Triple Pursuit (Father Dowling Mysteries) (Hardcover)

by Ralph McInerny (Author) "The reaction to the young woman's death was pronounced at the St. Hilary Senior Center..." (more)
Key Phrases: legal seminar, senior dance, head housekeeper, Jack Gallagher, Father Dowling, Austin Rooney (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
In McInerny's 20th Father Dowling mystery in 24 years, the pensive, perceptive priest figures out a not very difficult case involving three seemingly separate murders that affect his St. Hilary's Catholic Church parish in Fox River, Ill. The usual cast of characters includes Dowling's nosy housekeeper, Marie Murkin; his longtime friend, police captain Phil Keegan; tenacious police detectives Cy Horvath and Agnes Lamb; and lethargic cop Peanuts Pianone. A young woman recently moved to town falls or is thrown into traffic and dies. Two more are strangled to death: bright, flirtatious young lawyer Aggie Rossner and motel housekeeper Ruby Otter. The investigation is confused by a fight at the St. Hilary's Senior Citizen Center between two elderly widowed brothers-in-law, Jack Gallagher and Austin Rooney, over an attractive widow. Jack was having an affair with Aggie and confesses to her murder, trying to protect his married son who was also involved with her. In addition, Jack's daughter and her lawyer fianc‚ interfere, causing mild complications. The Dowling books are comfortable leisurely and repetitive with familiar situations and issues. McInerney's strengths are his dry wit and realistic depiction of the elderly, as well as his all too human characters such as down-at-the-heels lawyer Tuttle; his temporary secretary, the frighteningly efficient Hazel Barnes; and the senior center busybody, Desmond O'Toole. (Apr. 23)Forecast: A predictable entry in a generally lackluster series should still please the older audience who are Dowling's principal fans, but it will take a miracle for this novel to increase McInerney's reader base.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
The indefatigable Father Roger Dowling solves another mystery steeped in human drama and spiritual significance. When two seemingly unrelated homicide investigations begin to intertwine, Captain Phil Keegan of the Fox River Police Department relies on his old friend Father Dowling to assist in the investigation. Since several of the prime suspects are members of St. Hilary's Parish, Dowling is able to offer a more intimate assessment of the probable motives. The romantic fates of two elderly gentlemen feuding over a septuagenarian femme fatale and the tenuous future of a young couple about to exchange wedding vows are profoundly altered by the ruthless murders of an anonymous young hotel maid and a high-powered female attorney. Less introspective than Kienzle's cerebral Father Koesler and more credible than Greeley's quirky Father Blackie Ryan, Father Dowling has a down-to-earth demeanor that will appeal, as always, to a variety of readers who enjoy mysteries with a religious twist. Margaret Flanagan
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 384 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Minotaur; 1st edition (April 23, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 031226948X
• ISBN-13: 978-0312269487
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.1 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,511,985 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

• This is item 20 in The Father Dowling Series.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not enough action, February 18, 2001

By	Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews (#1 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

In Fox River, Illinois, the St. Hilary Senior Center under the auspices of Father Dowling has become quite an interesting place. The recent addition of two senior citizens, former radio star Jack Gallagher and retired college English professor Austin Rooney have joined the group. These two rivals are simply not the best of friends even though they were related through blood. They both love Jack's daughter Colleen and would do anything for her, perhaps even murder.

After praying endlessly to Saint Anne for a man, Colleen is going to marry attorney Mario Liberati. However, Colleen's elation is disturbed when someone kills legal siren Aggie Rossner, who tries to seduce Mario. The police suspect Jack, but Captain Phil Keegan turns to Father Dowling to help sift through the clues.

Fans of the Father Dowling series will enjoy TRIPLE PURSUIT though the tale seems even more leisurely than the usual cozy. The story line slowly simmers as readers meet all the key players in such a way that the audience comprehends what makes the individual tick. Any person, who relishes action, should pursue a different type of novel. However, those fans of the series or who just likes a gradually evolving who-done-it starring an interesting amateur sleuth will find the latest entry quite the thing.

Harriet Klausner

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars told with insight and humor, January 14, 2002

By	Karen Sampson Hudson "Karen Sampson Hudson" (Reno, NV United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Ralph McInerny is one of my favorite mystery writers. A philosophy professor who has taught at Notre Dame for forty years, he is a noted scholar whose novels reflect his knowledge of the vagaries and virtues of the human heart. In "Triple Pursuit" we are again in Fox River with Father Dowling, his staunch housekeeper, Marie Murkin, and his pal Detective Phil Keegan. This is a marvelous yarn whose theme might be "cherchez la femme." Once again McInerny treats us to the interior lives of characters large and small, like the pretty young mother, Jane, who looks forward to private morning time after her husband is off to work and her children to school; or to the aging priest who continues to serve a parish despite nearly crippling arthritis. McInerny is a mature fiction writer who writes equally well of women and men, something that cannot be said for a lot of younger male writers. Kudos to him for this latest novel, and may he give us many more to enjoy!

4.0 out of 5 stars A welcome addition to the Dowling series., May 18, 2001

By	Leonard L. Wilson (Springfield, OH USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

TRIPLE PURSUIT is one of the better Father Dowling mysteries. Readers who are familiar with this series will feel right at home with the usual cast of regular characters and some interesting new ones. There are 3 murders involved (plus another possible one, disguised as a suicide), and several of the more sympathetic characters take turns as suspects. Father Dowling doesn't really get involved in the actual investigation until near the end, and then his involvement is rather rashly independent. A suitable culprit is finally nabbed, and everyone lives happily ever after.

If this sounds rather flippant, it is very affectionately so. I really don't read the Dowling novels for the mysteries, but for the interplay among the fascinating people who inhabit the books. The warm, intelligent and conscientious Dowling himself, his nosy, officious housekeeper, his close friend detective Captain Keegan, Keegan's calm and capable assistant Cy Horvath, the rascally shyster Tuttle (who turns out to be something of a hero in this novel), and Tuttle's empty-headed cohort Peanuts Pianone, who is both an inept cop and a member of the local mob family, all play appropriate and believable parts in the plot. The additional characters for this novel add humor, love, sex, betrayal, and basic human emotions in a realistic blend of events and relationships.

If you want a blood and thunder action mystery, this is not it. The violence is there, but it is downplayed, and the emphasis is consistently upon the shifting relationships among the characters. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this latest novel in an intelligent and well-written series.