The Widow's Mate

By Ralph McInerny

Book Overview

Father Dowling is a dedicated parish priest who happens to have a knack for unraveling the mysteries of the real world as well as those of heaven, but the latest puzzle to catch his attention---the disappearance of Wallace Flanagan---doesn't seem to be a mystery so much as a dirty little secret. By all appearances, Flanagan, the heir to a lucrative concrete business, skipped town with his mistress more than ten years ago, although no one talks about that out of respect for his abandoned wife. But appearances go right out the window when?his mangled---and recently live---body?is found?wedged into one of his father's cement mixers. If Flanagan's unexpected return and immediate death aren't enough to shake a few skeletons from their closets, childhood friends and lifelong enemies have started trickling home to Fox River, Illinouis, a town outside of Chicago. All of them had a stake in his disappearance, but which one would murder a man who was already all but dead? And would kill again to keep a dead man's secrets? A collision between the past and present dislodges some hard and hidden truths that Father Dowling must uncover if he's going to catch a killer in Ralph McInerny's The Widow's Mate , an absorbing and suspenseful mystery that is sure to please Father Dowling's many fans.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0312364555
• ISBN13: 9780312364557
• Release Date: August 2007
• Publisher: Minotaur Books
• Length: 288 Pages
• Weight: 0.96 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.7" x 1.1" x 5.6"

Customer Reviews

Wido's Mate

This is a complicated mystery with the regular characters in Fox River. I have read many of the Father Dowling bookd snf enjoyed most of them. Its nice to revisit the same people.

One of the best

This is one of the best of the generally excellent Father Dowling books. The author claims a mystery writer does not need to know "who done it" until he gets to the end of the book. That may be true of this effort as well, but the key elements of the plot required a lot of planning with consequent reward to the reader. As always, there are plenty of wise philosophical one-liners.

a terrific whodunit

Following his father's gift to him of a sizable amount of money, Wallace Flanagan vanished. His friends and family including his wife Melissa assumed he dumped his spouse to run off with his latest lover. However years later, Wally's body is found, mashed by a cement mixer. His father and his former lover want to know where he was when he vanished, why he suddenly reappeared dead in equipment owned by his family's firm, and who killed him. However, Melissa instead turns to Father Dowling of St. Hilary's in Fox River to pray for Wally's eternal soul. Unable to ignore the mortal concerns of an apparent homicide, Father Dowling begins investigating only to learn a friend of Wally, Greg Packer, has been killed too. THE WIDOW'S MATE is a terrific whodunit as Father Dowling prays for Wally's soul, tries to provide solace to the widow and also seeks the truth as to what happened. The story line is filled with twists and red herrings so that the audience is never sure what to expect next as Ralph McInerney keeps fans guessing (and reading). Father Dowling is at his best in this delightful parish cozy. Harriet Klausner