The Bishop in the Old Neighborhood (Blackie Ryan Novels) [Large Print] [Hardcover]

Andrew M. Greeley (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 2006 | Series: Blackie Ryan Novels

"Blackwood, there's trouble in the old neighborhood! Murder in the sanctuary of the Church!"

The church in question is St. Lucy's, a humble edifice at the heart of a venerable Chicago neighborhood now suffering the throes of gentrification. St. Lucy's has long stood as a bulwark against evil and change, which some in the community have often seen as much the same thing.

Now three dead bodies have been left in the sanctuary, stripped, mutilated, and shot through the head, execution-style. A warning to those who would remake the neighborhood---or to St. Lucy's charismatic monsignor, who has made a few enemies of his own?

Dispatched by his cardinal to investigate, Bishop "Blackie" Ryan fears that the atrocious murders are only the beginning of a campaign of terror directed at this particular church. But to solve the mystery, and to banish the evil gathering over the community, Blackie will need an unexpected assist from his own long-dead father, as well as the help of Declan O'Donnell, a savvy young cop with a touch of the second sight, and of Camilla Datilo, a radiant assistant state's attorney of Sicilian origins.

The Bishop in the Old Neighborhood is another charming and compelling page-turner by bestselling author Andrew M. Greeley.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The first half of Greeley's fifth Bishop Blackie Ryan book (after 2003's The Bishop Goes to the University) drags a bit, but the pace picks up when Blackie starts digging into the past of Father Mikal Wolodyjowski, the charismatic priest at St. Lucy's, a Chicago church where three corpses have turned up in the sanctuary. Blackie discovers that Wolodyjowski was peripherally involved with the odd deaths of six college kids 60 years earlier, a mystery that proves to be more engaging than the initial deaths at St. Lucy's. Unfortunately, the novel's other main subplot—the blossoming romance between a cop and a lawyer—borders on the far-fetched. The pace, melodrama and gravitas with which young love blooms will strike any reader under 40 as laughable. And Greeley spends too much time musing on the tensions that separate Polish, Irish and Italian Catholics from one another. Still, Blackie, with his quick wit and his fondness for Bushmill's, is his usual delightful self, and his many fans will enjoy this sojourn in the old neighborhood.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

The indefatigable Greeley never runs out of mysteries for the perspicacious Bishop Blackie Ryan to solve. As both the author and Bishop Blackie age gracefully, more and more of the puzzles seem to be rooted in an idealized version of the tight-knit Irish American neighborhoods that characterized midcentury Chicago. This time around, Blackie races against the clock to expose the psychopath who is threatening the literal and figurative contemporary resurrection and gentrification of St. Lucy's Parish by charismatic Monsignor Mikal Wolodyjowski. What connects the three mutilated bodies discovered in St. Lucy's sanctuary to six teenagers killed in a tragic automobile accident 60 years earlier? It's up to Bishop Blackie, with the able assistance of assorted Wabash Street Irregulars and his own long-dead father, to connect the dots between then and now. Of course, it wouldn't be a Greeley novel without a little romance thrown in for good measure; this one features a hopelessly idealistic South Side Irish cop and a gorgeous Sicilian district attorney. Greeley conjures up equal portions of fun and suspense with typical effortless aplomb. Margaret Flanagan
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 352 pages
• Publisher: Center Point Large Print (January 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1585476803
• ISBN-13: 978-1585476800
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 6 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,244,301 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars heavenly who-done-it, November 4, 2005

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Bishop in the Old Neighborhood: A Bishop Blackie Ryan Novel (Blackie Ryan Novels) (Hardcover)

In Chicago the residents, especially the Irish Catholics, are horrified that three naked, mutilated corpses were found in the sanctuary of St. Lucy's Church. The media turns the homicidal desecration into a circus while the police struggle with the case. Meanwhile Cardinal Sean Cronin assigns his sleuthing Bishop Blackwood "Blackie" Ryan to investigate who caused the desecration of the church and why.

Blackie begins his search for the truth by looking into the controversial parish priest Father Mikal Wolodyjowski. He soon learns that Father Mikal was involved in the strange unsolved deaths of six college students six decades ago though no direct link to him ever surfaced. Still he wonders if this is vengeance for those deaths or is someone warning the church that anything goes to prevent gentrification?

In his fifth tale, Bishop Blackie is as erasable as ever as he tries to solve homicides sixty years apart in between a Bushmill or two; most readers will find the historical murders are more intriguing than the present day killings. Father Mikal is a fascinating figure as Bishop Blackie tries to ascertain whether he was the ultimate target. Though he pontificates a bit too much on various sidebars that take away from the who-done-its, fans of the series will appreciate the latest appearance of this priestly Colombo.

Harriet Klausner

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Same formula, but same satisfactions..., March 29, 2006

By 

William E. Adams (Midland, Texas USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Bishop in the Old Neighborhood: A Bishop Blackie Ryan Novel (Blackie Ryan Novels) (Hardcover)

Andrew Greeley always uses recurring characters, and combines a modern day crime mystery with one from the past, and strongly features a subplot of two yuppie Catholics falling in love despite fears or obstacles. Somehow, us romantics and mystery fans don't mind this, especially those of us with an odd affection for the Catholic Church in spite of having left it long ago. It helps to have an affinity for the Irish and for Chicago, even if one lacks enough Irish blood to brag about and has only been at the Chicago airport. This latest entry in the "Blackie Ryan" series is one of the best, with all the virtues of his other novels and all the flaws as well. If you are already a fan, you will like this one very much. If new to Greeley, it is still a good read, but I'd prefer that you get the list of the first four Ryan mysteries and read them in order. The lives of the repeating characters will make more sense if you do, and create a richer experience. Greeley's books seldom deserve a second reading, but only rarely disappoint a first one. This is nice, quick entertainment for a windy or rainy spring day.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Should Auld Acquaintance ..., January 28, 2006

By 

TundraVision (o/~ from the Land of Sky Blue Waters o/~) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Bishop in the Old Neighborhood: A Bishop Blackie Ryan Novel (Blackie Ryan Novels) (Hardcover)

Father Andrew Greeley's Bishop John Blackwood ("Blackie") Ryan is off to boss Sean Cardinal Cronin's old neighborhood to solve 3 "locked church" murder mysteries whilst the Cardinal is off to Rome to "see to it" that Blackie will never have to venture forth into the vast wilderness West of Chicagoland ever ever at all at all.

`Tis a grand reunion for Father Greeley's readers with the combined casts of the "Blackie" and Nuala Ann mysteries and intermixed stories. Added to this Irish-American Catholic mix are a Polish prince priest, a Sicilian-American Catholic Assistant Cook County State's Attorney, and the inscrutible Charlie Chan-ish "Dragon Lady," who almost grates into fatal-for-the-book-for-this-reader CindaSue* bad stereotype, but is saved by the "I'm only kidding" clause.

In all, `tis another grand reunion with old friends and an introduction to new. /TundraVision, Amazon Reviewer

* Beware! She's back. In all her bad Hillbilly backwoods *Deliverance* un-glory in "Irish Crystal." :-(