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5.0 out of 5 stars
"That boy has probably never been held close.", August 18, 2009
A former lawyer truned Benedictine monk, author Nugent has constructed a mystery of gothic proportions, both for the idiosyncracy of place as the revelation of the depths of aberrant human nature. St. Isidore's School for Boys is housed in a castle in Ireland, a private residence turned private academy. Given its imposing appearance, the school is the perfect place for the training of curious and imaginative young minds. When a group of dorm mates takes off in the middle of the night for an impromptu barbecue- a school tradition of sorts- their stealthy return is interrupted by the discovery of the housemaster's blood-soaked body in the tower dorm. Ghost stories and myths are the stuff of boyhood, but the gruesome murder of Maurice Tyson terrifies the boys. Soon after the beginning of the investigation, one of the young revelers, a French student, Bertram Laporte, is spirited back to his parents.
Soon on the scene are Superintendent Denis Lennon and Sergeant Molly Power, who interview the school's headmaster, the other housemasters and the frightened boys. Given the state of the world, terrorism is on the list of possible motives, perhaps a kidnapping gone terribly awry, Mr. Tyson a victim of circumstances. Lennon is more inclined toward judiciousness, looking closer to home for the suspect, choosing from a cast of characters that ranges from obstreperous youth to eccentric teacher. It is at this point that Nugent plunges from quirky mystery to the uncharted waters of human depravity and the dark night of the soul. The foolishness of youthful enthusiasm pales in the light of reality, the secrets behind the closed doors of St. Isidore's, especially when Bertram is kidnapped and another man is murdered in the same fashion as Tyson.
Nugent captures the spirit of the irrepressible boys, alluding to troublesome family skeletons and the truly questionable behavior of the adults in charge of the boys at the school. Shifting between St. Isidore's, Lennon's investigation and Bertram's imprisonment by three brutal strangers, the author creates a scenario where anything is possible, even the most heinous of clandestine activities. The joys of childhood are short-lived, as evidenced by the sudden brutality that visits academia at St. Isidore's, reality perched to intrude on that charmed time. "Soul Murder" is as devastating as its title, moving inexorably towards a resolution as shocking as the rest of the activities at the academy. Yet for all the menace, Nugent's own ebullient nature is evident, consistent in the face of ugly truths, conscientious in honoring the innocence of youth despites life's inequities. Luan Gaines/2009.
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4.0 out of 5 stars
Soul murder, February 2, 2010
SOUL MURDER is the third mystery featuring Superintendent Denis Lennon and Sergeant Molly Power of the Irish Police Force. Saint Isidore's School is a top level boy's boarding school that attracts boys from countries beyond the Irish Republic. Like all schools of its kind, it is seeped in tradition and one of the most enduring, and least sensible, is the midnight barbecue. The boys from the middle school steal, beg, borrow, and buy all they need for this feast in the woods. Since it is planned by young boys not even in their teenage years, the planning is often less than complete but the real purpose and joy of the barbecue is to put something over on their housemaster. "This particular barbecue was long on random shots but sadly short on intelligent design." There were sausages but nothing to cook them in,...a wine bottle but no corkscrew. It was cold and, after convincing themselves that their gathering qualified as a traditional barbecue that honored the tradition, they quietly returned to their dormitory. The next challenge was to make it to their beds without attracting the attention of the headmaster. As the boys crept along the corridor leading to their rooms, they saw the figure of a man coming from Tyson's quarters. "The boys flattened themselves against the wall and suspended breathing." To their amazement, the figure goes by. Was it Tyson or was it someone else? The boys are divided but they continue to their rooms "as noiselessly as a pride of kittens." Within minutes there is proof that the figure was not that of Maurice Tyson. He is on the floor, his throat cut. This is the first of the crimes that will lead to a kidnapping, another murder, and a horrifying darkness that is unexpected and, therefore, more chilling. In the prologue, Andrew Nugent, the priest,writes: "What... I believe true, is that life is a slow-release miracle. accordingly, there will always be people in my novels - and especially young people - who, faced with the challenges and even the tragedies of life, grow, develop and deepen. There is another more sombre truth; in the case of some people, for the miracle to happen,it can also mean to be broken open." Andrew Nugent is a former lawyer who is now a Benedictine monk. His writing is a joy to read. "St. Isidore's School had recruited its fair share of weirdos over the years, in the ranks both of its student body and of its staff. Some of these...were even now, guests of the nation in various custodial institutions or homes for the bewildered." As a former headmaster of a boys' school, Nugent knows how shallow is the sophistication of those just leaving childhood. The conversation among the boys in the first chapter is laugh-out-loud material.
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4.0 out of 5 stars
exciting Irish police procedural, August 22, 2009
In North Kerry, Ireland the students of St. Isidore's boys boarding school sneak out of the dorm late at night for an impromptu midnight barbecue. Following their midnight soiree, the seven pupils sneak back into their tower only to be met by housemaster Maurice Tyson lying in a bloody mess with his throat cut.
The Garda Síochána send Dublin based sexagenarian Superintendent Denis Lennon and youthful Sergeant Molly Power to lead the investigation into the gruesome homicide. Fisher, the headmaster of St. Isidore's, insists Tyson was the victim of kidnappers trying to abduct French student Bertrand Laporte, the son of a wealthy family. The two cops believe that suggestion is ridiculous until Bertrand is kidnapped when he returns to France, but Inspector Quilligan (and the Surete) rescue the lad. However, the police look at a different motive; that of a former student accusing Tyson of abuse.
The third Lennon-Powers Irish police procedural (see SECOND BURIAL FOR A BLACK PRINCE and THE FOUR COURTS MURDER) is an exciting boarding school whodunit. The insight into the goings on including pranks at a boy's school seems real while the official investigation is well done and entertaining. Although the final solution appears weak especially by the standard of excellence for this series, fans will appreciate Andrew Nugent's thrilling murder investigation.
Harriet Klausner
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