Customer Reviews

No Greater Love (Father Koesler Mystery)

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Contrary to most reviewers, I found Kienzle's departure from his standard format quite a refreshing change. The Prologue definitely got my attention, and I kept wondering "what's going to happen with this?" As a Baptist seminary student, I found Kienzle's insights into and explanations of Catholic theology personally helpful in understanding that faith and the politics within it. I wouldn't recommend this book to those looking for the standard mystery novel, but I truly enjoyed it.

I don't know what this book is, but it is not a mystery. It starts with a prologue that finds Father Koesler regarding a coffin with an unknown to the audience corpse. Father Koesler is lamenting that the death did not need to happen.

What follows is a treatise on pre- and post-Vatican II politics, Catholic history, etc. The merger of mystery and theology in Kienzle's previous books is what made them interesting to me. Here, there is no merger. There's no mystery, really. No action, and no puzzle to work out while you slog through it all.

I've enjoyed most of the other books in this series, so this was a big disappointment to me.

I used to enjoy the Father Koesler mysteries: I used to look forward to each new offering, and often read them more than once. I remember discussing the insights with a devout Catholic friend, and the suspense with another friend, an addicted mystery novel reader. But with "No Greater Love", I am hesitant about passing the book on to the folks with whom I share books, in fear that they may think I am encouraging them to spend their time reading it. I certainly am not! This is a boring book. The "mystery" structure is a gimmick--four pages of prologue which are supposed to set the scene and carry the suspense throughout an otherwise dull novel. The philosophical examination is outdated as well: the role of women in the church, priestly politics, the aftermath of Vatican II. Somehow it all seems cloistered and out of touch with the real world--an outdated ideology populated with allegorical characters who represent concepts, not people. Four pages of italicized prologue can't save 285 pages of boredom.

this is a panegyric to liberal catholicism wrapped inside a supposed mystery novel. rather than playing means, opportunity and motive, we have a rehash of the culture wars within the us catholic church since the mid-1960's. the white hats are the liberals, the guys in black (not all priests) are the more orthodox folks.

while an interesting tour if you are a liberal catholic, a tremendous disappointment if you were expecting a mystery novel.

This novel is the first William X. Kienzle book I have read in about 7 years and I could wait another 7 years if future books will be like this one. The beginning is very well written and gets you prepared for a wonderful story, but then the body of the novel slows to a crawl with more talk of Church teaching than actual mystery. This book started promising then went down hill, even the ending was a little boring. The earlier books are much better.