My father was a preacher for the Church of Christ in Texas, so this new mystery novel about a Church of Christ preacher in Texas trying to solve a murder case caught my attention, especially so because (in the interest of full disclosure) it is written by a woman who is my cousin's sister-in-law. (I've never met her.) It fits relatively well into the sub-category of murder mysteries known as "cosies" since it's not remotely a hard-boiled detective story and its sleuth is closer in spirit to Miss Marple than Philip Marlowe. Not to say Stephanie Jaye Evans's preacher, "Bear" Wells isn't more physically intimidating than Marple, just that this isn't a story of back alleys and femmes fatale, but of (generally) nice people with a murder on their hands.

Evans can write. It's a pleasant story, with well-delineated characters behaving in believable fashion throughout. Where the story becomes something more than pleasant diversion is near the end, when the disasters of the end of the Vietnam war are recalled and their reverberations are felt in the lives of present-day characters. This section is quite compellingly written and very effective.

I had hoped to recognize something of my own life, and my dad's, in the depiction of Bear's life with his church responsibilities, but there are decades separating my dad's ministry from the one in this book, and much has changed. There are aspects that I found completely familiar and others that seemed foreign, but then going to church nowadays is very different from when my dad was preaching, so I guess this is an accurate reflection. But none of that should matter much unless the reader, like me, is a preacher's kid. For most folks, this will be an enjoyable read if one's taste runs to light mysteries. This is Evans's first book, and while I'm a hard-boiled fan, and not so much a fan of light mysteries, I look forward to her next entry in what I hope will be a series with long life. ( )

i really enjoyed this story. Walker "Bear" Wells is a minister in the Church of Christ. He is a good man, but not a perfect man. He struggles with his family, especially 13-year-old Jo.

Honey is one of Bear's church members and when her husband Graham is found dead, Bear gets involved, probably too involved. When he finds out that Honey's son, Alex is involved with Jo, Bear becomes obsessed with finding out who killed Graham and keeping his precious daughter Jo safe.

While there is some church doctrine here it isn't moralizing and it often shows that a minister struggles with the sames things that everyone else struggles with, like temper, hurt, doubt, and fear.

I will be reading more in this series. ( )

Walker Wells, better known as Bear because he once played college football and perhaps because of his physique, is a minister at a church in the suburbs of Houston, TX. Bear is a man of God, but he is very much a man of family and a Texan.

He may resort to prayer before he loses his control but he still is quite human in his emotions as he tries to do his best as a husband and father. That he has complete blinkers on when it comes to seeing his family as they really are is a surprize. He needs a little self-examination at times, but don't we all. He has insight where others are though, as well as all the compassion and empathy needed for his flock.

The smooth path of his days is disturbed when lawyer Graham Garcia is found Big Berthaed to death by a blow to the head at a local golf course. The problem for the police is that it happened in the dead of night so it was not an accident and the problem for Bear is that it involves members of his church and possibly of his family.

The character I found most intriguing was the detective assigned to the case and his future relationship with Bear ought to be interesting. I hope there is one. ( )