The best books featuring murder and mayhem in English churches

From the very beginning of her writing career, I’ve loved the novels of P.D. James. Her clear-eyed understanding of the human condition, and the precision of her writing, have always set her a bit apart from other writers in the genre, but this novel blew me away. As she explores the death of two men in the crypt of a London church—one a prominent member of Parliament, the other a homeless vagrant—she transcends genre altogether and creates a work of such depth and complexity that it resonates with me still, many years later. She wrote some fine books both before and after, but this will always be for me the high water mark of one of my all-time favourite writers—and role models.

From a generation of writers before P.D. James, Dorothy L. Sayers’ book represents the best of the ‘Golden Age of Crime Fiction’. It is hugely atmospheric, both of its time and its location. As the flood waters rise and threaten a remote Fenland village, the residents flock to the village church for refuge from the deluge. But there is a mysterious death; fortunately for the rector, Lord Peter Wimsey just happens to be on hand to get to the bottom of it before the dramatic conclusion. Sayers grew up as a vicar’s daughter in the Fens, and she employs her knowledge of bell-ringing and other arcane church matters to great effect. This is one for regular re-reading!

This trilogy of novels is altogether darker than Sayers, as Andrew Taylor tackles nothing less ambitious than ‘the making of a murderer,’ as well as the history of the Church of England in the twentieth century. If the latter sounds dull, it’s not! Figuratively looking through the wrong end of a telescope, he peels away the layers of the story as he goes backward in time in the cathedral city of Rosington, from the wrenching kidnapping of the daughter of a woman priest, to the events in the far past which culminated in tragedy. Like Dorothy Sayers, though, Andrew Taylor grew up as the child of an Anglican clergyman, so there is real authenticity here, as well as fine writing and a gift for creating suspense.

Set in the evocative, spooky borderlands known as the Marches, between England and Wales, this is part of a series by Phil Rickman. Through the novels we follow the trials and tribulations of Merrily Watkins, a parish priest and the official exorcist for the Hereford diocese of the Church of England—thus introducing a strong element of the supernatural. Merrily is a believable and sympathetic protagonist, with her share of human weaknesses, and she’s surrounded by a rich, unforgettable cast of ongoing supporting characters: daughter Jane, musician Lol, and the wonderful Gomer Parry. It was difficult to choose one book from this fine series, but I settled on this one because it features one of my own favourite churches—Kilpeck, in the wilds of Herefordshire.

Flavia de Luce is surely one of the most original—and the most delightful—detective characters ever written. The precocious eleven-year-old lives in a crumbling manor house in the English countryside, with her vague father, beastly older sisters, and faithful retainer Dogger. Her interest in chemistry—and death—tend her get her into trouble on a regular basis. In this book, Flavia is on the scene when the body of the church organist turns up in the medieval tomb of St Tancred, the parish church’s patron saint. Predictably, she sets out to solve the murder, tearing about the village on her faithful bicycle Gladys. Alan Bradley evokes a world—rural England in the 1950s—that many of us would love to return to (in spite of the murders!) and has created an unforgettable heroine. If you enjoy mysteries that make you smile, rather than creep you out, then Flavia is the girl for you. Haroo!