy nicknames (Evans-the-Meat is the butcher) add to the already high charm quotient. As light and sweet as crepes suzette. ((Reviewed December 15, 1999))(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 1999, American Library Association.)