From Publishers Weekly
A small Philadelphia neighborhood, a melting pot of fervent religious beliefs, erupts in violence that calls for all the skills of Gregor Demarkian, the formidable retired head of the FBI's Behavioral Science Unit, as he tackles his 16th case following last year's Skeleton Key. A Roman Catholic parish still suffering from the aftereffects of a pedophilia scandal that rocked the archdiocese; an Episcopalian church with a mostly gay male congregation; an independent, fundamentalist Baptist church; and atheist Edith Lawton all occupy the same block. Only Haddam's superb plotting and characterizations allow this microcosmic creation to achieve credibility. The new Cardinal Archbishop of Philadelphia first consults Demarkian when a suicide inside St. Anselm's proves more complicated than first believed and threatens to become a new scandal for the beleaguered Catholic church. Then Demarkian is coopted by the police when another death, thought to have been natural, proves to have been murder. As tensions escalate, Demarkian must unravel the motives behind killings that threaten to tear apart the delicate balance. To make things even more difficult, Demarkian's lover, Bennis Hannaford, is facing a personal crisis. Her sister's execution date is approaching and this time there appears no hope of stopping it. Haddam's large cast pulses with petty jealousies, vanities and fears as they confront the mysteries of life and religion. This is an engrossingly complex mystery that should win further acclaim for its prolific and talented author. (May 14)Forecast: An Edgar and Anthony awards finalist, Haddam could finally cop a major prize with this one.Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
Retired FBI agent Gregor Demarkian (Skeleton Key) investigates an unusual apparent murder/suicide in a Philadelphia church, for which police blame the husband. A nun believes otherwise, however, and so the plot thickens. From a dependable hand. Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Booklist
It's a little hard to believe, but the seventeenth Gregor Demarkian mystery is just as fresh as the first (Not a Creature Was Stirring, 1990). That's a big achievement in itself (most series start to get stale well before this point), but Haddam does more here than simply avoid repetition. Her story of a Catholic priest suspected of a double homicide in which one of the victims was a member of a parish that ministers to homosexuals tackles the topic of organized religion and manages to treat it perceptively without resorting to ridicule or stereotypes. Haddam is a fine and compassionate writer, and Demarkian, the retired chief of the FBI's Behavioral Sciences Unit who now solves crimes in his spare time, is one of the more interesting series leads in the mystery marketplace. It's a pleasure to find a solid mystery combined with engaging discussions of issues outside the genre. A guaranteed winner for those who prefer intellectually stimulating mysteries. David Pitt
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Review
"A guaranteed winner for those who prefer intellectually stimulating mysteries."--Booklist
"Haddam plays the mystery game like a master."--Chicago Tribune
""An engrossingly, complex mystery that should win further acclaim for its prolific and talented author."--Publishers Weekly
Review
"A guaranteed winner for those who prefer intellectually stimulating mysteries."--Booklist
"Haddam plays the mystery game like a master."--Chicago Tribune
""An engrossingly, complex mystery that should win further acclaim for its prolific and talented author."--Publishers Weekly
Review
"A guaranteed winner for those who prefer intellectually stimulating mysteries."--Booklist
"Haddam plays the mystery game like a master."--Chicago Tribune
""An engrossingly, complex mystery that should win further acclaim for its prolific and talented author."--Publishers Weekly
Book Description
There's hell to pay in Philadelphia when Marty Kelly commits suicide over his wife's body in the sacristy of St. Anselm's Church. Everyone assumes that Bernadette Kelly, a diabetic, died of natural causes--until the autopsy reveals death by arsenic. But one of the nuns a St. Anselm's, certain of Marty innocence, recruits retired director of the FBI's Behavioral Science Unit Gregor Demarkian to investigate for the new Cardinal Archbishop. His Eminence, dispatched to Philadelphia to clean up a scandal, expects Demarkian to act with discretion. But when a third death by arsenic is revealed in the neighboring Episcopal Church, not even God's grace can help the priest who becomes a prime suspect--and the murderer's next victim. Moving among three combustible parishes--Catholic, Episcopalian, and rabble-rousing fundmentalist--Demarkian must negotiate his way through holy hell to find the diabolically clever killer. Only then may God's will--and a homicidal reign of terror--be done...
About the Author
Jane Haddam is the author of numerous articles and books, including sixteen previous mysteries featuring Gregor Demarkian, most recently Skeleton Key. Her work has been a finalist for both the Edgar and the Anthony Awards. She lives with her two sons in Litchfield County, Connecticut.
True Believers: A Gregor Demarkian Mystery FROM THE PUBLISHER
Early One Morning at St. Anselm's Church in Philadelphia, a parishioner sneaks the body of his wife into the sacristy and then commits suicide. The husband, known to be devoted to his wife, is presumed to have killed himself out of grief. His wife, a severe diabetic, is assumed to have died of natural causes - until the coroner discovers that she actually died of arsenic poisoning. The police close the murder case, believing that the husband was clearly responsible, but one of the nuns at St. Anselm's doesn't accept the prevailing wisdom. Sure that the husband is innocent, she asks Gregor Demarkian, the retired head of the FBI's Behaviorial Science Unit, to investigate.
With tensions mounting among the city's religious groups, agitated by outside extremists, Demarkian's investigation is made difficult by the environment. Bennis Hannaford, an acclaimed author and Demarkian's lover, is undergoing a crisis of her own while the many and various denizens of Cavanaugh Street - their Armenian-American neighborhood - are involved in various uproars themselves. But at the base of everything is a mysteriously murdered young woman and the most perplexing case yet for Gregor Demarkian.
FROM THE CRITICS
Publishers Weekly
A small Philadelphia neighborhood, a melting pot of fervent religious beliefs, erupts in violence that calls for all the skills of Gregor Demarkian, the formidable retired head of the FBI's Behavioral Science Unit, as he tackles his 16th case following last year's Skeleton Key. A Roman Catholic parish still suffering from the aftereffects of a pedophilia scandal that rocked the archdiocese; an Episcopalian church with a mostly gay male congregation; an independent, fundamentalist Baptist church; and atheist Edith Lawton all occupy the same block. Only Haddam's superb plotting and characterizations allow this microcosmic creation to achieve credibility. The new Cardinal Archbishop of Philadelphia first consults Demarkian when a suicide inside St. Anselm's proves more complicated than first believed and threatens to become a new scandal for the beleaguered Catholic church. Then Demarkian is coopted by the police when another death, thought to have been natural, proves to have been murder. As tensions escalate, Demarkian must unravel the motives behind killings that threaten to tear apart the delicate balance. To make things even more difficult, Demarkian's lover, Bennis Hannaford, is facing a personal crisis. Her sister's execution date is approaching and this time there appears no hope of stopping it. Haddam's large cast pulses with petty jealousies, vanities and fears as they confront the mysteries of life and religion. This is an engrossingly complex mystery that should win further acclaim for its prolific and talented author.Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.
Library Journal
Retired FBI agent Gregor Demarkian (Skeleton Key) investigates an unusual apparent murder/suicide in a Philadelphia church, for which police blame the husband. A nun believes otherwise, however, and so the plot thickens. From a dependable hand. Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.
Kirkus Reviews
Haddam moves deep into Greeley territory in this sprawling study of religious morals, foibles, even canticles. On one of Philadelphia's loveliest streets, St. Anselm's church, ministered to by starchy Father Robert Healy, faces St. Stephen's, where Pastor Dan Burdock oversees a mostly gay Episcopal congregation. A few doors down, within megaphone-harassing distance, is the headquarters of self-appointed fundamentalist preacher Roy Phipps, and just past his office is the home of professional atheist Edith Lawton, who alternates passing out abysmally written antireligious tracts with trysts with the lawyer responsible for making restitution to the 62 (or is it 71?) men abused by pedophilic priests ten years ago. Outside, the street is alive with drag queens, teaching sisters, picketers, pamphlet-waving disciples trashing each other's views, and one very opinionated feminist nun. There are also several dead bodies cluttering up the church aisles, including a husband and wife, a gay man, and all too soon, Father Healy and that pesky, no-longer-vocal, nun. Gregor Demarkian, the Armenian-American Poirot, is called in by the Cardinal Archbishop and the cops to sort matters through in between consultations with his friend Father Tibor Kasparian. In addition to arsenic poisoning, a publicly staged exorcism, religious and antireligious diatribes, and clues clever enough to make Agatha Christie envious, he must deal with the imminent, state-mandated execution of his lover's sister, a murderess who has lost a final appeal. Haddam, who is second only to King James in biblical scholarship, has abundant storytelling skills (Skeleton Key). One hopes that someday soon she turns them loose on Tibor and lets him control a whole book.
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