too much descritopn, not enough plot. Just couldn't get into it

Book received from NetGalley.

These books are different than his Constable Nick series. While they also take place in Yorkshire and are also police procedurals but that's where the similarities end. Detective Inspector Pluke reminds me a bit of Monk, if you remember the tv series, though DI Pluke is more caught up in superstitions than OCD. They were good stories, though the first one took a bit to get through, I liked his other series better.

Thanks Netgalley and the Publisher. Really like everything this author has read and this book was another good one

This review is for a bundle of 3 books from a series by Nicholas Rhea, introducing Detective Inspector Montague Pluke. Firstly I must say that these are very different from the "Constable" books by the author, and having said that I found them rather moreish.
The first book "Omens of Death" of was a little hard to read and I nearly gave up on it. It is the start of the series. I guess there where some perimeters to lay down, and characteristics to introduce.
The second novel A Superstitious Death" was really enjoyable and having got to know the characters, I really found the book very hard to put down, and I got to love the quirks in the nature of the players. The mystery was good and well detailed.
The third novel "Well - Pressed Shroud" was probably even better, even if I guessed who and why in the early stages, but by this time I worked out that is wasn't all about the mystery but the characters and all that when with them. Again I had trouble putting this down and read the three books very quickly, and they aren't short stories by any standards.
There isn't any vicious violence in the telling, the language is gentile and the mysteries are well spun and told. I really enjoy these books.

2 and 1 / 2 stars

Detective Inspector Montague Pluke is an oddball. He is superstitious, affects strange sartorial displays, collects stone horse troughs, does not engage in sex with his wife and is promoted beyond his capabilities through no effort of his own. He is arrogant and stuffy.

That being said there is very little crime in his city of Crickledale. It is a small town of just 4,000 souls. He wishes for a murder to solve before his retirement so that he can put his remarkable detective skills to work. Or, so he thinks. When the naked body of a young woman is found at the local druid circle he thinks, “at last!”

DI Pluke and his trusty sidekick DS Wayne Wain have trouble identifying the young woman. But finally they do and find out some explosive information about her and her friend. Another body turns up in another district and they feel it is tied to their mysterious death. This adds pressure to Pluke and Wain.

The case finally comes together for Pluke and Wain. The murderer comes as a surprise.

This book, although competently written, moves as slow as the proverbial molasses. It wanders and Pluke’s little asides are an annoyance. Now more specifically about this book. What seemed amusing at first became irritating when the device was used over and over. I became tired of the superstitious nonsense. If I ever hear about another uninteresting horse trough, I will literally scream. I got tired of Pluke’s preachy superior attitude. And Sergeant “Cockfield pronounced Cofield” was terribly overused. Twice would have been sufficient.

Perhaps Nicholas Rhea is not for me.

I want to thank Netgalley and Endeavour Press for forwarding to me a copy of this book to read.

The first three books of the eccentric Detective Inspector Montague Pluke based
in the small Yorkshire town of Crickledale.
Pluke is very superstitious & these books may not appeal to some readers but I found them very readable & felt myself being drawn into the stories.
I’ve read other series from the author which I’ve really enjoyed & the reason I read these. Having read the first three I’ll now read the rest of the Pluke books