Customer Reviews

Unholy Dying

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One of the best things about the consistently good Robert Barnard is his ability to delve into unlikely venues as the settings for his mysteries. In this case, he juxtaposes a Roman Catholic parish in the north of England with the world of small-time tabloid journalism. Barnard peoples his parish of St. Catherine's with a variety of eccentric and believable characters and adds a masterly repugnant villain -- reporter Cosmo Horrocks -- to stir up a pot of parochial passions and hidden crimes.

Some of the more memorable characters in "Unholy Dying" are the beleaguered and persecuted Fr. Pardoe, the primly observant Miss Preece-Dembleby, the malevolent Doris Crabtree, and the frighteningly dysfunctional Norris family. My only quibble with the novel is that some of these characters are so finely drawn that I regretted not learning more about them after they made their all-too-brief appearances.

The book has two scenes that are Barnard at his absolute best. The first is the interview between Superintendent Mike Oddie and the Bishop of Leeds. This passage is must reading for anyone who has ever suffered from the arrogance of power and longs to see what happens when it's deflated and derailed. The other scene is the climax of the novel. Although I could see where the investigation of Horrocks' murder was leading, Barnard's terrifying and shocking conclusion caught me unprepared and left me riveted.

A catholic priest in a North of England parish is wrongly suspected of sexual and financial malfeasance. The muck-raking journalist covering and fomenting the scandal is murdered. The Yorkshire scene with 21st century ways battling traditional mores is well done. It's skillfully plotted and the pages keep turning. I thought Cosmo Horrocks was too villainous to be true, and the hypocritical bishop and malevolent village gossip were drawn too simply. Considered as a classical whodunnit (not that there's such a thing any more) it lacked early clues. A nice cast of plausibly motivated suspects is built up but the solution comes from extra evidence supplied in the last few pages. No sex (at least not on-stage, although religious attitudes to sexuality are a strong theme)and only the minimal necessary violence.
My disappointment was that there is none of the Barnard literary humor. After "Death and the Chaste Apprentice" about the Restoration drama "said to be the work of two hands, but probably only half a brain" and "A Hovering of Vultures" about Bronte fanatics this was fairly run-of-the mill.

Unholy Dying is my intro to the work of Robert Bernard, who appears to have built himself quite a good reputation. If it's possible to judge by only one book, that reputation is well deserved. This little mystery (only 280 pages) has some of the liveliest, most skillfully drawn characters in the genre. The oft-used method of switching points of view every chapter works effectively here, and the plot is deceptively simple. Bernard's way with words is also enjoyable - literate, concise, and descriptive - and he's adept at building suspense slowly but surely. Looking forward to reading some others by this author.
(By the way, the cover bears little relation to the story - the murder doesn't happen in that setting.)

While riding a train, West Yorkshire Chronicle reporter Cosmo Horrocks overhears two people discussing the scandalous behavior of the local Catholic priest. Apparently, Father Christopher Pardoe had an affair with nineteen-year old single mother Julie Norris, a parishioner, leaving her pregnant. Also Somebody stole parish money with the Father being the most likely thief. Cosmo, a nasty gossip-mongering "journalist" who would distort any lie to spice up a report, sees a great story in Shipley, England.

Cosmo heads to the small town to confront the various players such as Julie, Father Pardoe, Julie's estrange parents and brother, and other parishioners. After exposing the priest and the teen, an unknown assailant kills the odious Cosmo. Police Inspector Mike Oddie and Sergeant Charlie Peace begin to investigate the homicide. The only problem is anyone who ever met the disgusting man including his family, his staff on the newspaper, and the impacted people in Shipley have motives to wanting Cosmo dead.

UNHOLY DYING is a great police procedural that shows why Robert Barnard is one of the top mystery writers around. His latest work is fabulous because the quaint cast makes the entertaining police investigation so much more fun to follow. The tabloid journalism that attacks Father Pardoe based on rumor and no substance augments a great plot in which everyone except the police are suspects, but the real killer is in plain sight yet impossible to identify.

Harriet Klausner

Robert Barnard, currently lives with his wife in Yorkshire. He was born in Essex on 23 November, 1936. Educated at the Royal Grammar School in Colchester and at Balliol College, Oxford, taking his Ph.D. from the University of Bergen, Norway, in 1972, he spent many years as a distinguished academic while establishing himself as one of today's most distinguished crime writers. His fascination with the pure detective story is evident in his many novels.

Cosmo Horrocks was as happy as a pig in the proverbial manure. He had just come up with the juiciest story he'd had in years. Being an investigative journalist was not always what it was cracked up to be. In fact most of the time you were grubbing about in the detritus of other people's lives, but this story made it all worth it.

It had everything that the public were interested in. Religion, the man was a Catholic priest, sex to titillate their grubby little minds. He was accused of impropriety with a teenage unmarried mother. He was also thought to have `donated' parish funds to her. The parish of St. Catherine's in Shipley is torn apart by the scandal and the following investigations which reveal shady doings in high places . . .