Masses and Motets
A Francesca Fruscella Mystery
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- 16,99 €
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- 16,99 €
Beschreibung des Verlags
A crime novel loosely based on the masses and songs of the 17th century Flemish composer Pierre de la Rue
Masses and Motets is a tale composed of four basic interwoven threads, corresponding to the four-part choral writing of Pierre de la Rue’s service music. The first thread comes from the diaries of a recently murdered priest, Father Andrea Vidal, former secretary to the notorious Father Marcial Maciel. The second thread is the mystery story, a police procedural focusing on the efforts of Denver detective Francesca Fruscella to solve the murder and retrieve Vidal’s diary. The third strand is the story of Father Signelli, a priest sent from the Vatican to “fix” the murder. And the fourth strand explores the best and worst of Catholic culture: art and music created by Catholic artists and sexual abuse by Catholic priests.
Vidal’s narrative is the story of a priest who systematically, sincerely, and hopefully tries to destroy his very self through sex, drinking, and drugs in order to get closer to God. Fruscella’s story is that of a middle-aged, female detective trying to solve a ghastly murder while constantly battling the sexism of the Catholic Church. Signelli’s tale is that of an older career priest who, in doing the bidding of his superiors to fix problems that threaten the order of the Church, has perhaps compromised his own soul. By no means a simple narrative of wicked priests, this is a story of men who desperately want to believe, as well as a story of what this belief might shelter and cost.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In DeShell's uneven sequel to 2013's Expectation, Det. Francesca Fruscella investigates the shooting murder of Fr. Andrea Vidal inside a Denver cathedral's confessional booth. Andrea was the former secretary to the priest who founded the scandal-ridden Legion of Christ, known for its sexual abuse of children. The only clue Francesca has to work with is a wallet dropped outside the booth that could belong to the killer. An emissary from Rome, Signelli, arrives to minimize bad publicity for the church and to retrieve Andrea's journals. Francesca and Signelli, with their competing interests, end up in conflict. Flemish composer Pierre de la Rue's four-part choral writing, as noted in an introduction, provides the template for the novel's four-part structure: Francesca's murder inquiry, passages from Andrea's journal, Signelli's story, and an account of priests' sexual abuse of children. The journal excerpts slow the main plot, and the passages concerning sexual abuse aren't well integrated into the narrative. Still, readers will want to see more of the intriguing Francesca. Those interested in issues facing today's Catholic Church will best appreciate this one.