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Dave Freer
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Joy Cometh With The Mourning: A Reverend Joy Mystery Kindle Edition

by Dave Freer (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 124 ratings
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Reverend Joy Norton is a timid city girl, and she’s never been the primary priest in any parish. When her bishop sends her out to a remote back-country church, she doubts both her ability and her suitability. Those doubts grow when she hears of the mysterious death of her predecessor. But from the first encounter with her congregation -- having her little car rescued from a muddy ditch, she finds herself deeply involved with her parishioners and touched by their qualities and eccentricities. Which makes it worse for her to think that one of the people she’s coming to care for murdered the previous priest…
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  1. Print length
    243 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  4. Publication date
    November 27, 2014
  5. File size
    506 KB
  6. Page Flip
    Enabled
  7. Word Wise
    Enabled
  8. Enhanced typesetting
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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Dave Freer is a former Ichthyologist (Fisheries Biologist) who turned author because he heard the spelling requirements were easier. They lied. He is happily married, with two great sons, two lovely daughters-in-law, and now is bracing himself for grandchildren. He and his wife Barbara live on remote Flinders Island, off the coast of Tasmania. He dives, fishes rock climbs, lives a chaotic experiment into self-sufficiency, including making his own bacon, from his own pigs, and writes novels. Some have even blundered onto best-seller lists before being kicked out by respectable literature.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B00OZFSOR2
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Magic Isle Press (November 27, 2014)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ November 27, 2014
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 506 KB
  • Simultaneous device usage ‏ : ‎ Unlimited
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 243 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 124 ratings

About the author

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Dave Freer

Dave Freer

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Dave Freer is a former Marine Biologist who specialized in fish (an Ichthyologist), proving that you can end up as an academic even if you did win a sports bursary (for rock-climbing) to take you through college. At seventeen was a conscripted Medic during the Angolan/South African conflict. Politically from an old fashioned 'liberal' (you know, believing in equality of all people before the law, equality of opportunity, that sort of thing) anti-apartheid family this was quite an experience. He lived through it and came out as a 45 year old in a nineteen year old body, which may explain his frequent confusion. He is still deciding just what do when he grows up. His first postgraduate job was as Chief Scientific Officer for the Western Cape Commercial Shark fishery. As a biologist he's spent a lot of time working in water no sane person would go near, having encounters (both in small boats and in the water) with sharks, crocodiles, hippopotamuses, electric rays and a number of other toxic/lethal creatures. He has worked as a salvage diver, run two major fish farms (he's a very good plumber), as well as doing some steeplejack work. Additionally he has worked as the relief chef for a group of exclusive luxury game/ ecotourism/ whitewater-rafting lodges. He has an obsession with food, recreating traditional fare, something he uses in his books. He's a top mountaineer and rock-climber, opening many of his country's best rock routes. He's a fanatical spiny-lobster diver and flyfisherman and the author of a number of articles on both. If it is dangerous and a little crazy -- he's done it. Besides writing some amazingly boring but fundamental papers on shark age and growth and reproductive biology, he has authored or co-authored about twenty novels, most of which are sf/fantasy. He's also written a lot of shorter fiction, appearing in various collections.

He lives on a wonderful remote Island off the coast of Tasmania, Australia, a ten hour ferry trip to anywhere, with 3 dogs to do his thinking, 3 cats to be waited on, two sons to lead him astray, and a wonderful wife to be patient with him and them, although it is a task that would tax a saint. Sometimes he wonders why he does this. Other times he just wonders. See his webpage if you really want more.

Customer reviews

4.5 out of 5 stars
4.5 out of 5
124 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

FrancisT
5.0 out of 5 stars A work of joy
Reviewed in the United States on December 4, 2014
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This is a wonderful book, a joyful work (and yes a punful one), one that shows the love of God and neighbours and which shows the author's love for his adopted country. Think Miss Marple crossed with Don Camillo or Brother Cadfael with a side order of vegemite.

Reverend Joy is sent to a small seaside parish after the somewhat mysterious death of the previous incumbent. As a big city girl, who has rarely left the urban environment, the countryside is a foreign land to her and she's always had other clergy nearby to give her support so she is distinctly lacking in self-confidence. But the bishop is insistent so she goes there and manages to drive into a ditch on the way into town in the pouring rain. After being splashed and ignored by some other motorists she is rescued by a good Samaritan and things start to look up. But there's still the whole small town thing, an odd assortment of parishioners and other residents, and the fact that it looks more and more like her predecessor was murdered. In other words plenty of challenges

Since funds raised by the sale of this book are going to help the author's local church (in a rural bit of Australia even), it is great that the book shows how Christian virtues such as faith and humility help more than just the believer. Writers often struggle to show goodness and to show how a good priest can make a difference to her flock. The various challenges that our heroine faces and overcomes in this book illustrate both beautifully and shows how religious faith helps. Yet there is no divine intervention; in this book God moves in mysterious ways, his wonders to perform.

The book is the first cozy mystery written by Dave Freer. I trust it will not be his last as, despite the well rounded finish, the reader is left wanting more.

(Full disclosure, the author is a friend of mine, but he became one because he writes books I truly enjoy, such as this one)
4 people found this helpful
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Linda T in Waikiki
5.0 out of 5 stars Joy and hilarity come all the way through this book!
Reviewed in the United States on April 12, 2023
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I had to recheck the cover a few times to remind myself I was reading Dave Freer. His sense of whimsy and wonder are so much like Connie Willis (see "to say nothing of the dog").
Both the characters and situations kept inviting me to read more, I could not put it down and had a big smile on my face at the last page.
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Dormouse23
4.0 out of 5 stars Nice Setting, Great Characters
Reviewed in the United States on September 3, 2015
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This is a sweet-souled cozy mystery set in a small town in Australia. The central character is a (female) Anglican minister, relatively new to the job, who is assigned to the town after the death of the previous rector under mysterious circumstances. Gradually she settles into the town, makes friends and unravels several smaller puzzles involving the residents as well as the main issue of the rector's death. In the process she finds her feet as the leader of the town's church and becomes more confident in her ability to do her job.

The characters are well realized and the dialogue is great. The story really centers around the town's inhabitants and the rector's character development rather than the mystery. Reverend Joy's ability to draw strength from her faith and to communicate with God without leaving the reader with an image of a voice talking from a cloud is very well done. If you are looking for a gritty procedural or noir book, this will not be your style, but I greatly enjoyed this book and would definitely recommend it.
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Cedarlila
5.0 out of 5 stars A worthy successor to Christie
Reviewed in the United States on November 27, 2014
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Dave has a way with words, and from the first thing I read of his, I’ve known he was special. For one thing, his sense of humor aligns with mine, so I find myself laughing uproariously with almost every tale of his I read. The new book may be a departure from what he’s known for, the science fiction and fantasy, but it’s an excellent read. Joy Cometh with the Mourning is a cozy mystery. That is, a mystery where the main sleuth and protagonist is not a law enforcement professional.

And there is the other thing Dave does so very well. He brings his people to life. You know them, you could swear you’d met them in that odd little shoppe in town sometime. They aren’t extraordinary, just very real. The setting in Joy, the Australian town and countryside, are themselves a joy to explore. But the people are what make this book a real treat to curl up with. There’s no plot to save the world (or end it) here. There doesn’t have to be. People have crises, and Joy, the main character and title of the book, is there for them.

The mystery itself is a pretty riddle, with red herrings, and all the little twists a good mystery should have. If you are a fan of Agatha Christie, you will like this story. And the cherry atop the sundae is that this book is to raise funds for Dave’s own tiny church. The proceeds go to the Flinders Island Parish.
15 people found this helpful
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Pat Patterson
5.0 out of 5 stars It's not a mystery, it's a love story!
Reviewed in the United States on December 29, 2014
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Dave Freer made me fall in love.
I don't want to read about Felixtown, I want to live there. I want to eat the cream and butter soaked treats, the steak and kidney and oyster pie, and I want to volunteer to work with the kids. I want to have my lawn mower repaired by Tom, and go for a walk on the beach, and have my prescriptions filled by the atheist pharmacist. I want to sit in Reverend Joy's church, and listen to her sermons about the God Who doesn't need to be wound up on Sunday.
And I'd like to find out what a ute is. (Yes'm, I figured it out from context.)
These are real people, with real problems, and real strengths.
And Dave Freer is a real writer. His earlier body of work proves that to those of us who love sf, but this jumps categories and dances the hula,while the jack of hearts spits grapefruit juice in your eye. In other words: you might THINK it is impossible, but it's only very, very improbable. And thanks to Douglas Adams, the Improbability Drive is available.
Buy this book, NOW.
One person found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

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Dr Mike
5.0 out of 5 stars Lovely
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 9, 2016
Verified Purchase
If, like me, you read too fast, you will need to read this again, as I do.
From practice, I keep a proof-reader's eye on the details of books and this one has [just] one major error, which the proofreaders should have spotted: the odd pages should be on the right when the book is open; the extra "gutter" element of the margin is then needed on the left of odd pages and the right of even pages. The underlying document certainly possesses that feature, so the margins, as published, are utterly wrong. I would guess that there is a "page break - next page is odd" at the start of the main section of the book and Amazon CreateSpace does not respect that (suffered from it myself). I find production faults like that totally distracting; makes me take longer to read the book.
Like many of those who are only mildly church-going, if at all, I find expressions of deep faith uncomfortable. Fortunately, although that deep faith is visible in the Reverend Joy, the discomfort trigger doesn't quite go off.
She has hitherto been city-based in her ministry; is sent to a country parish after the death of the previous incumbent in circumstances sufficiently mysterious as to raise question.
As she works to understand her new parishioners, she slowly uncovers all sorts of things and generates her own doubts. In the end, everything links together - the fences she gets people to mend and the bridges she gets them to re-build provide the resolution.
I still need to read it again; I actually want to read it again. It won't be soon - I find that technical error in production too distracting.
EnJoy!
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Wild
3.0 out of 5 stars sujet original, mais personnages trop caricaturaux
Reviewed in France on July 26, 2015
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J'apprécie certains bouquins de SF de D Freer; ici, il fait son "coming out" comme anglicans australien convaincu. Le héros de ce roman "policier" est une femme prêtre (pasteur) que son évêque transplante de la ville dans la cambrousse australienne profonde, où elle prend la succession d'un prêtre que l'on croit assassiné. Elle règle de façon quasi miraculeuse plein de problèmes de famille et réussit par se faire accepter sans grand problème par les locaux. On en sait que peu de choses d'elle, mais elle est vraiment trop parfaite et pieuse pour être crédible.
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Scott Osmond
5.0 out of 5 stars A Nice Read
Reviewed in Australia on May 25, 2015
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My first mystery. I liked this book, Dave really captured small town Australia. Joy's character development was done well, I felt for her as I've been in situations where I've felt out of my depth. The mysteries were unravelled in a satisfying way without being smug. I'd be happy to read more of Joy's adventures.
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Allan A. Macbain
5.0 out of 5 stars High quality writing (of course)!
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 28, 2014
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A delightful 'cosy' mystery from Dave; continuing the expected high quality writing I expect from him.
I'm looking forward to the next in the series. 8-)
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Kathlyn Fauchon
5.0 out of 5 stars Great whodonit.
Reviewed in Australia on February 25, 2015
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Great read. I couldn't put the book down. It kept you guessing.
Dave, next book you write may I be the proof-reader please?
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