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

In a chapter entitled "Envoi":

"It is a short distance, geographically, from Rocca Secca, where Thomas Aquinas was born, to Fossanova, where he died, but it took Thomas a lifetime to get from one point to the other. Today the traveler can climb a higher hill above the present town of Rocca Secca and, standing among the ruins of the castle, look out over the valley Thomas would have seen as a child when, allegedly, he first asked, "What is God?" The same traveler can be shown, at Fossanova, in show more the former Cistercian monastery, a room on the second floor where Thomas died, convinced that all he had written of God was as straw. That conviction was the product of a mystical experience, and the traveler, unblessed by that, can only muse at the vast distance -- philosophically, theologically, spiritually -- Thomas travelled from childhood to the age of forty-nine when he died. What he had written then started on a journey which has not ended yet.

There will doubtless always be many of those whom 'Time' has called Peeping Thomists, thinkers, who derive much of what they hold from the study of Thomas but who are either not believers or, if believers, not Catholics. Nonetheless, it is the believer and particularly the Catholic who will feel most drawn to Thomas. For them, the traditional precept will seem less a command than an invitation or opportunity. Ite ad Thomas. Go to Thomas." 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