Customer Reviews

On This Rockne: A Notre Dame Mystery (Notre Dame Mysteries)

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I liked this book much better than the other reviewers did ... except for the fact that McInerny doesn't seem to want Notre Dame to win a football game! (I've read all of them in this series I can find, and the author features a game in each one ... and they're always ties! Forget that, and win one for the Gipper!) I found the "literary detection," however, more fascinating than the murder mystery -- so much so that I searched out Knute Rockne's only novel, THE FOUR WINNERS, which, much to my surprise, has recently been republished. It's better than this book makes it sound, and is a genuinely good "young adult" type story, given the overall sophistication of a mid-1920s audience. Nevertheless, I've spent some time in academic environments, and McInerny captures the sort of thing that goes on with a high degree of accuracy. I like the Knight brothers, although a little more effective action, both in their lives and on the football field would, I think, improve the books.

I must commend McInerny for putting himself at risk by attempting to intermingle a modern fictional work with the time-honored tradition that is Notre Dame. As an alum, myself, it was amusing to read about my old stomping grounds, but I found the references to the Notre Dame campus, buildings, tradition and environs to be distracting at times. McInerny seems to be forcing discussion of Notre Dame history through his characters, incorporating wording and phraseology that few would use in daily conversation. The plot seemed rushed, and I believe that those who have never seen the beauty of the campus would be hard pressed to understand where and why certain actions take place. Notre Dame tradition is deeply rooted and anyone writing about it can be assured to receive criticism or praise from fans and alumni alike. McInerny's brave attempt at bringing this tradition into a fictitional realm is only mediocre, and I hope that in future books of this series, his results are more entertaining and intriguin

"On This Rockne" is the first of the Notre Dame mysteries by Ralph McInerny who is best known for the Father Dowling mysteries. The main characters are the Knight brothers, Philip and Roger. Philip is a private investigator who has moved to South Bend from New York. Roger is a professor at Notre Dame. Marcus Bramble donated money to the school to build a memorial to legendary coach Knute Rockne. Madeline Rune, whose grandfather had helped Rockne write his novel "The Four Winners", is found murdered at her home. Philip and Roger team up to investigate. Who killed Madeline? Was it her estranged husband Stanley, Henry Hadley, a man obsessed with her, or someone else who had a grudge against her? It is Roger who actually solves the case. It was interesting to find out that Rockne did write this one novel. There is some football action for the college football fans. It took me a little while to get into the book, but when I did I really enjoyed it. It is a very good debut to this series and I recommend it.

As a big fan of the Father Dowling series, I was very disappointed in this first book of a new series. For me, the story was dull. I didn't care who committed the murder, and I cared less about Phil and Roger who were investigating. I couldn't recommend this novel.

This is the introductory novel in a cozy series set at Notre Dame featuring brothers Philip and Roger Knight. Philip is a private detective, Roger is scholarly, obese brother who has just accepted a faculty position at Notre Dame. The first dead body to appear is a member of the college Trustee board, and had been Philip's dinner companion the night before. As the brothers tried to find out the truth behind the murder other questions began to pop up, some dating back to the glory days of Knute Rockne himself.

The author of this series, Ralph McInerny is better known for his Father Dowling series which would lead a reader to expect a somewhat challenging, well written cozy. Sadly this story does not live up to those expectations. Part of the problem is that as the first novel in a new series it has the burden of introducing the main characters, establishing the setting and generally supplying the overall series mythology as well as relating and solving the crime specific to this book. All first novels of a series face these issues and most still manage to tell an interesting story in an entertaining manner. This one falls a bit short in meeting the challenge. The main characters are all introduced and a bit of their backstories are supplied but the mystery aspect of this book is a disappointment. It is quite obvious who committed the crimes, the red herring would not mislead any both the most naive of mystery readers. The setting and recurring characters hold promise, there is potential here for some good stories but the overall quality of the writing will have to improve to keep this reader's interest.

A good yarn, good plot, some interesting characters, but so badly written that I wonder if the author bothered to go back over what appears to be a first draft. Has he ever heard of a transition? Where were his editors? It did though drive to Amazon to look for an up-to-date Rockne bio (one due out this month) and found to my amazement a listing for a novel written by Rockne that figures in this murder mystery.