Rosary Murders [Large Print] [Paperback]

William X. Kienzle (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1988

Priests and nuns are his targets. A plain black rosary entwined between the fingers of each victim is his calling card. The police don't have a clue, but Father Koesler sees a pattern -- a consuming religious obsession that can drive one man to serial murder. And to an unexpected and terrifying encounter inside the Father's own confessional.

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

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

Father William Koesler, a Roman Catholic priest and editor of the Detroit Catholic, is the amateur detective of this series. The crimes he solves are an interesting tangle involving religion and ethics, much like Harry Kemelman's Rabbi series, but the Father Koesler mysteries are remarkable especially for the insights they offer into the lives of priests and nuns -- and for the fly-on-the-wall perspective on what priests actually talk about around the dinner table in the parish rectory. Is it true to life? Most likely it is; Kienzle spent two decades as a parish priest and, like his protagonist, edited a Catholic newspaper before he left the priesthood.

--Margaret Sanborn, Senior Publicity Copywriter --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From the Inside Flap

Priests and nuns are his targets. A plain black rosary entwined between the fingers of each victim is his calling card. The police don't have a clue, but Father Koesler sees a pattern -- a consuming religious obsession that can drive one man to serial murder. And to an unexpected and terrifying encounter inside the Father's own confessional. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Thorndike Pr (October 1988)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 089621205X
• ISBN-13: 978-0896212053
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.8 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #798,099 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Catholic Whodunit, October 2, 2002

By 

Wendy Kaplan (Houston) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Rosary Murders (Mass Market Paperback)

First published in 1989, this was the first of William X. Kienzle's popular Father Koesler series. I found it a bit dated in parts, and a bit shocking in others, but on the whole, it's a good mystery, fun and easy to read.

Father Frank Koesler is the editor of the Detroit Catholic, a modest but well-read periodical aimed at Detroit's large Catholic community. Koesler is a good priest and a good man, but realistic about the state of his church in the post-Vatican II era. Like priests nationwide, he and his fellow Detroit priests note with wry despair the dwindling church attendance in their respective parishes.

Suddenly, everything changes. An apparent serial killer is targeting priests and nuns, murdering them with professional and cold-blooded efficiency. There seems to be no rhyme or reason to the killings, and the police are helpless to stop him. Detective Sergeant Koznicki, himself raised in a rigidly conventional Catholic household, is put in charge of the task force assigned to find and stop the killer. As part of his methodical and excellent police work, he asks Father Koesler, a devotee of paperback murder mysteries, to add his own clerical expertise to the problem at hand.

As interesting as the mystery is the behind-the-scenes interplay between the community of priests, who are not above a game of poker, a stiff drink, and heavy smoking when off-duty. As a non-Catholic, I found some of this private look into clerical life a bit disturbing, but interesting, nonetheless. Of special interest was the priests' ongoing and friendly debate on the havoc Vatican II wreaked upon their church, and the endless, corny, and often risque jokes of Father Joe Farmer, who cracks himself up every time upon reaching the punchline, leaving his friends annoyed and bemused.

A subplot involving two young reporters at the Detroit Free Press adds real humor to this tale of a tortured murderer and his crazed and deadly mission. A good read, good enough to make the reader want to pick up another Father Koesler mystery.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Rosary Murders, April 6, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Rosary Murders (Mass Market Paperback)

One of the finest whodunits I've ever read, and by far the best of the Father Koesler books. This one is hard to put down after the reader opens the front cover. The action never stops, and drags the very reluctant Fr. Koesler right along with it.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great "who done it" and "who's next?" !, May 31, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Rosary Murders (Mass Market Paperback)

This Father Koestler murder is a great read! Not only does the mystery itself keep you hopping, the anecdotes about the church and its very human population provide an interesting backdrop for the action that all of Kienzle's books share. I strongly recommend it (but don't be too disappointed if you don't figure out the puzzle ahead of the famous father)!!