Kienzle, William X.: The Sacrific

If you are a mystery buff and aren't familiar with Kienzle's  Father Koesler, it is time to get to know him. "The Sacrifice" marks his 23rd appearance in Kienzle's books and one of the

best. Besides a fine mystery, for us curious non-Catholic readers, he always provides a little education in the ways of the Catholic Church.

In "The Sacrifice", Father George Wheatley, an Anglican priest has decided to convert and become a priest in the Roman Catholic Church On the day of his ordination, a bomb is set of in the sanctuary of the church just at the time he should have been at the altar where it did the most damage.

Father Farmer, an innocent by-stander is killed. But is he really an innocent by-stander? Father Tully, the priest of the parish has been getting hate mail. Father Wheatley's married son, Ronald, is a priest in the Anglican Church. He is alarmed at what his father is doing and worried that it will interrupt his anticipated rise to Bishop in his church. Alice, Father Wheatley's daughter, is in the seminary on her way to becoming an Anglican Priest. She worships her father and is angered at his perceived abandonment. Both Ronald and Alice had refused to attend their father's ordination ceremony.

Fathers Morgan and Reichert were both from the old school   and were developing militant tendencies toward the new more liberal church. Leon Harkins, one of Father Tully's parishioners, goes around the bend and starts to shadow Father Tully. He breaks his usual evening TV watching habit and spends the evening in his basement cleaning his gun and starts to practice drawing the pistol from his waistband.

We have a bomber, a letter writer, a shooter and a hit and run driver. Are they all the same person? Who was the real intended victim of the bomb? Why was the ordination procession delayed so the bomb went off before the priests reached the altar? Who made sure that delay happened? Why? In the end, Father Farmer, Father Wheatley, and Leon Harkins are dead.

As well as being a fine mystery story, "The Sacrifice" provides interesting detail in the historical differences between the Anglican and Catholic Church. It is an educational and entertaining book.