From Publishers Weekly
Kienzle ill serves kindhearted Father Koesler, who has valiantly starred in numerous previous mysteries (The Rosary Murders; Call No Man Father, etc.). Here, the author railroads the venerable Detroit priest into an unredeemable position. When Moe Green's widow insists that Koesler hold a wake at St. Joseph's for her nominally Jewish husband, the priest is reluctant but allows himself to be convinced since he can find no Church law forbidding it. But he is alarmed at the crowd that shows up at the spur-of-the-moment event and regrets having also agreed to say a few words about a man whom he has never met and who was apparently morally corrupt. As Koesler begins to speak, Moe's sister Sophie makes a dramatic entrance, looks at her dead brother-and sees him blink. In the ensuing melee, the coffin falls from the bier, and Moe indicates he wants to be taken home. Now the hapless Koesler must not only explain to his bishop why he agreed to hold the wake, but he must also determine whether Moe's revival was a miracle, as a fellow priest asserts. Despite its wealth of Church law and theology, this latest tale will disappoint fans who have come to consider Koesler as more astute than he seems here.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Book Description
BACK FROM THE DEAD
Father Koesler knows he might be on shaky ground when he agrees to hold an unofficial wake for a Jewish man in old St. Joseph's Church. First the "small" ceremony draws a huge and strangely festive crowd, with those closest to the late Dr. Moses Green among the happiest to see him dead. But when Koesler learns the dark details of the good doctor's life, he soon concludes that only a natural death kept Moses Green from becoming a murder victim. Then the dead man stirs in his casket, and all hell breaks loose--bringing a storm of media controversy and a devil of a mystery for Father Koesler. . . .
"As regular as the solstice, Kienzle annually provides a new Catholic whodunit from Detroit, inviting the readers to shut out the rest of the world and spend a few absorbing hours watching his venerable alter ego, Koesler, peel back the layers of a puzzle to plumb the tortured depths of the human soul and elegantly solve a mystery."
--Chicago Tribune
"Kienzle surely ranks among the top talents working today."
--Detroit Free Press
"William X. Kienzle is 'the master of the theological mystery.' "
--Booklist
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