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The Widow's Mate (Father Dowling Mysteries) [Hardcover]

Ralph McInerny (Author)
4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)


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Book Description

Father Dowling Mysteries August 7, 2007
Father Dowling is a dedicated parish priest who happens to have a knack for unraveling the mysteries of the real world as well as those of heaven, but the latest puzzle to catch his attention---the disappearance of Wallace Flanagan---doesn’t seem to be a mystery so much as a dirty little secret. By all appearances, Flanagan, the heir to a lucrative concrete business, skipped town with his mistress more than ten years ago, although no one talks about that out of respect for his abandoned wife. But appearances go right out the window when his mangled---and recently live---body is found wedged into one of his father’s cement mixers.

If Flanagan’s unexpected return and immediate death aren’t enough to shake a few skeletons from their closets, childhood friends and lifelong enemies have started trickling home to Fox River, Illinouis, a town outside of Chicago. All of them had a stake in his disappearance, but which one would murder a man who was already all but dead? And would kill again to keep a dead man’s secrets?

A collision between the past and present dislodges some hard and hidden truths that Father Dowling must uncover if he’s going to catch a killer in Ralph McInerny’s The Widow’s Mate, an absorbing and suspenseful mystery that is sure to please Father Dowling’s many fans.


Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The entertaining 26th Father Dowling mystery (after 2006's The Prudence of the Flesh) finds the lovable gang at St. Hilary's poking into a decade-old crime. When Wallace Flanagan disappeared after receiving a large gift of money from his father, everyone thought he'd left his wife, Melissa, and run off with another woman. Some years later, his body is found, mangled by a cement mixer belonging to the Flanagan family business. Now people from Wally's past are asking questions. His erstwhile lover and his father both want to know what Wally was up to between his disappearance and his death. Melissa suddenly asks Father Dowling to say a mass for his soul. Matters get even more complex when Greg Packer, a shady associate of Wally's who had been flirting with Melissa, is killed. McInerny keeps the story moving with several twists and turns, producing another solid parish mystery for Father Dowling to solve in his usual quiet and compassionate way. (Aug.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Why would the heir to the successful Flanagan concrete and construction business skip town with his mistress? It's a question family and friends have been asking themselves for 10 long years. But there are even more questions when the horribly mangled body of the missing Flanagan turns up in one of the firm's cement mixers. Of course, since the Flanagans are parishioners at St. Hilary's, and Father Dowling is a close personal friend of Fox River's police captain, Phil Keegan, the cerebral padre is on the case. As in his previous 25 Dowling mysteries, award-winning author McInerny presents a dizzying array of suspects, all with motives of varying intensity, from love to money to interfamily warfare. Interspersed among showcasing the potential villains are sardonic glimpses of rectory life and small-town vignettes that underscore the heinous subject matter. For those who like their mysteries testosterone-free and relatively bloodless, this series continues to deliver, with a fascinating protagonist, intelligent plotting, and dry humor. Lukowsky, Wes

Product Details

  • Hardcover: 288 pages
  • Publisher: Minotaur Books; First Edition edition (August 7, 2007)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0312364555
  • ISBN-13: 978-0312364557
  • Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.4 x 1 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces
  • Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,835,101 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Average Customer Review
4.7 out of 5 stars (3 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best, September 21, 2007
This review is from: The Widow's Mate (Father Dowling Mysteries) (Hardcover)
This is one of the best of the generally excellent Father Dowling books. The author claims a mystery writer does not need to know "who done it" until he gets to the end of the book. That may be true of this effort as well, but the key elements of the plot required a lot of planning with consequent reward to the reader. As always, there are plenty of wise philosophical one-liners.
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5.0 out of 5 stars Wido's Mate, April 13, 2010
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This is a complicated mystery with the regular characters in Fox River. I have read many of the Father Dowling bookd snf enjoyed most of them. Its nice to revisit the same people.
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1 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars a terrific whodunit, August 12, 2007
This review is from: The Widow's Mate (Father Dowling Mysteries) (Hardcover)
Following his father's gift to him of a sizable amount of money, Wallace Flanagan vanished. His friends and family including his wife Melissa assumed he dumped his spouse to run off with his latest lover.

However years later, Wally's body is found, mashed by a cement mixer. His father and his former lover want to know where he was when he vanished, why he suddenly reappeared dead in equipment owned by his family's firm, and who killed him. However, Melissa instead turns to Father Dowling of St. Hilary's in Fox River to pray for Wally's eternal soul. Unable to ignore the mortal concerns of an apparent homicide, Father Dowling begins investigating only to learn a friend of Wally, Greg Packer, has been killed too.

THE WIDOW'S MATE is a terrific whodunit as Father Dowling prays for Wally's soul, tries to provide solace to the widow and also seeks the truth as to what happened. The story line is filled with twists and red herrings so that the audience is never sure what to expect next as Ralph McInerney keeps fans guessing (and reading). Father Dowling is at his best in this delightful parish cozy.

Harriet Klausner
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Inside This Book (learn more)
Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
tweed hat, parish center, garage apartment, apartment over the garage
Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Father Dowling, Wally Flanagan, Gregory Packer, Ralph Mclnerny, Fox River, Greg Packer, Sandra Bochenski, Luke Flanagan, Melissa Flanagan, Phil Keegan, Frank Looney, Amos Cadbury, Sylvia Beach, San Diego, Flanagan Concrete, Wallace Flanagan, Marco Pianone, Agnes Lamb, Marie Murkin, Widow Flanagan, Great Wall, Brenda Kelly, Peanuts Pianone, Ralph Melnerny, Good Lord
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