Prodigal Father: A Father Dowling Mystery (Father Dowling Mysteries) (Hardcover)

by Ralph McInerny (Author) "The old priest came slowly down the long drive from the main building to a predestined point, then turned and looked back with the eyes..." (more)
Key Phrases: tweed hat, golf shop, Father Dowling, Father Boniface, Leo Corbett (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist
Death follows Father Ralph Dowling on retreat as McInerny's venerable detective-priest returns in another compelling mystery with a spiritual twist. When a laicized priest requests a reinstatement to a moribund religious order, the few remaining members of the dwindling Athanasian community initially rejoice. However, when Father Nathaniel begins pressuring the other priests to sell their valuable seminary property, their ranks quickly become divided. After Nathaniel is found with an ax buried in his back, Father Dowling digs for a motive buried deep in the past. While investigating a long list of suspects that includes a fellow priest, the seminary groundskeeper and his son, and a genial con man, Dowling himself becomes the next target for murder. Morality and mortality combine to provide an appropriately unsettling ambience for a crime rooted in greed and guilt. Margaret Flanagan
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Product Description
Father Roger Dowling is a busy man. He's got the ambitious and all-encompassing task of running St. Hilary's Parish, dealing with his busybody housekeeper, Mrs. Murkin, and counseling his flock with his characteristic blend of faith and compassion. He's not complaining, but it's no surprise that even a superior priest like Father Dowling needs a break now and again. So off he heads for a week-long retreat in Indiana on the quiet grounds of an old Catholic religious order, where he can meditate, reflect, and pray for a quick recharge of his waning energy.

Unfortunately, Father Dowling's spiritual retreat turns into a baffling murder investigation when a dead man is found in a grotto on the grounds with the handle of an axe protruding from his back. Complicating matters is a long-running real-estate dispute that has pitted the brothers of the order against the previous owners of the huge and valuable piece of land on which their sanctuary sits.

Who could have killed the man and why, and does it have something to do with the high-stakes mind games being played out between the parties vying for the land? No one's too sure, but what is clear is that Father Dowling is once again at the center of it all in another winning entry in a mystery series that's become an institution.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 384 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Minotaur; 1 edition (July 30, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312291299
• ISBN-13: 978-0312291297
• Product Dimensions: 9.7 x 6.5 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #267,439 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

• This is item 21 in The Father Dowling Series.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Father Dowling flock will enjoy, July 8, 2002

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

Father Roger Dowling leaves St. Hilary's Parish for his annual retreat with the Athanasians, a Catholic religious order that includes seven aging priests with no new blood in years. Though the long-term outlook appears to be the same as what happened to the Shakers, the small order owns the rights to Marygrove, a grand estate near Chicago given to the Athanasians by a late business mogul.

However, the very value of the property makes Marygrove in demand by avarice phonies including the grandson of the order's late benefactor. All of these souls want to use the estate for personal gain. Though each one of these outsiders will do almost anything to obtain an advantage, one of them resorts to murder, killing two people. Father Dowling investigates the homicides in an effort to determine who broke the Commandment and to thwart any other slayings.

The insight into a small dying religious order and their secular squabbles provide interesting depth to the who-done-it story line. Though Father Dowling remains a charming character he seems less sharp in PRODIGAL FATHER than usual perhaps because Mrs. Murkin is not around much to murky the waters. Still the Father Dowling flock will enjoy his latest amateur sleuth tale.

Harriet Klausner

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best Father Dowling mysteries, June 15, 2004

By	Daniel L Pratt (USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This novel has all the plot you'd want in a mystery and all the ancillary features you'd want from Father Dowling. Much of the action takes place away from the Athanasians; aside from that, the other reviews tell you all you'd want to know before reading, and perhaps a bit more.