Reviewed: Reverend Coles’ clerical crime solver in a DVD set

MURDER BEFORE EVENSONG Acorn; cert 15

DVD 2-disc set £27.99 & on Digital

It’s amazing how in times of trouble, and without a prayer of solving a case, how many fictional detectives turn to a little Devine intervention from crime crackers in clerical collars.

Forget the old over melodramatic Father Brown, the first bestseller and C5 hit from the Rev Richard Coles is closest to the country charm of Grantchester. This truly cosy crime is as comforting as a mug of cocoa before bedtime. No surprise, it’s from the creator of the successful revival of All Creatures Great and Small.

It stars Matthew Lewis who appeared in Creatures as empathetic canon-turned-sleuth Daniel Clement, who salutes (bang bang!) the start to a great spell in his dog collar. The case opens in 1988 in the charming village of Champton where Daniel shares the rectory with his ever sniffy and overbearing mother Audrey - Amanda Redman (pictured with Matthew) and his two dachshunds Cosmo and Hilda.

When Daniel announces his plan to modernise the church he unleashes a village fury that sees parishioners take to the streets in protest. More shocks are to come when a murder victim’s discovered in the pews one evening. With more bodies emerging, rumours and suspicions are running riot and family divides and even links to wartime spies emerge as struggling detective DS Neil Vanico (Amit Shah) is at a dead end, enlists Daniel’s help. It’s a relaxing treat.

8/10

TALES OF THE WALKING DEAD

Acorn; cert 15

Blu-ray 2-disc set £27.99 & on Digital

From the universe that redefined television horror comes this gripping new anthology. These six new standalone stories expand the post apocalyptic world and venture into new territory. Starring Parker Posey, Olivia Munn and Terry Crews it’s set in the months and years following the outbreak and the battle for survival of new and familiar characters. No TWD fan can be without this addition to their collections. For instance, there’s a tale of two hostile co-workers (Parker and Jillian Bell) who try to escape Atlanta - and each other - but find themselves in a time loop reliving the hours before their deaths, Plus the origin story of The Walking Dead character Alpha (Samantha Morton) is revealed.

8/10

DEN OF THIEVES: PANTERA

Signature; cert 15

Blu-ray £14.99

Belatedly - seven years- Gerard Butler and O’Shea Jackson Jr return as Detective ‘Big Nick’ O’Brien and master thief Donnie Wilson in the sequel to the action heist hit. This is more about suspense than gun blazing car chases, but it draws you in.

The target is a jewellery theft in Nice, France, and everything appears to be going to plan until fired cop O’Brien muscles his way in. What they don’t know is that they stole a Godfather’s diamond in a previous raid -and he’s got wind of this one. Uh-oh!

8/10

BOOKS

Alex Gordon & Janet McKechnie with some choice books for fans this Christmas

EXIT STRATEGY

Lee & Andrew Child

Bantam £22

Hats off to Andrew Child, he faced the toughest job in thriller writing - although one of the most lucrative - when brother Lee handed him the steering wheel of the Jack Reacher juggernaut.

The inevitable nitpickers have had their say but Andrew has with this seat-edge thriller packed with traditional Reacher action. I particularly liked where our intrepid hero faces four big hoodlums waving flailing, greasy, and flesh shredding motorcycle chains. Only four?

Reacher is passing through Baltimore to see a favourite blues band when a stranger in a coffee shop slips a ‘help me’ note into Reacher’s pocket. Well, the ex-military cop could never resist sticking his nose in risky business and gets entangled with a dock worker whose mistakes have made him a hunted man. This all leads to an even more dangerous situation involving dodgy mercenaries stirring up conflict between Armenia and Turkey. Now Reacher’s in deep trouble. No surprise!

9/10

DEAD MAN’S TALE

Quintin Jardine; Headline £22

He may be retired to Spain, but that doesn’t stop ex top Edinburgh cop Bob Skinner being drawn back into his old life and this is another Tartan Noir triumph. With his son a target for a killer after witnessing a homicidal attack, wild horses wouldn’t stop Skinner as he rushes to his son’s aid, and is plunged into a much more dangerous and darker case.

8/10

TYRANT OF ROME

Simon Scarrow; Headline £22

Nobody writes widescreen sword-and-sandals adventures quite like Scarrow and fans will be delighted by the 24th addition to the bestselling Eagles of the Empire series.

Plotting and political skullduggery still abound in Rome despite the end of Nero’s Maniacal reign as our heroes Cato and Macro discover.

8/10.