I understand your points, and I agree it is definitely no book that makes you laughing out loud.

But I think the subtle humour of it is that exactly those things you point out ( the shortcomings of the vicar) are not meant to be serious.
All the characters, I get the impression, are in some way exaggerated and even stereotypes, and not meant to be realistic people and to be taken dead seriously. At times they are even ridiculous and this makes the book funny in a way.

For me, and by now I've almost finished the novel, it is an entertaining read, in the sense that something's happening on every page, strange coincidences, to be sure, and rather silly characters, but all in all quite amusing.

My criticism would rather be that I can't recognize any depth in it. It's nice, funny and even exciting to me, but leaves no deeper impression or prompts me to think about certain points more intensely.
Neither do I wish to read it again, as my favourite books always motivate me to do.