A Fatal Winter

Max Tudor, Book 2

By: G. M. Malliet

Narrated by: Michael Page

In A Fatal Winter, Max Tudor - Anglican priest, former MI5 agent, and village heartthrob - investigates two deaths at Chedrow Castle. But his growing attraction to Awena Owen complicates his case, as does the recent arrival at Chedrow Castle of a raucous group of long-lost, greedy relatives, any one of whom has a motive for murder. With a cozy setting, intricate puzzles, and a handsome (non-celibate) priest doing the sleuthing, the books in this series are destined to become instant classics in the mystery world.

©2012 G.M. Malliet (P)2012 Dreamscape Media, LLC

Critic reviews

"Clever deduction and a logical fair-play solution are enhanced by the author's wry humor...." ( Publishers Weekly)

Boy, did I call that one wrong!

Where does A Fatal Winter rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

It was quite good. Very satisfying story, and the narrator's voice is like warm butter. The thing I like about this author is that in the story you can imagine several other plausible solutions, and I fall for those red herrings every time! I totally called this one wrong too just like the last one.

Who was your favorite character and why?

"Father Brown" -- duh. Although I did like the twins quite a bit as well.

What does Michael Page bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

His voice is hypnotic. Sometimes I have to re-wind and listen to it again to actually HEAR what he is saying.

Any additional comments?

SPOILER-ish ALERT: OK, I was going in a totally different direction with the motive, I thought for sure that we were going to learn that Milo (the butler) and Lamora were related due to their Russian heritage. But no!

A Cozy Christmas Cozy

I fall into the group that really liked this book. The characters are nicely drawn, some a bit crazy, some quite heart-warming. 4 stars is about as high as I ever go for a mystery, so this is the highest rating on my own personal rating scale. As for Michael Page, I liked his rendition of The Care of Wooden Floors better (which I recommend overall). I didn't care for his voice for Max -- too old as someone else commented.

Great book to go to sleep by!

I did enjoy listening to it in bed - a couple of chapters a night and I was sound asleep. For me this is a good thing! The story is interesting and rather fun, and the narrator's voice is soothing. Definitely recommended for insomniacs (and others too)!

Not as good as the first Max Tudor book

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

The first Max Tudor book, A Wicked Autumn, was really captivating, interesting and had
interesting characters who were complex and developed. Max himself was somewhat introspective and also interesting. This book, the second, was superficial, has stereotypical characters who were not appealing and about whom this reader didn't care.
It is hard to believe this second book was written by the same author, they are that different in quality.

Has A Fatal Winter turned you off from other books in this genre?

No, but it may make me hesitate to buy another by this author.

What about Michael Page’s performance did you like?

OK.

Was A Fatal Winter worth the listening time?

It was boring, and I lost interest.

Any additional comments?

Read the first one, Wicked Autumn, and give this one a pass.

Parts are greater than the whole

OK, it's not the greatest mystery story ever written, but that may be over-looked because of the many witticisms, some slightly submerged. Performance is excellent, and Anglicans everywhere will enjoy the characterization and references to Shakespeare, the BCP, King James, and British history.

Very, very good

The story line and characters are fantastic. Although the point of view includes a multitude of the characters, it's fairly easy to follow. I did have to back up a few times, but this book was worth it.

A good mystery read

I will admit I didn't enjoy this quite as much as the first in the series, but I did enjoy it and will be continuing with the rest.

Good characters, decent mystery and good narration. Worth the credit.

Fabulous narrator

The story is good but the narration is wonderful! I’ll listen to anything Michael Page narrates!

Reincarnation Christie updated to 21st century!!

I loved this book for so many reasons. I believe Malliet must be the reincarnation of Agatha Christie and some popular present day satirist/ comedian. Max Tutor is a handsome Anglican priest who used to be a MI-5 agent. His church is located in the small English village of Nether Monkslip, with all the foibles and characters one would expect to inhabit such a village. But Malliet has updated their thoughts and actions to fit expertly into the twenty-first century.

Max is a combination of Hercule Poirot, Father Brown, and Sherlock Holmes. As an Anglican Priest, his life is further complicated by his 'love interest', the beautiful spiritualist and town's herbalist. He is also haunted by the death of his MI-5 partner who had taken Max's place in their last mission together, where Paul was killed.

This second in the Father Max Tutor series, ( Wicked Autumn was book one) finds Max being asked to go to an English Manor house to 'observe' the remaining family gathered there for a Christmas holiday. The Lord of the manor has been murdered, just before his twin sister died of natural causes. Of course the family is full of 'characters' that have many idiosyncrasies of their own. The interactions between these characters is written wonderfully, with stereotypes and additional characteristics that were a feast for this reader!! AND---the mystery was wonderfully done also. Never guessed till the end, but the clues had been placed expertly throughout the book !

I had read book one and enjoyed it very much, but book two was exponentially better. So looking forward to reading Malliet's take on spring and summer with Father Max and more mysteries!!

Problem with narrator's "voice" for Max Tudor

Michael Page's narration is fine with the exception of the "voice" he chose for Max Tudor. Max Tudor is a 40-something year old man but Michael Page's voice for him is that of a man well into his 60's - too old, too phlegmatic.