Death Stops the Frolic by George Bellairs

The title is very apt, with the death in the story stopping the frolic that members of a church were indulging in (much to the distaste of quite a few of the members). The victim was a man who had enough time on his hands to pick fights with everyone in town.
The extreme physical descriptions, more of women than the men, was a little off-putting, in a different mood of reading it might not have been as annoying. Some of the narrative descriptions did hold their own uniqueness, and I must admit to having chuckled at a few. It does paint a very vivid and intricate picture of the goings-on of the people in the town. The town’s history and the way it was told was also quite interesting. The mystery plot itself was almost sidelined. As a reader, we are not given much of an opportunity to solve the case. The information revelations happen mostly as confessions and leave no room for actual sleuthing. In the beginning, the police do conduct diligent interviews, so it was not all up to the admissions by suspects since they had to become suspects first.
It is a quick read, and I have a few others by the author left to read.

⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 3 out of 5.

I received an ARC thanks to NetGalley and the publishers, but the review is entirely based on my own reading experience.