Irish Tenure: A Mystery Set at the University of Notre Dame [Hardcover]

Ralph M. McInerny (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1999

In the University of Notre Dame's philosophy department two young scholars, Amanda Pick and Hans Wiener, are competing for the same tenure position. Sleuth Roger Knight is a friend to both, and as he painfully witnesses the fierce competition unfold, he also becomes keenly aware of the many secrets that both professors have to hide. While Amanda is a beloved teacher who incorporates a passionate and liberal approach to her students' learning, Hans follows a more conservative route, and has a family to support. Through their designs, both earn the ire of their many colleagues, until Amanda Pick crosses the wrong path and ends up dead.

At the same time, speculations are building about the true origins of an unknown manuscript by G. K. Chesterton, who spent time on the Notre Dame campus. How is the awkward researcher of these papers tied into Amanda's death? And how did Notre Dame's foremost Chesterton scholar, Sean Pottery, fall madly in love with the young ill-fated professor?

Displaying Ralph McInerny's trademark wit and intelligence, Irish Tenure is another clever romp through the hallowed halls of academia, and once again demonstrates why McInerny is considered a master of the mystery form.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In his third mystery set at the venerable University of Notre Dame (following Lack of the Irish), McInerny, author of the Father Dowling series, spins a tale of academic mayhem around the issue of tenure. Two young philosophy professors, Amanda Pick and Hans Wiener, are vying for the single tenured spot open in their department. Wiener, affectionately called "Hot Dog" by students, has impressive credentials in his chosen area of research, while Pick has been dabbling with popular literature, in the form of G.K. Chesterton. Which of the two will the committee choose? Pick has become the object of obsession of a Chesterton expert on the English faculty, Prof. Sean Pottery. So when her body is found in a lake on campus, Pottery seems like a good suspect. But also on hand is rare book dealer Noah Beispiel, who's been hunting through the Notre Dame archives for an unpublished Father Brown story penned by Chesterton when he was a visiting lecturer at the university decades before. A second murder clouds the issue momentarily, but sleuth Roger Knight, a mountain of a man who holds a chair in Catholic Studies at Notre Dame, uncovers the truth. There is no suspense in the tale, since the identity of the murderer and the motive for the crimes are all but transparent, but McInerny does score points for the acerbic wit often present in his portrayal of academic life. (Dec.)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Kirkus Reviews

Sean Pottery, a veteran teacher at Notre Dame and an acknowledged expert on the works of G.K. Chesterton, is infatuated with philosophy professor Amanda Pick, whos competing for tenure against family man Hans Weiner. Amanda shares her house with Laura Flynn, who encourages her to report Pottery's unsought, amorous, drunken visits. Meanwhile, rare-book dealer Noah Beispiel has donated to the university the collection of alumnus Henry Horan, which includes an unknown Father Brown story written during a Chesterton visit decades before. To Beispiel's dismay, Amanda discovers the story while going through the archives and hopes it will enhance her case for tenure. No such luck, though; soon after, shes the one whos found when her body is discovered in a campus lakeher death soon followed by that of housemate Laura. It takes the combined efforts of professor/sleuth Roger Knight (Lack of the Irish, 1998, etc.) and his p.i. brother Phil to prevent the arrest of an obvious suspect and canter to a tepid, perfunctory windup that will reveal the true killer. Barely comprehensible plotting and pages of high-flown vaporings on tangential subjects make Rogers third case a self-indulgent monument to his intellectual prowess. If he didnt already have tenure, he wouldnt earn it through publications like this one. -- Copyright ©1999, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 246 pages
• Publisher: Minotaur Books; 1st edition (November 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312203454
• ISBN-13: 978-0312203450
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.7 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,369,752 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Predictable, but still a fun read, July 30, 2001

By 

Tim Drake "Author and Journalist" (Saint Joseph, Minnesota) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Irish Tenure: A Mystery set at the University of Notre Dame (St. Martin's Minotaur Mysteries) (Paperback)

Combine Notre Dame's Knight brothers, an arrogant senior faculty member, a rare book dealer, a spurned husband, an undiscovered G.K. Chesterton "Father Brown" story, several priests, and the dead body of a young faculty member up for tenure and you have the ingredients for McInerny's entertaining mystery.

At times the book is a bit hard to follow. Set exclusively at the University of Notre Dame, the book is so detailed in this regard that anyone unfamiliar with the campus may feel like an outsider reading the book. The book is formulaic, a bit predictable, and McInerny has the habit of assuming that his readers are schooled in foreign languages as he frequently tosses in Latin and French expressions that the lay reader may find frustrating.

However,the book offers an insightful and witty look at tenure and the politics of a university campus, and takes some shots at the "political correctness" found on campuses. The author of more than 20 books, including the Father Dowling mysteries, McInerny does know how to tell a tale.

Those familiar with the University of Notre Dame, fans of McInerney's mysteries, or fans of G.K. Chesterton will find this mystery particularly enjoyable.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars For Chesterton Fans, December 5, 2000

By A Customer

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This review is from: Irish Tenure: A Mystery set at the University of Notre Dame (St. Martin's Minotaur Mysteries) (Paperback)

Ralph McInerny, best known for his Father Dowling mysteries, has here produced not so much a mystery story but rather a slice of life from the campus of Notre Dame, which he knows so well. Anyone expecting a clear-cut mystery story where someone turns up dead at the start, with the rest of the book devoted to a singleminded pursuit of the culprit, will be sorely disappointed and should look elsewhere. The murder happens very late in the book and the murderer is pretty obvious.

IRISH TENURE is more like Malcolm Bradbury than Agatha Christie. McInerny shows the dark side of academic life (even at so august an institution an Notre Dame): the catfight for tenure. The structure is loose and seems at first rambling and discursive, but McInerny winds it all together eventually. Until then, he gives subtle character studies of the sorts of people who drift into academia: those intelligent enough to be professors but somehow haven't managed into the tenure track; those who are tenured and probably shouldn't be; those who need and or deserve to be tenured; the evil necessity to publish or perish . . .

He also takes long overdue pot-shots, sometimes poignant and sometimes hilarious, at political correctness, especially regarding draconian modern ideas of sexual harrassment.

The plot, such as it is, is centered on the discovery of every Chestertonian's dream, a long-lost Father Brown story. IRISH TENURE will prove a joy for fans of G.K. Chesterton, for most of the main characters live and breathe his works. For the uninitiated, therefore, the book will doubtlessly prove confusing. Chesterton enthusiasts will find piquant prose, and enjoy spending time with like-minded characters who have found that Chesterton adds zest to life.

The main disappointment is that there is no genuine long-lost story appended to the end of the tale; but that's just as well, for McInerny's work would've suffered in the comparison. And we can be thankful that McInerny didn't attempt a pastiche.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A treat for Chesterton fans, April 5, 2000

By 

Sheila L. Beaumont (South Pasadena, CA USA) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Irish Tenure: A Mystery Set at the University of Notre Dame (Hardcover)

Fans of G.K. Chesterton will enjoy this witty and entertaining mystery. It centers around the discovery at Notre Dame of an unpublished Father Brown story. The book is full of references to GKC, and the professor-detective Roger Knight is an unusual and likable character. The first two books in this series are also worth reading.