Father John is the parish priest of Our Lady of Sorrows in
Westonville, but when the ordered tranquillity of his life is
shattered by a stranger walking into the confessional on Ash
Wednesday, he finds himself on a Lenten journey of increasing dread
and horror. And when he is confronted with memories of his historic
abuse, John discovers that what he thought to be forgiven and
forgotten still lurks deep in his memory. A pattern of murders
unveils terrifying associations between the stranger's appearances,
John's own past, and the murders. Could the stranger be the
cardinal who abused him during his time in Rome, and who is
rumoured to have died in the 9/11 attacks? Is he a ghost emanating
from the same world as Sarah, the ghost of a little girl whose
benign appearances are a protective presence in John's life? Or is
the man in the confessional not really dead? Through the increasing
traumas of Lent, John struggles with the temptations and fears that
begin to assail him wherever he turns. The Good Priest is a story
of faith and doubt, of real and imagined hauntings, of the epic
dramas that lurk beneath the surface of an ordinary Catholic
parish, and of the devastating power of violence and terror to rip
apart relationships, friendships and loyalties. At once a thriller
and a theological exploration, the book takes the reader into a
world of altered realities where nothing is quite what it seems...
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My review
Wed, 22 May 2019 | Review
by: Breakaway R.
A compelling murder mystery combined with the moral dilemmas facing a parish priest.
This is one of the most enthralling books that I have read this year. Not only is it a murder mystery but at its heart is the story of Father John Patterson, a Roman Catholic priest in the parish of Watsonville, loved by his parishioners but struggling with his past and fighting so many demons.
The plot revolves around the killing of young girls, most of whom are prostitutes but it is the way that they are being killed that throws suspicion on all of the Catholic priests in the neighbourhood, including Father John.
At around the same time that the killings start, John starts receiving a strange man in the confessional telling him that he is the murderer and also that he is Cardinal Michael Bailey who abused John when he was a young priest in Rome. However, Cardinal Bailey is supposed to have died in the 9/11 tragedy, so did he survive? Is he an imposter? Or is he a ghost? One of John's best friends in the parish, Holly, had tragically lost her daughter at a young age but John sees her ghost in his garden. This has always brought him peace, but now he is concerned that Cardinal Bailey is also someone who is part of his imagination. As a priest, he feels that he cannot tell anyone about a confession made to him as this is totally against the law of the Catholic Church. Added to this, John is gay and is in love with one of his parishioners, Luke, a love that is completely reciprocated.
This story is ostensibly about finding out who is murdering the young girls, but it is so much more than that. The central figure of Father John is brilliantly written, we see a man tormented by his past, struggling to keep his vows and wrestling with his conscience but despite all of this being the best parish priest he can be.
The various characters who are part of his congregation are brilliantly observed in both their normal, unassuming lives, their eccentricities but most of all their love for their priest despite accusations beginning to surface as more murders are unearthed.
It is difficult to describe the actual plot of this book without giving too much away, but I would recommend this book to anyone. I was utterly absorbed from beginning to end, and as stated earlier this is probably the best book that I have read this year, and there have been many brilliant ones that I have been lucky enough to review.
I will certainly be looking out for any further books from Tina Beattie.
Dexter
Breakaway Reviewers received a copy of the book to review
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