Unholy Dying
A Crime Novel
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- $14.99
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- $14.99
Publisher Description
England's celebrated, multiple-award-winning master crime novelist returns with a witty and poignant chiller about the evil of gossip and the sin of indifference.
Father Christopher Pardoe is a good priest. He cares about his parishioners. He is also a human being -- and is thus saddled with man's inherent weaknesses. Is it a bit odd, then, how much time the good Father has been spending at the house of a certain young, single mother called Julie Norris? And why, during each of his visits, are Julie's bedroom curtains always closed? Julie looks to be pregnant again. Just who could the father be?
As nasty rumors begin to scorch the parish phone lines, Father Pardoe is suspended from St. Catherine's, and Cosmo Horrocks, the West Yorkshire Chronicle's shameless, muckraking journalist, exploits the story in a big way. Nothing goes over better than a juicy sex-and-the-church scandal, except, perhaps, murder.
Do Father Pardoe and Julie protest too much? Why did Julie's parents throw her out and disown her? Is she really as bad as they say? And what, exactly, does Cosmo Horrocks hear in that London-to-Leeds dining car that makes him tingle with excitement? A tale of chastity besmirched? This story could make his year. But will it lead to tragedy? And, if so, whose?
When Inspector Mike Oddie and Sergeant Charlie Peace are called in to investigate a murder, they are saddened and surprised by the raw emotions -- the hate, the fear -- they find in the outwardly peaceful town of Shipley. There may be only one killer, but there are many others who must share the town's guilt and, perhaps, one day start the process of healing.
Rich with eccentric characters, crisp dialogue, stylish prose, and perceptive insights into human nature, Unholy Dying is vintage Barnard, acknowledged master of suspense.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
There are two authentic monsters in Barnard's latest outing for West Yorkshire cops Mike Oddie and Charlie Peace the murder victim and his actual killer. The trouble with this otherwise smooth story is that the dead man, a really nasty journalist named Cosmo Horrocks, is much more interesting than the murderer. "Build 'em up, smash 'em down" could be the motto of the seedy sex-and-crime chronicler, who loves to make everyone else's life miserable. Since this includes not only the people he writes about but also his family, his fellow journalists and virtually everyone he meets, the list of suspects when Cosmo gets his head bashed in is as long as a roll of toilet paper. Was it the subject of Cosmo's latest scandal-mongering a disgraced priest, Father Pardoe, booted out of his parish by a conniving bishop because of his attentions to an attractive, pregnant single mother? Was it Cosmo's own wife or daughter, each of whom has reasons to hate and fear him? And what about that young colleague on the West Yorkshire Chronicle who seems to have a sick fascination with Cosmo's methods? Unlike Agatha Christie on the Orient Express, Barnard can't have every single one of the suspects be guilty. So Oddie and Peace (who finds himself more personally involved than usual because of his own impending fatherhood) have to sift through a thicket of lies and evasions before nailing the killer. By then, Cosmo has been dead for more than 100 pages taking a lot of energy and interest with him.