Ash Wednesday

by Ralph McInerny

Book Overview

Father Dowling has been serving as parish priest and resident sleuth at St. Hilary's for a while now, but he's no lifer, and there's plenty that he doesn't know about the old guard. So when a stranger comes to Fox River who isn't a stranger to anyone but him, he has to rely on his prying housekeeper to tell him that the mystery man is actually a well-known murderer. Ten years ago, Nathaniel Green's wife was dying of cancer, and after a short remission she relapsed into a coma. That small sliver of hope so utterly dashed must have been too much for him because when the nurses came to check on her they found that he had taken her off of her life support. Green's return divides the community, but the more Father Dowling ponders the moral questions and reinvestigates the case, the more he wonders if Green committed any crime at all. With parishioners up in arms, Father Dowling has to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that a conviction is no proof of guilt in Ash Wednesday , the newest addition to Ralph McInerny's acclaimed and beloved mystery series.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0312364563
• ISBN13: 9780312364564
• Release Date: July 2008
• Publisher: Minotaur Books
• Length: 264 Pages
• Weight: 0.83 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 6.0" x 8.2"

Customer Reviews

thought provoking Father Dowling mystery

On Ash Wednesday, just out of prison Nathaniel Green, who killed his wife ten years ago when he pulled the plug on the life support machine so she could go to heaven, asks the pastor of St. Hilary's if he will put ashes on his forehead though he is no longer a Catholic. He gave up on religion when his beloved Florence suffered from terminal cancer and kept alive by so called caring people when she just wanted to die. Nathaniel and Florence belonged to St. Hilary before he committed euthanasia. Some people especially Florence's sister do not want to turn the other cheek and let him return to the flock. They condemn him for murdering his spouse quoting the bible and the Ten Commandments. On the other hand Father Dowling understands why a human would act mercifully to end the suffering of a loved one although he feels deeply that it is still is a sin. As the parish divides over the issue of mercy killing, Dowling begins to see some incongruence in what he hears happened a decade ago; as he quietly investigates he begins to wonder if Nathaniel actually pulled the plug or is covering for someone. This is a thought provoking Father Dowling mystery; perhaps the best in years as everyday people struggle with the difficult and complex issue of euthanasia; the St. Hilary congregation is divided over the subject and the killer. The story line is fast-paced once the whisper campaign begins that Green is out of prison and home and never slows down as he is shunned while he reads Crime and Punishment seeking absolution, but for what asks Father Dowling? Harriet Klausner