Gawaine St Clair (as his name suggests) is a languid, dilettante aristocratic-like young chap living in the southern counties. He is bullied by a friend of his mother, Christabel Cottesmore, into investigating the murder of Father Thomas Coates, a locum vicar at the local church St Paul’s in her select Surrey village of Ellingwood. Gawaine investigates with his trusty sidekick David Powers and uncovers a mare’s nest of intrigue, rivalry and small-minded Brexit-like intolerance and a number of possible motivations for the murder of the priest.
Christabel is rather like one of the termagant aunts in that poor old Bertie Wooster suffers in PG Wodehouse’s fiction. There are a few suspects and the traditional denouement is made at the end, perhaps a little pedestrian in the solution. The plot is managed adroitly, the narrative is excellent and dialogue convincing.

Thankyou to NetGalley, Troubador Publishing, Matador and the author, Cherith Baldry, for the opportunity to read a digital copy of Dangerous Deceits in exchange for an honest, unbiased opinion.
I thought this book offered a good, solid read. The storyline was well thought out and the characters were engaging. A good book for those train commutes to work and back as it is easy to pick up from where you left off.

Gawaine is urged by his honorary aunt, Christabel, to look into the murder of Father Tom. Father Tom is a young Anglican priest who was temporarily assigned to the parish. The villagers hold differing opinions of him, with some disagreeing with his more conservative views such as not allowing divorced people to receive communion, to others who respected him.

There are many parishioners to fill in the roles of suspects. In addition to Gawaine, detecting is assisted by his friend David. Reporter Seffy also is close to these two.

In many ways this was a very traditional mystery. The suspects are all gathered together at the end in an Agatha Christie like way as the murderer is revealed.

I enjoyed this book with one caveat. The clues to the killer were not really set up fairly as there is a reveal that the reader could not possibly have guessed.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for this read. The opinions are my own.

The plot is set in a small town where the Vicar is found dead. As usual there are more than one suspect and detective Gawaine St Clair is going to solve the mystery. I really enjoyed the characters.
Thank you Netgalley for this nice book.

A whodunit featuring reluctant amateur detective Gawaine St Clair. This case concerns the disappearance of Thomas Coates, the vicar of St. Paul's in Ellingwood where Gawaine's surrogate aunt Christabel lives and acts as churchwarden. When Thomas is later found dead on the North Downs Gawaine is summoned to look into the murder, and together with his friend David Powers he attempts an informal investigation alongside that of the police. In the small village he finds many secrets and petty motives for wanting rid of the very strict Father Thomas but are any of them strong enough to warrant a murder? The book is nicely written and plods along well enough but I didn't feel a connection with the detectives or get much of an insight into their characters, and the twist at the end where the crime is solved felt a little implausible. Still it was a good way to pass a couple of hours and recommended for those who like a nice gentle mystery story.

*Many thanks to Cherith Baldry, Troubador Publishing and Netgalley for providing me with ARC in exchange for my honest review.*
Dangerous Deceits is an entertaining and easy read for fans of amateur sleuths and a murder or two committed in a small community, with a number of suspects who have reasons to kill. Gawaine St Clair, with a little help from is friend, David Powers, undertakes a difficult task to find a murderer in a village of Ellingwood, which "is a hotbed of illicit passions". The plethora of suspects is a warranty that Gewaine will get a headache or two, albeit, being a getleman, will never admit it. Nice twists and turns kept my interest till the end.

Not your typical murder,mystery and not your typical sleuths. Typical gossipy village tho with snobby overtones. Ambled along gradually working things out.

What a great book this was, the murder of the Vicar before the service starts the investigation. And the suspects just line up. I absolutely loved this WHO done it.
and the reasons they are suspected. And the twists and turns. Definitely recommending this book!

I love this book. I love Gawaine and Christabel and their ripostes. I love Persephone and her no nonsense, take no sh*t attitude.

I liked the mystery at the heart of the novel, the murder of Father Thomas. I thought it was well written, well described and well thought out.

This book is great for those who enjoy British mystery at it's finest. I loved it and will definitely be picking up more Cherith Baldry books in the future.