Let the Dead Bury the Dead – A Christopher Worthy/Father Fortis Mystery #2
Category: Fiction ~ Mystery/Thriller
Pub Date: September 2017
Price: $14.95 Paperback
Size: 6×9
Type: Trade Paperback
Pages: 216
ISBN: 978-1-60381-395-2
Publisher:
Coffeetown Press
Description:
A priest is found brutally strangled before the altar of Detroit’s St. Cosmas Greek Orthodox Church.
The captain of the Detroit Police assigns her star detective Christopher Worthy to the case, knowing that the interim priest is Worthy’s close friend Father Fortis. Worthy’s new partner Henderson believes Father Spiro surprised a local thug in the act of stealing a silver altarpiece. This simple solution doesn’t sit right with Detective Worthy and Father Fortis. Small clues have led them to believe the killer is connected to the church.
Father Spiro had recently befriended a rabbi. During the final service he led before he died, why did he falter? Was he drifting into senility or simply distracted? Was he hiding a crisis of faith?
To find the Father Spiro’s killer, Detective Worthy and Father Fortis will have to work together to blend in and observe the priest’s inner circle.
Time is a luxury Worthy doesn’t have. His partner’s behavior is erratic, his captain is breathing down his neck, and his troubled daughter Alison is finally reaching out. Then there is the beautiful reporter who is slamming him in print, payback for being kept at arm’s length.
As the case grows colder, Fortis and Worthy worry that the culprit has committed the perfect crime. Yet as they get closer to the truth, neither is prepared for evil that threatens them both.
Praises:
“If you have read David Carlson’s Enter by the Narrow Gate, you have already met Detective Christopher Worthy and Father Fortis, who are again thrown together by circumstances to solve the murder of a priest who is found brutally strangled in front of the altar in the Greek Orthodox Church in Detroit. Let the Dead Bury the Dead is the second in this series.
The priest is thought to have found a thief stealing a silver altarpiece, and so was murdered. This simple solution does not sit right with the two men, who forged a friendship during their previous investigation of the murder of a young nun. Both feel that the dead man saw something during the last mass he conducted, that resulted in his murder.
What could that elusive thing be, that might have led to the priest’s death? The two men forge on with determination, while Worthy is also plagued by problems with his daughter Allyson and by a reporter who seems determined to undermine what the detective has accomplished. To top things off, Father Fortis seems distracted.
Readers will not only enjoy the mystery but also the window it offers into the Greek Orthodox religion. This is another good chapter in the series, well worth a read.”
~~ Reviewed by Mary Ann Smyth – BookLoons Reviewer
When a priest is found strangled in front of the altar of his Detroit church, the immediate assumption is that he was killed by a burglar. But neither the investigating officer nor the slain priest’s replacement thinks this seemingly simple solution is the answer to the case.
That is the major premise of “Let the Dead Bury the Dead,” the latest mystery by Franklin College professor David Carlson.
The first book in Carlson’s Christopher Worthy-Father Fortis series, “Enter by the Narrow Gate,” focused primarily on Father Nicholas Fortis, a Greek Orthodox priest. The second trains the reader’s attention more on Worthy, a Detroit homicide detective. For that reason, the book is more of a police procedural than a sociological examination.
But that’s not to say that the work is strictly a whodunit. Father Fortis is serving as an interim priest in the Detroit church where the priest was murdered. In addition to helping Worthy in the investigation, Father Fortis also must navigate the many shoals of congregational ministry. Since Father Nick normally spends his time as a contemplative in a monastery, running a local church poses unique challenges. This clearly is one of the novel’s more enjoyable side plots.
The detective is the focus of his own secondary plot line, this one involving his relationship with his superiors and colleagues in the police department. His highly successful but unorthodox approach to investigation riles some fellow officers and challenges the patience of his commanders. All are willing to give him latitude to operate, but in one case it’s in the hope that he will fail and in the other case it’s hoped he will succeed.
Worthy also is the focus of another secondary plot line, this one involving his relationship with his daughter, a onetime runaway. This aspect is less satisfying than the others but by no means detracts from the overall effectiveness of the work.
Despite these subsidiary plots, the major characters do not exist in parallel worlds. Worthy’s primary line of investigation stems from an observation by Father Nick involving a religious issue. Without it, the death would have been treated as a botched burglary gone very wrong.
Carlson throws in a twist almost at the close of the novel that readers should enjoy; although, there is no way for them to anticipate the development. So those readers who enjoy solving the mystery ahead of the protagonists are going to be disappointed and perhaps even feel a bit manipulated.
But that’s a small criticism and not one that’s going to bother many readers.
In all, this is a readable and engaging novel. Carlson’s characters are real and relatable.
The quality of a mystery series lies not in how well-crafted the first book is but in how well-written the second is. In this case, the second installment matches the first in quality and likely will leave readers eagerly awaiting installment number three.
Rich Gotshall is a retired journalist and Franklin resident. Send comments to letters@dailyjournal.net
~~ Reviewed by Jud Hanson
Author and Book Reviewer
