Holy Disorders takes Oxford don and part time detective Gervase Fen to the town of Tolnbridge, where he is happily bounding around with a butterfly net until the cathedral organist is murdered, giving Fen the chance to play sleuth. The man didn't have an enemy in the world, and even his music was inoffensive: could he have fallen foul of a nest of German spies or of the coven of witches, ominously rumoured to have been practicing since the 17th century?
This is very very good, not as flippant as some of the other Crispin work still humorous but not too try hard for laughs.
The murder is the beginning of an adventure where no one is who they appear to be and the ending has several good surprises.
This is the most entertaining murder mystery I have read for a while, it was first published in 1946 and stands up well today. Recommended.
You can get these books through Mighty Ape in New Zealand
Crispin, real name Robert Bruce Montgomery, was an interesting chap who unfortunately had his life cut short by a fondness for the bottle.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edmund_Crispin
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