Ralph M. McInerny (1929–2010)

Especially enjoyable, cerebral mystery, set in my hometown. I was thoroughly familiar with all the locations mentioned, so that made it like a homecoming. I did not guess the perp until the last few pages, so that makes it a good one, with plenty of red herrings and false trails to keep me guessing.

The paradigm for a Father Dowling mystery is not one I've seen before. Generally we start with one or two case histories of characters, say a police officer or the victim, and then we move on to a few chapters where the action is advanced and we learn how Father Dowling comes into the mystery.

Pretty standard. But after that, we tend to go back to the case histories and start touching on several of the characters whom, until now, we thought were minor and to whom we weren't paying much show more attention. And the plot and puzzle don't really unravel themselves until the last few chapters. It's an interesting way to write a mystery.

One thing that doens't ring true in Judas Priest is the idea that a sex evangelist could become a major figure in today's America. There have been the various Dr. Ruth types, but the man described in this book is way out of line, and reads more like a character in one of the more frothing-at-the-mouth style of religious novel, like the Left Behind series. Atypical, I think, for Ralph McInerny to be attracted to this sort of character. But the few Father Dowling novels that I've read have a peaceful, contemplative nature to them that should make them enjoyable to read for fans of the Country House sub-genre of mystery. I would be surprised if the others were much different. show less

Nicely complex, if nothing really new or surprising. The tangled Armstrong family and their various feuds and hatreds makes for interesting reading, and there are even some hints towards some larger issues, as a small challenge to the local mob family of Fox River is issued and one of the minor characters ends up pregnant. It will be interesting to me to read the next book to see if either of those storylines are followed up. The world of Father Dowling is now complicated enough to warrant show more its own Who's Who, as I often wonder when coming across a minor character, if it is one that I've run across before.

The puzzle (puzzles?) are well put together and the ending is left slightly ambiguous, which is a nice touch. It would be interesting to see what happens to the family in a later book. show less

Really liked 2/3 of this book - an omnibus edition combining 3 mystery anthologies. The stories in Murder Most Romantic remind me why Romance is a genre I generally avoid. Even with added murder I only liked a few of these stories, mostly the ones by authors I'm already familiar with like P. N. Elrod. "The Show Must Go On", by Neesa Hart, was a particular favorite. The SF entry "12 Days" was an interesting concept but the tech did not age well from 2001's version of 2010. The 2nd collection, show more Murder Most Medieval - now here's what I like, my favorite subgenre of historical mysteries. Five stories are set in series I read, including an Ellis Peters "Cadfael" I hadn't read before. The 3rd collection is Murder Most Devine - all mysteries in religious settings. More medieval stories here, including a Margaret Frazer Dame Frevisse tale and a P.C. Doherty story. Others have contemporary settings, even noir like Richard Connell's "Brother Orchid" and fantasy in Neil Gaiman's "Murder Mysteries". Huge book, but worth reading through. show less