Harlot's Moon [Hardcover]

Edward Gorman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1998

Cedar Rapids, Iowa. A Catholic priest has been found half-naked and dead in a seedy motel room, with his tongue cut out. Ex-FBI profiler Robert Payne has been called in to investigate by his childhood friend Steve Gray, now a monsignor. With a fund-raising drive coming up, Steve wants to squelch a scandal. But all the signs point to unholy doings in the tightly knit parish.

Why did the pugnacious president of the Parish Board remove a gold earring from the scene of the crime? Was his beautiful blonde wife doing more than confessing to the profligate priest? And why was the dead priest hoarding newspaper stories about two other brutal murders? As Payne examines the evidence and pieces together the profile of a subtle and devious killer, it's clear that there will be hell to pay--with no end in sight...

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

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

St. Mallory's Catholic church connects a series of murders in this gripping mystery featuring former FBI psychological profiler Robert Payne (last seen in Hawk Moon, 1996). Now working as an investigator for a law firm in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Payne is asked by an old school friend, Monsignor Steven Gray, to look into the murder of Father Daly, a fellow parish priest at St. Mallory's. Father Daly, a counselor known to have had affairs with many of his female clients, was found in a cheap motel with his tongue cut out. Suspicion centers on Ellie Wilson, wife of the parish board president, whose earring was found in Father Daly's motel room. Once Payne finds newspaper clippings in Father Daly's belongings about murders of St. Mallory's parishioners (a prostitute whose eyes had been cut out and a pedophile whose ear had been cut off), he works up a psychological profile of the killer that leads him to someone at St. Mallory's. Payne belongs to the hard-boiled detective school, but Gorman gives him an appealing softer side by detailing his loving relationship with live-in girlfriend Felice, by showing his attention to a young girl with cerebral palsy and by examining his ambivalent feelings for his dying stepfather. The prolific Gorman delivers another smooth page-turner with top-notch mystery production values.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Psychological profiler Robert Payne searches for connections between a priest murdered following a late-night assignation and two similar murders. Slick prose and an entertaining plot.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 246 pages
• Publisher: St Martins Pr (March 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312181086
• ISBN-13: 978-0312181086
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.8 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #8,395,016 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Ed Gorman is an award winning American author best known for his crime and mystery fiction. He wrote The Poker Club which is now a film of the same name directed by Tim McCann.

He has written under many pseudonyms including "E. J. Gorman" and "Daniel Ransom." He won a Spur Award for Best Short Fiction for his short story "The Face" in 1992. His fiction collection Cages was nominated for the 1995 Bram Stoker Award for Best Fiction Collection. His collection The Dark Fantastic was nominated for the same award in 2001.

He has contributed to many magazines and other publications including Xero, Black Lizard, Cemetery Dance, the anthology Tales of Zorro, and many more.

Visit his blog at newimprovedgorman.blogspot.com

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The best that mystery has to offer, April 15, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Harlot's Moon (Hardcover)

Monsignor Steven Gray asks his old childhood friend, former FBI psychological profiler, Robert Payne to investigate the murder of Father Daly. Robert, who now works as an investigator for a Cedar Rapids, Iowa law firm, does not want to get involved with what looks to him like an internal church affair. However, for old time sakes, he agrees to look into this and a similar grisly murder of a priest.

Among Daly's possessions are a series of articles about the brutal killings of members of St. Mallory Church. From these clippings and other information, Robert develops a profile on a vicious serial killer. As he gets closer to identifying the culprit, Robert knows he must pick up the pace before another parishioner becomes the next brutalized victim.

HARLOT'S MOON, the latest Robert Payne novel (see HAWK MOON and BLOOD MOON), is a tremendous hard-boiled detective story, starring a great protagonist. When it comes to crime, Robert is as tough as they get, but Ed Gorman makes his star profiler seem human because he provides him with compassionate traits too. Throw in a well-designed fast-paced story line and a strong support cast that constantly move the plot forward and the audience has a top rate psychological who-done-it.

Harriet Klausner

5.0 out of 5 stars Original crime investigator solves a clever murder plot, May 14, 2007

By 

Ed Lynskey, "author of ASK THE DICE and THE Z... (Washington, D.C.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Harlot's Moon (Mass Market Paperback)

Ex-FBI profiler and crime investigator consultant Robert Payne is asked by his friend Monsignor Steve Gray to "sniff around" in the sordid murder of a parish priest at a skeevy local motel. The twisty plot suggests several possible suspects. The suburban/rural Cedar Rapids, Iowa, setting gives the story a vivid Midwest placement. Robert's personal life also hits turbulence when his step-father Vic shows up on his doorstep. Vic, a Good Time Charlies in the old days, is dying of lung cancer, and Robert has to swallow his dislike and care for the elderly Vic. Robert's sweet and wise girlfriend Felice convinces Robert to do the right thing (as all significant others do) by Vic. A profile of each murder victim is given to add depth to the mystery. Ed Gorman's elegant, lean prose style is always a treat to read as well. This solid entry in the series hits its stride.

4.0 out of 5 stars Not as powerful as other novels that use the same plot device, April 23, 2007

By 

Charles Ashbacher (Marion, Iowa United States) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Harlot's Moon (Hardcover)

As I lifelong resident of the Cedar Rapids area, I found the locale of the story attractive. However, as I was reading it, I found many aspects of the plot stale. However, much of that was due to my having read other books published after this one where the basic plot was the same. To be specific, it involves Catholic priests whose piety is lacking and whose actions are definitely not going to get them into paradise after their demise.

It begins with the death of a Catholic priest in a shady motel, he was murdered and his body mutilated after the fact. Robert Payne receives a call from his old friend Steve Gray, now a Catholic priest and at the time of the call, in the room with the body. Robert comes to aid him and then is hired to privately investigate the murder. He does so and finds many different suspects, a trail of infidelity, lies and other nasty deeds.

As the investigation continues, Robert discovers a series of murders where the body was mutilated after death. As the story unfolds, there are sidebars of explanation about the victims. None of them are particularly attractive people, all are criminals of one form of another, and for each there is a list of possible suspects.

The climactic conclusion is not particularly strong, it comes and goes quickly and it was obvious to me when it began how it was going to end. I liked the story and Gorman deserves credit for being more original in his plot than others who have followed and used the same plot device. I recently read and reviewed, "God's Spy" by Juan Gomez-Jurado and published in 2007. Gomez-Jurado uses the same basic plot device of the bad Catholic priest(s) and the action there was much stronger. Therefore, the lower ranking here is largely due to the comparison to "God's Spy."