Pulpit Fiction  

Kate Charles. A Dead Man Out Of Mind. 1994.

Painter Lucy Kingsley and lawyer David Middleton-Brown, her lover, become involved in a scandal surrounding 2 neighborhood Anglican churches. After an apparent burglar murders a priest, the vicar appoints a controversial female deacon as a replacement. Contentious church wardens, valuable Victorian church silver, Lucy's temperamental niece, and the deacon's vegetative husband deepen the plot.

Alys Clare. Ashes of the Elements. 2000.

On a summer night, a poacher is killed in the forest adjoining Hawkenlye Abbey and Abbess Helewise sends for the sheriff, who dismisses it as the work of the Forest People. The Abbess and her friend, knight Sir Joseph D'Acquin, find evidence that more than small game was being poached. A missing novice and a second body deepen the mystery. The relationship between the widowed Abbess and the soldier of fortune is done with a firm, light touch and they make an engaging duo.

Howard Fast. The Outsider. 1984.

In 1946, David Hartman, a chaplain just out of the army, goes to a small New York town to serve as rabbi to its 14 Jewish families. It is here that he meets Martin Carter, the Congregational minister who becomes his lifelong friend. Together they weather McCarthyism, the civil rights movement, the agony of Vietnam, and the quest for women's rights. Woven through these events is a warm and moving love story.

Kate Gallison. Grave Misgivings. 1998.

Mother Lavinia Grey, Mother Vinnie to her congregants, is the vicar of St. Bede's Episcopal Church in Fishersville, New Jersey. Mark Smith, a former resident, has returned to the town with his mother's ashes, hoping to bury them next to his father's remains. The problem is, no one knows where his father is buried and the quest for answers leads to buried secrets, haunting visions, stolen statuary and mysterious bones at an excavation site.

Sharon Kahn. Fax Me A Bagel . 1998.

Ruby Rothman, a rabbi's widow, witnesses a death by poison in her friend Milt's bagel shop. In an effort to clear Milt of suspicion, Ruby digs into the New York bagel business and dodges death herself as she uncovers evidence about her husband's hit and run death two years earlier. Suspense mixed in with comic relief.

  William Kienzle. Bishop As Pawn. 1994.

Who bumped off the bishop? Priest and reluctant sleuth Father Robert Koesler investigates the murder of a universally disliked bishop, and his aide, Father Don Carleson, is a prime suspect. An ambitious prosecuting attorney and the police are certain they have their man, but Father Koesler isn't so sure. A fast paced humorous murder mystery.

Ralph McInerny. A Cardinal Offense. 1994.

In the 17th Father Dowling mystery, the Catholic priest and amateur sleuth receives two tickets to the sell-out Notre Dame - USC football game, with the stipulation that he also attend a meeting of the Bishops' Committee on Marriage and the Family. When a former parishioner determined to obtain an annulment is murdered and a visiting cardinal is kidnapped from the conference, Roger becomes entangled in a complex and dangerous homicide investigation.

Willard Manus. The Pigskin Rabbi. 1999.

Ziggy Cantor, a rabbinical school graduate and son of a Bronx rabbi, is in Holland studying Spinoza when he is discovered by a New York Giants scout and becomes the Giants' star quarterback. Soon the team is wearing Giants-logo yarmulkes, calling signals in Yiddish, and eating chicken soup on the sidelines, as Ziggy turns his team from a perennial loser to Super Bowl champs.

William Montalbano. Basilica. 1998.

Brother Paul (formerly Paul Lorenzo, a Miami homicide cop) is the longtime friend and confidante of Pope Pius XIII (known as Tredi). But while Tredi's rise to power has been meteoric, Paul's life has been tragic as a result of his having tangled with the Caballero drug cartel. Paul's investigation into the death of a Vatican priest leads him to an underground conspiracy aimed at subverting Tredi's dogma-shattering reforms. An exciting heart-pounding thriller.

Mark Salzman. Lying Awake. 2000.

Sister John of the Cross, a nun in contemporary Los Angeles, begins having intense mystical visions that she transcribes into vivid poetry. Lately, however, her visions have been accompanied by severe headaches. The story hinges on Sister John's discovery that her visions are in fact the result of epileptic seizures and she must decide whether to have surgery, which would likely eliminate the visions, or cling to a state of grace that may be a delusion.

Compiled by Karen F. Barron 11/01