The Letter Killeth [Large Print] [Hardcover]

Ralph M. McInerny (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 2007

Once the college football season draws to a close for the Fighting Irish, there is little reason to ride out the winter in South Bend, Indiana. Those who can leave do, but P.I. Philip Knight stays on at Notre Dame when the university asks him to discreetly investigate a rash of threatening letters that have been sent to a number of administrators, including the new football coach, who resurrected the team in a single year.

 

While conspiracy theories are as prevalent as the cold, Philip and his brother Roger think the letters are probably a prank or possibly a student paper's attempt at yellow journalism but nothing more. Then a controversial professor's car is set on fire, a man is found dead on campus, and the Knight brothers find themselves hot on the trail of a killer in Ralph McInerny's tenth mystery set at Notre Dame.

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

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In McInerny's rambling 10th mystery set at the University of Notre Dame (after 2004's Green Thumb), the football coach, an English professor, the provost and the dean of arts and letters all receive alarming bomb threat letters. The university administration doesn't want publicity, so they call upon PI Phil Knight and his brother, Roger, a Catholic studies professor and former detective. Alumni politicking, student muckraking and faculty bickering escalate from a wastebasket set aflame to the firebombing of a professor's car before the tumult culminates in a murder. The Knights put their formidable intellects to the case, with triumphant results that should satisfy series fans.
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

One wouldn't think Notre Dame's placid campus would be a hotbed of murder, mayhem, and even terrorism, but it has been, at least since McInerny debuted his latest series starring the Knight brothers. Phillip Knight is a private investigator, and his brother, Roger, is a Catholic studies professor. This time threatening notes have been delivered around campus, even to the new football coach. The Knight brothers identify a suspect, but when the first explosion rocks the campus, their man is in custody, an ironclad alibi. McInerny's tenth Notre Dame mystery is a typically rewarding and heady mix of mayhem, sly humor, and campus politics. Wes Lukowsky
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 303 pages
• Publisher: Thorndike Press (April 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786293934
• ISBN-13: 978-0786293933
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,344,606 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars exciting academia mystery, December 16, 2006

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Letter Killeth (Notre Dame Mysteries) (Hardcover)

Notre Dame has to change with the times or it will never survive in the cutthroat competitive world of academia. Students, teachers and workers don't like the direction the school is taking, more secular and less religious oriented. Professor Raul Izquierdo is an atheist who talks to his classes about his beliefs which upsets the pious Catholics who believe that what he is doing is wrong.

Henry, a security officer is a brilliant man whose whole life was geared to going to Notre Dame but despite high grades and SAT scores he was rejected. Professor Wack who has an office next door to Raul despises the atheist and in a fit of ire sets fire to his trash can. Threatening letters are sent to the Provost, the Dean of Arts and Letters, the football coach and Professor Wack. The school is concerned so they hire private investigator Phillip Knight and his brother, a Catholic Studies professor, who also is a private investigator to investigate. While they inquire about the letters, Raul's car is blown up and he is later found by a professor in his office strangled to death. There are many suspects but Roger perseveres because he thinks the police have arrested the wrong man.

Fans of academia mysteries will enjoy THE LETTER KILLETH that gives a writer's view of Notre Dame and the political in-fighting that goes on in academia. This is a well thought out mystery with three suspects who all have good motives to want to see the victim dead making the cast of secondary characters most interesting. Roger, an extraordinarily obese man, is comfortable with himself as a brilliant private detective with a mind that never rests until he sacks the criminal.

Harriet Klausner