Clerical Errors [Paperback]

D. M. Greenwood (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 2009

"The screaming was coming from the St Manicus chapel...with measured and reluctant haste Julia turned in its direction as she came around the corner, she saw a fat middle-aged woman holding on to the edge of the font at the back of the chapel. Julia Smiths first day of work in the diocesan office of St Manicus did not unfold as she might have hoped. Confused by the ecclesiastical intrigue of the Dean and Chapter, the shocked Julia is taken under the wing of the young deaconess, Theodora Braithwaite."

Julia Smiths first day of work in the diocesan office of St Manicus did not unfold as she might have hoped. Confused by the ecclesiastical intrigue of the Dean and Chapter, the shocked Julia is taken under the wing of the young deaconess, Theodora Braithwaite.

--This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Kirkus Reviews

A debut novel set in a Church of England diocese centered on Medewich Cathedral and its adjacent living-and-working quarters for bishop, deacon, archdeacon, and their functionaries. Into this tightly knit, semicloistered world enters Julia Smith--far from her Australian home, fresh from Cambridge and a broken romance--seeking her first job as typist in the office of power-hungry Canon Charles Wheeler. She's hired--and is second on the scene when cleaning woman Mrs. Thrigg finds the severed head of Pastor Paul Gray in the chapel. Deaconess Theodora Braithewaite and the Canon's assistant, Ian Caretaker, do their best to guide Julia through the intricacies of church politics while the police, mostly in the person of thickheaded Inspector Tallboys, flounder through a mess of motives and timetables. A second murder, drugs, black magic, embezzlement, and some strange personalities surface before the not-totally- convincing culprit emerges. The plot is overcomplicated and overpopulated, but Greenwood has a fresh, clever, and civilized style. Her further work is anticipated with pleasure and interest. -- Copyright ©1991, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 176 pages
• Publisher: Ostara Publishing (January 1, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1906288097
• ISBN-13: 978-1906288099
• Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 8.5 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,716,074 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Good Start, March 30, 2002

By 

John T. Farrell (Brooklyn, New York) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Clerical Errors (Hardcover)

I stumbled onto "Clerical Errors" in a secondhand book shop and was delighted. D. M. Greenwood is a novelist who writes well, understands the Anglican Church, and has a well-honed sense of evil. She also has created a winner in her low-key detective, Deacon Theodora Braithwaite, who serves in the fictional Diocese of Medewich. These attributes all have the makings of an outstanding mystery series. Alas, Ms. Greenwood also suffers from some of the negative characteristics of a first novelist -- namely an over-complicated plot, scant motivation for her amateur detectives to go it alone, and a not-quite-believable resolution. I still rate the book highly, though, and will be on the lookout for the two other novels in this series begun in the early 1990s. I'm sorry Greenwood didn't continue her efforts after the third. If nothing more, I'd like to know if Theodora was ever ordained to the priesthood, since at the time this novel was written, women couldn't advance beyond the diaconate in the Church of England.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Interesting Look at the Anglican Church, March 2, 2005

By 

Sires "I enjoy mysteries, historical and proc... (Chesapeake, OH, United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Clerical Errors (Hardcover)

I may be taken with this book due to the fact that I was reared in an area where you are more likely to have a poisonous snake waved at you in a religious ceremony than a censer. Most of my experience of the Anglican religion has been fictional hard riding 18th-19th century clerics or fictional vague parsons with bodies in their libraries. Fictional Anglican politics as set forth by Greenwood is an entertaining surprise. Oh, yeah, and there is a murder also.

The characters are good. The writing is a pleasure to read. I'm not sure that this is the first in this series. There is another book, Unholy Ghosts, that might be the first volume. However, I am looking forward to reading more about the Deaconess Braithwaite and the Church she serves.