Saints and Sailors by Pam Rhodes is the fourth book in the Dunbridge Chronicle, telling the story of a vicar and his congregation--including an unhappily married couple, a WWII vet and his son and grandson, the choir leader, a senior citizen with dementia, and others-- when they set off for a cruise around the British Isles. Tempers sometimes flair and some people get on each other's nerves, but everyone might just make some new discoveries on the trip.
I have not yet read the other three books in this series, so it was difficult to keep track of the cast of characters. The book includes a cast of characters at the beginning, but I dislike having to flip back and forth to check who I'm reading about, so I mostly ignored it.
I don't read much Christian or contemporary fiction, but I have enjoyed some similar books before, especially the Sisterchicks series. However, I found this novel rather slow and full of too many characters. Regardless of the genre I'm reading, I like stories with plot and character development; this story had too many characters to develop any of them in detail. While there were some points where readers could get an insight into characters, these moments were haphazard, leaving me with only vague memories of each character and his or her relationships.
I'd give it 2/5 stars personally, but maybe a 3/5 for other readers
