A cosy mystery set in the green Welsh countryside sounded enticing so I picked up a copy to give myself a taste of tradition. Henry Twyst, a Duke, is shortly going to marry, and has amiably complied with Welsh forms such as reading the banns as poetry at the village green, ahead of the wedding on St. David's Day, first day of March, celebrating the patron saint of Wales. More is to come in THE CASE OF THE MISSING MORRIS DANCER.

Stephanie, the Duke's intended, is a professional event planner but complying with all the local traditions seems beyond even her abilities. Abducting the bride - surely the locals won't go that far? But someone seems to have made the leading Morris dancer disappear. Interestingly there is something of an age gap between the couple, though nobody makes an issue of it. Annie Parker and Christine Wilson- Smythe run a women's enquiries agency nearby where there is an inordinate amount of chat about previous cases and ongoing love lives. Those who have read the first instalment in the Wise Enquiries series may be delighted; newcomers like me wade through to the next case. Aubrey Morris, the lead dancer and odd-job man, is their new assignment; the Morris dance by a group of men is a fertility rite the villagers insist must be performed, and they need young Aubrey. Wherever he is. And they need the antique, valuable props, which are also missing.

The varied women of the agency breathe life and character into the tale. Annie is of immigrant Cockney parents, direct and smart. Carol is a Welsh girl married to an Englishman and expecting their first baby. Christine has a flat in Battersea, London, and parents in Knightsbridge, so we get the impression that the agency is a hobby job. The contrast with the simple and venerable village customs and their practitioners is well done. We learn about Morris dancing and the Welsh cakes being baked for the feasting. The constant switching among protagonists could be distracting to those who aren't used to it.

I've been lucky enough to attend a wedding in Wales, with the lovely red Welsh gold rings, and if you get such an invitation, go! The next best thing would be reading Cathy Ace's enjoyable frolic THE CASE OF THE MISSING MORRIS DANCER. You'll be willing the imperilled wedding to succeed.