The Spoken Word
A Moroni Traveler Novel
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- $7.99
Publisher Description
“How many times have I told you? Never get involved with the church hierarchy.”
Words of wisdom, surely, but Moroni Traveler can’t seem to take his father’s advice. Salt Lake City private investigators, Moroni and his father, Martin, maintain an uneasy truce with the Church of Latter-day Saints. But Moroni owes a debt to his boyhood friend Willis Tanner, now one of the top-ranking officials in the LDS, and Willis has come to collect. Lael Woolley, grandniece of the First Prophet, the head of the Mormon church on earth, has been kidnapped, and the prophet believes only Traveler, a gentile, can rescue her. Moroni agrees, although reluctantly—in Salt Lake City you just don’t say no to the LDS. He and his father set out to find Lael with carte blanche from the prophet and the assistance of three enterprising, offbeat drifters who live in the lobby of the Travelers’ office building. Their search takes them around the state and into the church’s extensive genealogical records, pointing to a subversive Mormon feminist group that may or may not be responsible for Lael’s disappearance.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
This splendid mystery marks the fifth appearance of Salt Lake City private detective Moroni Traveler. Irvine ( Called Home ) further probes the knotty, affectionate relationship between Moroni and Martin, his doddering, delightful father and partner, against the background of Utah's cruel Aprils and the Mormon way of life. The tale takes off as Moroni becomes the first Gentile, i.e., nonbeliever, to enter the holy Temple. He is summoned there by the ailing First Prophet whose beloved grandniece, Lael, age 20, is being held by kidnappers who threaten to kill her unless the Prophet publishes a revelation granting women equal rights in the church, including membership in the priesthood. Battling springtime torrents, high-heeled harpies who kick him where it hurts the most, interfering churchmen and a host of convinced traditionalists, Moroni uncovers a surprising, devilish plan. The identity of the Evil One is clear early on, but that doesn't diminish the suspense in this rewarding novel.
