Enjoyable and well-written 'locked room' mystery

books:


	• The Bishop at the Lake: A Bishop Blackie Ryan Novel (Bishop Blackie Ryan) Andrew M. Greeley Forge Books, 2007 - 272 pages average customer review:based on 6 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

A Great Grand Beach Blackie Ryan Mystery!

A fast paced mystery that held my interest from beginning to end. I love to read the Grand Beach mysteries because I spent some summers in my youth in the Duneland Beach/Michigan City Area.

Clean Up The Mess

It is with great expectation when a new Blackie Ryan mystery arrives to join my must read pile. Father Andrew M. Greeley doesn't disappoint his fans with the current THE BISHOP AT THE LAKE. Bishop Blackie is sent to vacation with his family while sleuthing out the designs of Archbishop Malachi Nolan who has his sights set on replacing Cardinal Sean Cronin.
Before Malachi Nolan can cause Blackie's boss any problems he is the victim of an attack by hornets, which for him is a life-threatening allergy known to his entire family. Who would want to kill an ineffectual member of the church in the home of his parents and family?
A must read that flows quickly to the final pages. Greeley interweaves ambition, greed, malice and romance into a satisfying read.
Nash Black, author of TRAVELERS and SINS OF THE FATHERS.

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Blackie's Vacation

Cardinal Sean Cronin, Archbishop of Chicago, directs Blackie, now Coadjutor Archbishop John Blackwood Ryan with right of succession, to go with his family to Grand Beach, Michigan and take a vacation. This rather unusual directive leads Blackie into a holiday of intrigue and violence. The Bishop, of course, is required to investigate the situation and " see to" its resolution.

The first part of the story is a long scene at a family dinner. Have patience. Once you run the gauntlet of family abuse you discover a real problem to solve. This novel is unusual among Blackie Ryan stories in that it does not begin with an actual mystery. Instead the good Bishop stumbles into a puzzle quite by coincidence. Naturally the mystery involves a locked room.

Some of the characters in this story are well known to Andrew Greeley fans. Mary Kate Ryan Murphy, Blackie's sister, her husband Joe, and her son Joseph are each involved as is Peter Murphy and his wife Cindasue McLeod. Getting an update on these old friends is a treat.

Most of the story concentrates upon the relationships among the members of the Nolan family. The Nolans are very wealthy individuals who manage an aerospace company. We are introduced to Spike Nolan and his wife, Lady Anne Howard Nolan, their children and grandchildren, The conflict among these individuals becomes an interesting study in family dynamics.

For the mystery in this novel, the assaults are unique and easily solved but the perpetrator is not. Who would attempt to kill the victim? Why would they wish to do so? Was it members of the family; the caretakers of the property, competitors of the very successful family business; or Blackie himself?

Andrew Greeley integrates several bits of wisdom. Referring to a recent Papal encyclical God Is Love: Deus Caritas Est he says human passion is a sacrament that reflects God's love. He also jokingly suggests that Irish women "repealed the principle of contradiction." Finally, Blackie's guidance to a character who struggles with forgiveness is an implied testimonial to God's love.

The Bishop at the lake is an excellent mystery and an insightful reflection on family dynamics. I highly recommend this book.

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Enjoyable and well-written 'locked room' mystery

With a rival archbishop visiting the Chicago area, Chicago's Archbishop/Cardinal sends his right-hand man, Bishop Blackie Ryan (now Archbishop and Coadjudicator) to investigate and determine if his plotting is a threat. The rival, son of an extremely rich family, is certainly interested, but Blackie determines he is little threat--he talks too much and drinks too much. In fact, Blackie doesn't think he's a threat to anyone, which is why it's a surprise that someone tries to kill him.

Instructed to stay and solve the mystery, Blackie must first head off the local police who seem intent to arrest a young woman, Margaret Anne Nolan, Blackie regards as a mystic close to god--with Margaret's own mother throwing accusations at her. It doesn't hurt that Blackie's sister has determined that Margaret is going to be her daughter-in-law. And Blackie's sister has excellent taste.

In general, locked room mysteries come down to oppportunity. How could anyone have killed (or attempted murder) and yet managed to do so in a room that seems sealed. In this case, the how is no problem for Blackie. The motive, however, seems obscure. In fact, as Blackie points out, he just might be the only person in the area with a real motive for the murder. After all, Blackie's right to succession is what's really threatened by the rivalry.

Author Andrew M. Greeley fills his story with family--both functional (his own) and dysfunctional (the Nolans). A few red herrings spice things up, and the mad rivalry between the saintlike Margaret and her mother (a rivalry that exists only in her mother's head and in the heads of those her mother has poisoned against Margaret) adds to the story's emotional stakes. I'm not sure Greeley has his youthful dialogue quite down, but then again, perhaps kids speak differently in Chicago than in Dallas. Still, his writing is engaging and draws the reader into the story, making us care not only about who attempted to kill the archbishop, but about the post-college romance between Margaret and Joseph, Blackie's nephew.

In addition to being an author, Greeley is a Catholic priest and questions of faith are woven through the story. That Greeley accomplishes this without being heavy-handed (although Margaret might just be a little too perfect) is a mark of what a capable author Greeley has become. THE BISHOP AT THE LAKE is a bit of an old-fashioned mystery, about clues and thinking, rather than about fights and violence. Maybe that's part of what made it such a joy to read.

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There is no escape...

"Every time I try to get out, they suck me back in"----paraphrase of Al Pacino's lament in "Godfather" part three about attempts to take the family mob racket into legitimate businesses. I have been reading Fr. Greeley's books for about thirty years, with quite a bit of enjoyment. His novels, however, do fall into certain formulas, and he is so prolific I do get a bit tired every now and then. Just how many affluent, talented but dysfunctional Chicago Irish families will have locked room murders or attempted ones in any given decade? Especially if the family is connected in some manner to Fr. Blackie, the assistant to the Cardinal in charge in the Windy City? I try to quit Greeley, with varying degrees of success. For instance, I have totally avoided the seven novel series about the O'Malley family in the 20th century. But I have read every Blackie Ryan mystery, six or more now, every Nuala McGrail book, ten of those, and at least ten of his other works, fiction and non-fiction. Fr. Greeley's plots are often unrealistic, his characters' dialogue and emotions either idealized or demonized to a fault, his happy endings welcome but predictable. Still, he creates a world of families with as much to be envied as to be lamented. His heroes and heroines are people you wish you knew, and for whom you root without reservation. In this latest Blackie mystery, to my surprise, I really was not certain of the villain until the end. Therefore, it counts as quite a success. I found it a slow start, and after a chapter or two I was not sure I would finish it. Then, however, some twists occurred and I became reluctant to put the book down at all. If you like Greeley's past work, this is more of the same but well-done.

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reviews: page 1, 2

Matters of succession lead to attempted murder in the latest of Greeley?s popular mysteries.

Archbishop Malachi Nolan has designs on the Diocese of Chicago despite the fact the Most Reverend Blackwood Ryan, himself recently appointed an archbishop, is currently in line for the post. Assigned to keep watch on his rival, Blackie travels to the Nolan family estate in Grand Banks, where he soon finds himself immersed in an entirely different dynastic struggle.

Spike Nolan, founder of Aviation Electronics, isn?t even dead yet, but his children, grandchildren, and their respective spouses are already feuding over who will inherit control of the multimillion-dollar company. The only family member who doesn?t have a stake in the quarrel is the clerical Malachi . . . so why is he the one targeted by an unknown killer?

To get to the bottom of the mystery, Blackie will have to sort through the tangled family dynamics of this highly dysfunctional clan, as well as figure how out his fellow archbishop was nearly stung to death by hornets inside a locked room!

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