No Greater Love
The Father Koesler Mysteries: Book 21
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- $5.99
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- $5.99
Publisher Description
"Kienzle's twenty-first Father Koesler novel is distinguished by a unique twist that will appeal to seasoned mystery fans tired of prefabricated formulas and timeworn plots." —Booklist
"Kienzle's grasp and detailing of church problems is impressive. Well-conceived characters . . . add depth to the conflicts. And the structure of the book is unusual. . . . The plot thus plays itself out neither as a whodunit or a whydunit, but as a tragedy and morality play that develops slowly and inevitably to a violent climax." —Publishers Weekly
From William X. Kienzle, author of the classic mystery, The Rosary Murders.
Father Robert Koesler has retired from St. Joseph's parish—"old St. Joe's downtown" as it was familiarly known—where Father Zachary Tully has become his successor. Upon his return from vacation, Father Koesler finds a message from an old friend, Patrick McNiff, now a bishop and rector of St. Joseph's Seminary. McNiff asks Koesler to reside in the seminary, concelebrate the liturgies, possibly teach a class, and—most important—help McNiff smooth out the factionalism of the faculty and its possible effects on the seminarians.
In his new residence, Father Koesler learns much about the problems dividing the contemporary seminary as well as dividing his old home parish under the leadership of Father Tully. Although he realizes that many inner lives are in turmoil, he is ill-prepared for the fact that such turmoil may lead to murder. As Father Koesler prepares for the Mass following a tragic murder, he wonders if he should have anticipated it through the clues laid out along the way.
This is the twenty-first in the series of William X. Kienzle mysteries, which star Father Robert Koesler as the priest-sleuth solving murders in real locations in Detroit.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
The radical changes set in motion in the 1960s by the Second Vatican Council continue to reverberate in the Roman Catholic Church and the lives of its adherents--including Father Robert Koesler, in his 21st novel (after The Greatest Evil). Retired but by no means inactive, the Detroit priest, now in his 70s, retains an active interest in his former parish of St. Joseph's. At the behest of Bishop Patrick McNiff, Father Koesler has taken up residence at St. Joseph Major Seminary to help out. An aging priesthood, closed or much smaller seminaries, "folk" masses, an increasingly conservative seminary faculty, female seminary students and the desire of some of them to become priests--these are a few of the issues Kienzle explores as he shows how the friction among seminary students and faculty build up to murder. Kienzle's grasp and detailing of church problems is impressive. Well-conceived characters--such as Patty Donnelly, a young woman determined to be a priest; Andrea Zawalich, another woman confident she can become a priest in all but name; and Bill Cody, a zealot determined to make his only son a priest--add depth to the conflicts. And the structure of the book is unusual: in a prologue, Koesler is meditating by a coffin, and the rest of the novel consists of a long flashback leading to the body within. The plot thus plays itself out neither as whodunit or a whydunit, but as a tragedy and morality play that develops slowly and inevitably to a violent climax. Mystery Guild alternate selection; Books on Tape audio.
