The Moonlit Door: a contemporary British village mystery by Deryn Lake

Reverend Nick Lawrence is organizing a Medieval Fair for his small village.  He hopes to bring tourists in and help the local businesses.  It's also a fun event for all the goers.  What he never expected was to see the devil's work when the fair closed down for the day...

Severn House and Net Galley let me read this book for review (thank you).  It will be published March 1st, so look for a copy then.

An orphaned school boy is found pinned to the maypole by an arrow with the ribbons draped all over him.  Nick works with Detective Inspector Tennant to determine who would have killed the boy.  It's harder because there were so many people at the fair.

They question all the archers that were in the competition.  They look at the Grimm Morris Dancers because they are odd and there's a chance they are doing Satan worshiping.  They find they will cavort in the woods in the nude and have sex with willing women, but nothing to indicate they are killers.

I liked visiting this village and learning about the people here.  Like all small towns, you get to meet lots of eccentric characters.  There's also the beginning of a romance for Nick.  

I was taken aback by the killer.  Out of all the suspects, that was one that I never even had any suspicion about.  This author has a devious mind and pulls no punches.  This is not a cozy mystery; it's a hard story about mental illness and death.  I enjoyed the Reverend and the Inspector and look forward to seeing them again.  I hope the next book they are in has a softer plot line; this one almost made me cry.