I've thoroughly enjoyed Phillips' "Sunday" series featuring fifty-something Montreal lawyer Geoffry Chadwick, from the first book (Sunday's Child) - they're often grouped with mysteries but are more of a "comedy/suspense novel of manners", with Chadwick dealing with some very serious situations and yet narrating the whole thing with a marvelously dry tone. ("I have always suspected that anyone past puberty who enjoys Christmas is not dealing with a full deck." Or, about his busybody sister Mildred, "Mildred marches through life with a chip on her shoulder the size of the Royal Ontario Museum. One of my major pleasures is to set her up for a massive confrontation and then, by making an unexpected concession, leave her floundering. I know one day God will get me, but it will have been worth it.")

In this book, some time has passed since the events of Sunday Best, and there have been some dramatic changes in Chadwick's life - but while he's on his own again he still has to deal with his aging mother and his interfering sister. And now he's also faced with anonymous death threats... Will he figure out who it is who's got it in for him, and will he be in time to prevent mayhem? Will his new friendship with an attractive widow lead to something more? And will his over-the-top friend Larry Townsend help or hinder the situation with his outrageous remarks?

While not quite as suspenseful as the first book and not quite as hilarious as the second, this book does a very nice job of showing us how life has been treating the characters we know and love (or detest, as the case may be!), how they're dealing with the passing of time and advancing age - and how they cope with unexpected drama and/or romance...

RELEASE NOTES:

I left Working on Sunday on a bench outside the Churchmouse and Firkin at Church and Maitland, at about 2:45; hope the finder enjoys it! [I think this is where a mob of us will be having dinner on Saturday night - may be more books released there then!]