Murder Most Catholic: Divine Tales of Profane Crimes (Paperback)

~ Ralph M. McInerny (Editor) "IT MAYBE SOMETHING OF A COMMENTARY on our post-Christian times that authors asked to write stories with a religious motif or background should set them..." (more)
Key Phrases: chantry chapel, old nun, guild master, Master Pecock, Emtee Dempsey, Master Yonge (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Fourteen accounts of immoral deeds uncovered (and even sometimes committed) by moral people comprise the absorbing Murder Most Catholic: Divine Tales of Profane Crimes, edited by Ralph McInerny, author of the popular Father Dowling and Sister Mary Teresa Dempsey mystery series. About half are set in the Middle Ages, a time of rich fodder for writers who "wish to meld murder and the religious," while the remainder explore contemporary milieus and themes: in Stephen Dentinger's "Cemetery of the Innocents," a 15th-century danse macabre turns truly deadly; in Ed Gorman's "Bless Me Father for I Have Sinned," a priest at his 25th college reunion realizes that his lifetime of good works has failed to atone for a murder he committed in his youth.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Product Description

The murder mysteries that make up this unusual anthology all have one thing in common: the hero or heroine who solves the crime is a Catholic cleric. Perhaps that should not be surprising, for since the time of G. K. Chesterton those who have explored stories with a religious belief or background have tended to place them in the Middle Ages. And during that time most Christians were in one way or another connected to the Catholic church. From Chesterton’s classic priest-turned-detective Father Brown to Peter Tremayne’s historical Celtic nun and lawyer, Sister Fidelma, religious men and women put aside their professional duties for a moment to take up an altogether different vocation for a short time—that of detective and solver of crimes unspeakable. The stories in this collection of Catholic clerical sleuthing includes:

"Whispers of the Dead" by Peter Tremayne • "Bless Me Father, For I Have Sinned" by Ed Gorman • "Death by Fire" by Anne Perry and Malachi Saxon • "The Arrow of Ice" by Edward D. Hoch • "The Rag and Bone Man" by Lillian Stewart Carl • "Divine Justice" by Charles Meyer • "Cemetery of the Innocents" by Stephen Dentinger • "Veronica’s Veil" by Monica Quill • "Lowly Death" by Margaret Frazer • "Ex Libris" by Kate Gallison • "A Clerical Error" by Michael Jecks • "Through a Glass, Darkly" by Kate Charles • "The Knight’s Confession" by P. C. Doherty • "The Shorn Lamb" by Ralph McInerny

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Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Cumberland House Publishing (July 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 158182260X
• ISBN-13: 978-1581822601
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,044,699 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Attractive Anthology, May 19, 2003

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

Ralph McInerny's brief but thoughtful introduction indicates that the contributors were "asked to write stories with a religious motif or background" and notes that many of the authors set their stories in the past. (Expect a few anachronisms, such as "kilometres", in these.) McInerny himself contributes a Father Dowling story, set in the present, as well as a novella under his pseudonym Monica Quill. While any anthology is inevitably a mixed bag, most readers will enjoy most of the stories in this volume, and will want to find more stories by some of the authors. The term "Catholic" in the title, incidentally, includes "Anglican" and "Episcopal". If you are attracted by the title, you are apt to enjoy the book.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Wonderfully insightful anthology, November 18, 2005

By	Joy Marie "Lover of the Written Word" (United States) - See all my reviews

You will enjoy this book if you enjoy suspense, intrigue and reading some of the great authors in, shall we say, 'excerpt' form; although each is a complete and interesting if not enthralling story.

I enjoyed and liked the fact that I could take it with me and read a story to conclusion in a short time and even though I would not recommend that the feint of heart do this...I read it as my 'bedtime story'.

It lead me to read other works by the authors presented here and to compare the styles of each of those in the anthology. A good solid read.