Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine. Vol. 133, No. 5. Whole No. 813, May 2009

The Jury Box by Jon L. Breen

Of the increasing number of mysteries with a religious background, some feature sleuths in the tradition of Father Brown, Rabbi Small, Sister Ursula, and Brother Cadfael. Others exploit sacred institutions as a backdrop for bizarre crimes. While some are celebratory and inspirational, others are skeptical and debunking; some ad-dress real moral and theological conflicts, and others expose charlatans and hypocrites. Beginning the round-up below are two polemical novels that come from very different places on the social/political/culture wars spectrum. Both explore contemporary religious issues with unusual depth and (allowing for their disparate vantage points) balance.

*** Jane Haddam: Living Witness, Minotaur, $25.95. The controversy over Intelligent Design in the public school curriculum of a small Pennsylvania town culminates in a life-threatening attack on a nonagenarian gadfly and two subsequent murders. Former FBI agent and latter-day super sleuth Gregor Demarkian investigates, leaving to his blue blood Philadelphia fiancee the contentious planning of their coming wedding, which involves its own religious controversy. Haddam specializes in intricate puzzle plotting, well-realized characters, and clear-headed exploration of ideas and issues.

*** Larry Beinhart: Salvation Boulevard, Nation Books, $24.95. When an atheist college professor at a fictitious Southwestern university is murdered and an Islamic student is accused, his Jewish defense attorney employs a born-again Christian P.I., who belongs to the congregation of a charismatic televangelist. Though some of the melodramatic developments and character reversals strain belief, this expertly written and consistently absorbing thriller has a surprisingly thoughtful and nuanced consideration of contemporary religious views. A closing note indicates that the outrageous scam at the center of the plot has a precedent in recent history.

*** Ben Rehder: Holy Moly, St. Martin’s Minotaur, $24.95. The skull of a prehistoric Alamosaurus is found by a backhoe operator on the property of yet another fundamentalist televangelist, this one of the prosperity gospel type. Competing values — the bone’s monetary and embarrassment potential — send a variety of well-drawn characters after this archaeological MacGuffin, while game warden John Marlin investigates the bow-and-arrow murder of the backhoe driver. This fast-moving, cross-cutting farcical mystery bears comparisonto Donald E. Westlake’s comic thrillers. If you guess the murderer,you’re good.

*** Kate Charles: Deep Waters, Poisoned Pen, $24.95. In her third outing, young Anglican curate Callie Anson, a likeable and fully realized character, confronts problems romantic (her relationship with a Roman Catholic cop), domestic (her necessary co-existence with the vicar’s wife), and professional (dealing with the family of an infant who may have been murdered). The baby is the daughter of dimwitted short-term celebrities Jodee and Chazz, known for their graphic coupling on a British TV reality show. The solutions to the baby’s death and another suspected murder may not satisfy fans of formal detection, but I can highly recommend this novel for its smooth style, expert management of a large cast of interesting people, and insights into 21st-century attitudes to fame and celebrity.

*** Linda Berry: Death and the Crossed Wires, Five Star, $25.95. At the beginning of the sixth case for Georgia police-woman Trudy Roundtree, a youth pastor about to baptize a teenage girl is electrocuted before the stunned congregation. This is a strong example of the small-town procedural. The easy, humorous first-person narrative brings a range of believable characters to life; the plot is agreeably complex; and though the murderer is not a surprise, the motivation is interesting.

*** Cassandra Clark: Hangman Blind, Minotaur, $24.95. In 1382 Yorkshire, Sister Hildegard sets out on an unaccompanied journey hoping to establish her own small abbey house. Multiple murders complicate her mission. This first in a very promising new historical series is especially strong on setting the scene, establishing the historical and political context, and elucidating the attitudes and conflicts of the characters. The practical and business aspects of medieval religious life receive more emphasis than in some other series.

*** Carolyn Hart: Ghost at Work, Morrow, $24.95. Admirers of Blithe Spirit, Topper, and other works in which an-gels or ghosts help or bedevil the living, will find an enjoyable fresh variation in this farcical fantasy. The comforting Biblical Heaven depicted honors earthly memories and activities somewhat like Richard Matheson’s in the 1978 novel What Dreams May Com. Bailey Ruth Raeburn, who died fairly recently but before the prevalence of cell phones and computers, is a new recruit to the Department of Good Intentions, whose emissaries are expected to keep their interventions as low-key subtle as possible when returning to Earth. But Bailey Ruth is dispatched to her Oklahoma hometown,Adelaide, to assist the Episcopal pastor’s wife, who has found a dead body on the back porch of the rectory, before she can fully study the rules and almost immediately starts improvising in the tradition of Clarence in It’s a Wonderful Life. Though the sleuth is supernatural, the agreeably tricky whodunit is grounded in earthly reality.

** Paul Charles: Dust of Death, Brandon/Dufour, $36.95. The first novel about small-town Ireland’s Inspector Starrett, a one-named bachelor in the Morse tradition, concerns a carpenter found crucified in the sanctuary of the Second Federation Church. The American-based denomination has a very odd theology and, in its only foreign outpost, a distinctly uncharismatic pastor. The solution isn’t quite as good as the tantalizing problem, but strong style, characterization, and sense of place suggest future books may reach the level of the author’s established Christy Kennedy series.

** Aimee and David Thurlo: The Prodigal Nun, St. Martin’s Minotaur, $24.95. The fourth outing for Sister Agatha, former journalist and extern nun (i.e.,one allowed to deal with society outside the monastery) for a cloistered New Mexico order, concerns the murder of amass attendee in the chapel parking lot.Sometimes other strengths — here,intriguing plot, unusual background,and engaging characters — can compensate for flat, by-the-numbers prose and dialogue. (By evidence of the bestseller lists, this happens quite a lot.)

** Brandt Dodson: Daniel’s Den, Harvest House, $14.99. New Orleans investment advisor Daniel Borden, finding evidence of money laundering when auditing the accounts of a recently deceased colleague, makes the mistake of reporting it to his boss. In the frame and on the run, he joins forces with a widow and her nine-year-old son, a precocious news and history junkie. After as low start (excessive back story as each character is introduced), this turns into a fairly effective thriller, its religious connection in the spiritual life of the characters rather than the background or subject matter. While soul-saving doesn’t crowd out action and suspense most of the way, the inspirational denouement goes over the top.