From Publishers Weekly
Mimi O'Toole is hoping for a miracle when she asks Father Dowling in the hospital for absolution for her dying husband, a shooting victim. Vincent O'Toole was known to be an associate of the Pianone crime family, and his funeral draws every notable in the local underworld to St. Hilary's church in Fox River, Ill. The cops don't seem all that anxious to find O'Toole's killer, until someone tries to dig up his grave on Halloween and his casket is later discovered to be empty. In his effort to figure out what happened to O'Toole both before and after death, Father Dowling remains the calm center in a swirl of events involving gangster Salvatore Pianone, his daughter Angela and nephew Giorgio, the grieving widow and her cult-member son, as well as a couple of private investigators and even friends on the police force. Dowling finds that Sal Pianone is a very different man in private, a collector of rare books and manuscripts (one of which has disappeared), who is perhaps too close to his daughter but not close enough to Giorgio. Shifting from one character's point-of-view to another, McInery (Seed of Doubt, The Tears of Things) keeps the reader on edge as his intrepid sleuth-priest solves the crimes in question and bit by bit gets to the bottom of the bitter rivalries simmering below the slickly tailored surface of this 19th installment of a deservedly popular series. (Jan.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From School Library Journal
YA-While on hospital rounds to visit parishioners, Father Dowling is summoned to the bedside of a local mobster, Vince O'Toole, to administer the last rites. He agrees even though he recognizes the dying man. Shortly thereafter, the cemetery workers can't seem to keep people from trying to dig him up. O'Toole's death triggers a number of strange events in Fox River, IL: the fianc? of the local mob head's daughter disappears, a local private eye is forced into taking on a business associate, a strange suit is found hanging in a church closet, Vince's son is killed, and no one can decide where it would be best for O'Toole to rest in peace. It is up to Father Dowling to piece the puzzle together. McInerny has created a good story with a case that is hard to solve. The pace is relaxed, but the intrigue never falters. A fascinating choice for mystery fans.
Linda A. Vretos, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, Alexandria, VA Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.
